A typology of demonstrative clause linkers

Across languages, demonstratives provide a frequent diachronic source for a wide
range of grammatical markers, including certain types of clause linkers such as
English so, that, thus and therefore. Drawing on data from a sample of 100 languages,
this chapter presents a cross-linguistic survey of (grammaticalised) demonstratives
that are routinely used to combine clauses or propositions. The study shows that
demonstrative clause linkers occur in a large variety of constructions including
all major types of subordinate clauses and paratactic sentences. Concentrating on
the most frequent types, the chapter considers (grammaticalised) demonstratives
functioning as (i) relative pronouns, (ii) linking and nominalising articles,
(iii) quotative markers, (iv) complementisers, (v) conjunctive adverbs, (vi) adverbial
subordinate conjunctions, (vii) correlatives and (viii) topic markers. It is the purpose
of the chapter to provide a comprehensive overview of demonstrative clause
linkers from a cross-linguistic perspective and to consider the mechanisms of change
that are involved in the grammaticalisation of demonstratives in clause linkage
constructions.