Article published in:
Computational Construction Grammar and Constructional ChangeEdited by Katrien Beuls and Remi van Trijp
[Belgian Journal of Linguistics 30] 2016
► pp. 55–90
Tracking shifts in the literal versus the intensifying fake reflexive resultative construction
The development of intensifying dood ‘dead’ in 19th–20th Century Dutch
Timothy Colleman | Ghent University
This paper explores diachronic shifts in the literal and intensifying uses of dood ‘dead’ in the Dutch fake reflexive
resultative construction. Without sufficient context, a clause like Hij werkte zich dood (lit. ‘He worked himself dead’) is
ambiguous in that it is unclear whether dood expresses an actual result of the activity denoted by the verb or whether it
intensifies that verbal activity. We will investigate shifts in the (relative) type and token frequencies of both subtypes over the last two
centuries and show that the intensifying use has become predominant. Particular attention is paid to the notion of productivity, which may
help us to elucidate the possible pathways along which dood – in its function as an intensifier – is moving. By taking into
account the variety of verbs that dood has occurred with since the early 19th Century, we aim to assess whether the
dramatic increase in relative frequency of intensifying dood is paralleled by a concomitant extension of its collocational
range or, conversely, whether this increase in frequency is mainly due to the rise of some highly frequent collocations.
Published online: 10 January 2017
https://doi.org/10.1075/bjl.30.04gys
https://doi.org/10.1075/bjl.30.04gys
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Je dood vervelen of je te pletter amuseren? Het intensiverende gebruik van de pseudo-reflexieve resultatiefconstructie in hedendaags Belgisch en Nederlands Nederlands [
Je dood vervelen or je te pletter amuseren? The intensifying use of the pseudo-reflexive resultative construction in present-day Belgian and Netherlandic Dutch].” Handelingen van de Koninklijke Zuid-Nederlandse Maatschappij voor Taal- en Letterkunde en Geschiedenis LXX.
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Traugott, Elizabeth C., and Graeme Trousdale
Van de Velde, Freek
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Cited by
Cited by 1 other publications
Hoeksema, Jack & Donna Jo Napoli
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