The book is concerned with a hitherto underresearched grammaticalization process: the
development from quality-attributing adjective to determiner in the English noun phrase. It
takes a bottom-up approach based on extensive synchronic and diachronic corpus studies of six
English adjectives of comparison: other different same identical similar and comparable.
Their functional diversity in current English is proposed to constitute a case of layering
representing the original descriptive use which expresses how like unlike each other entities
are and a range of grammaticalized referential uses which contribute to the identification
and or quantification of the entities denoted by the NP. Diachronic and comparative data
material is invoked to verify and further develop the grammaticalization hypothesis.The
development of adjectives of comparison involves several key concepts identified in the
literature. Crucially it is described as a case of textual intersubjectification driven by the
optimalization of recipient-design. The actual grammaticalization paths are diverse and are
characterized by lexical as well as structural persistence i.e. the same lexical meaning
develops into different grammatical functions in different syntagmatic configurations. In order
to define the NP as a locus of diachronic change this study offers a new angle on the
description of adjectives and the modelling of NP structure. It advocates the abandonment of
the traditional class-based model in favour of a radically functional one in which functions
are defined in terms of prototypicality so as to allow for gradience between and within them.
The described grammaticalization processes involve developments from prototypical lexical to
grammatical reference-related use within the adjectival category which can be the starting
point of further gradual change to determiners. The traditional relation between classes and
positions is envisaged as a correspondence between functional and syntactic zones. The change
in form concomitant with grammaticalization in the NP is argued to consist of the
reconfiguration of structural combinatorics and progressive leftward movement.The book is of
interest to linguistic researchers and graduate students in linguistics who focus their
attention on grammaticalization and subjectification the functional description of adjectives
questions of deixis and theoretical issues relating to nominal reference.
