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The Grammaticalization of the Infinitival Preposition – Toward a Theory of ‘Grammaticalizing Reanalysis’

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Abstract

The observational point of departure in this paper is that infinitivals (in Dutch and German) have no tense. Apparent counterexamples to this claim can be shown to involve aspect/Aktionsarten rather than tense. There is consequently no reason to posit any of the functional shell structure associated with tense. Hence, the infinitival markers (zu, te) may be assumed to be in (or close to) the VP. This is in accordance with the observation that these infinitival markers are always directly adjacent to the verb, which makes them similar to the verbal participial prefix ge-. A Minimalist account of zu/te, which is similar but not identical to ge-, is proposed. The question is then raised how zu (originally a true local-allative preposition) could have become a verbal prefix, and relevant diachronic data are adduced. Finally it is shown that a functionalist, or ‘cognitivist’, theory of grammaticalization like Haspelmath’s misses the point in a number of ways. A more formalist theory of ‘grammaticalizing reanalysis’ is proposed as a better alternative.

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  1. Institut für Allgemeine Sprachwissensachaft, Universität Wien, Berggasse 11/3/3, A-1090, Wien, Austria

    Werner Abraham

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Abraham, W. The Grammaticalization of the Infinitival Preposition – Toward a Theory of ‘Grammaticalizing Reanalysis’. The Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics 7, 111–170 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JCOM.0000007343.96479.7f

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