Conversational routines, formulaic language and subjectification

The aim of this paper is to explore some of the so-called “conversational routines” (Coulmas, 1981) by taking into consideration the concept of subjectification as defined by Traugott and Dasher (2002) and Traugott (2010). The analysis of a number of Catalan “conversational routines” indicates that these formulaic forms undergo an increase of subjectification which, in some cases, may lead to a process of grammaticalization. It is claimed here that such an increase of subjectification seems to be a key feature which better distinguishes the vaguely defined category of “conversational routines” from other formulaic forms, e.g. idiomatic VPs such as to kick the bucket. These findings also suggest that subjectification may have broader effects beyond grammaticalization.