Language change and cultural change: The grammaticalization of the get-passive in context

Reciprocal and reflexive ('middle') readings of the get-passive (as in get introduced, get married, get dressed or get shaved) have been taken as indicative of the status of the get-passive as a middle construction more generally. Historically, this interpretation is misleading, as these (marginal) get-passives refer to cultural practices that have undergone massive change between the time of the inception of the get-passive (before the 1760s) and today. What today are get-middles used to be canonical passives with a two-participant structure. If we do not consider the historical cultural contexts and findings from historical cultural studies, we run the risk of imposing a hegemonic present-day view on previous stages of the language, falsifying our interpretation of instances of language change.