In this article Discourse markers of Reformulation, as proposed in Del Saz & Fraser (2003), are analysed from a synchronic and diachronic point of view to ascertain whether their development can be explained in terms of the body of studies known as grammaticalization theory. The fact that English reformulators constitute a very heterogeneous group with regard to semantic specialization and phonetic erosion among other characteristics, seems to point to the fact that grammaticalization is better seen as “an epiphenomenal result of independent processes”(Newmeyer 2001: 188), rather than a distinct process in language change. At most, it can be argued that grammaticalization is the change from a lexical unit, to a more grammatical entity.