Conceptual Meaning of Grammatical markers

 The conceptual meaning of grammatical markers lies in their function as linguistic elements that convey essential, literal grammatical information such as tense, number, mood, or case. They help structure a language and facilitate efficient and clear communication between speakers and listeners by clarifying relationships between words and ideas in a sentence. 

Core Conceptual Function

Grammatical markers express a limited set of core conceptual distinctions that organize a wide range of objects and relations (often expressed by content words like nouns and verbs) within a discourse context. They specify complementary aspects of a described situation, providing the necessary "glue" that allows a listener to build a clear understanding, or situation model, of what is being communicated. 

Forms of Grammatical Markers

Grammatical markers can take various forms across different languages:

• Affixes: These are prefixes or suffixes attached to a word's base form. In English, the suffix "-ed" marks past tense (e.g., "walked") and "-s" marks plurality for nouns (e.g., "cats").
• Clitics: These are words that function grammatically like affixes but are written as separate words or attached loosely.
• Function Words: These are standalone words that modify or clarify the meaning of other words (e.g., prepositions, articles, conjunctions). 

Key Grammatical Meanings Conveyed

Grammatical markers encode a variety of features that primarily convey semantic information. These include: 

• Number: Indicating the quantity of entities involved (e.g., singular, plural).
• Tense: Locating an event in time (e.g., past, present, future).
• Aspect: Describing the state of an action in relation to time (e.g., completed, ongoing, habitual).
• Case: Marking the grammatical function of a noun in a sentence (e.g., subject, object, possession).
• Modality/Mood: Reflecting the speaker's attitude towards the reality or possibility of an action.
• Evidentiality: Indicating the source of the information (e.g., whether the speaker saw an event or heard it described). 

In essence, grammatical markers are vital for moving beyond literal dictionary definitions of individual words, enabling the creation of complex, structured, and context-specific meaning in communication. 

Grammatical Morphemes in Order of Acquisition

clitics: 

• an unstressed word that normally occurs only in combination with another word, for example 'm in I'm.

• a morpheme that has syntactic characteristics of a word, but depends phonologically on another word or phrase.

Clitics are words or morphemes that function like independent words syntactically but are phonologically dependent, "leaning" on a neighboring word (their host) for pronunciation, often appearing as unstressed, reduced forms of pronouns, auxiliaries, or articles, like "'s" in "he's" or the "t" in "wanna". They fall between true words and affixes, attaching to the beginning (proclitics) or end (enclitics) of a host, and are crucial in many languages for showing grammatical function without taking up a full word's space.

Key Characteristics

• Syntactically Independent: They occupy positions of full words (like pronouns or auxiliaries) in a sentence structure.
• Phonologically Dependent: They lack their own stress and attach to a host word, often appearing as contractions or reduced sounds (e.g., "gonna," "'ve," "'re").
• Function Words: They are typically closed-class items like pronouns, determiners, auxiliaries, or particles, not nouns or verbs.
• "Leaning" Words: The term "clitic" comes from Greek for "leaning," reflecting their attachment to a host. 

Types of Clitics

• Proclitics: Attach to the beginning of the host (e.g., the "t" in "wanna" from "want to").
• Enclitics: Attach to the end of the host (e.g., "'ve" in "I've").
• Special Clitics: Have designated positions in a clause, unlike simple clitics which appear in the expected slot of a full word. 

Examples in English

• Contractions: "He's" (He is/has), "they're" (they are).
• Pronouns: The unstressed "m" in "I'm".
• Articles: The definite article in Swedish "kung-en" (king-the) can function as a clitic. 

Clitics vs. Affixes

• Affixes change the meaning or grammatical function of the word they attach to and have limited attachment possibilities (e.g., "-ing").
• Clitics maintain their own grammatical function and can attach to various word types, though they are also phonologically bound and can't stand alone.