Beneath the surface of repetition: can priming help us to have a clearer understanding of repetition as a linguistic functional correlate?

This paper is dedicated to investigate the relations between the linguistic functional correlate of repetition and priming, a cognitive mechanism according to which the previous processing of a stimulus facilitates the processing of utterances containing the same or a related stimulus. As well as repetition, priming is widely present in language at all linguistic levels and can be considered a facilitator during interactions. Exploring priming may contribute to a more complete understanding of the functioning of grammar, discourse (both oral and written) and language. In this perspective, the paper aims to discuss how priming gives cognitive adequacy to repetition and provides a large set of data that can be analyzed in order to understand the role of repetition in the creation of grammar.