The evolution of a coordinator from a vocative source: the case of the disjunctive in Jordanian Arabic.

This research paper proposes that a vocative can be a potential source of coordination, thus it adds to the literature on the grammaticalization of coordinators. Evidence to this proposal is taken from Jordanian Arabic (JA) wherein the vocative particle : developed a disjunctive (coordination) function. The synchronic evidence to the evolution of the disjunctive is that this function is conveyed by this particle in some but not all Arabic varieties, whereas the vocative function is the common cross-dialectal function of .