Edited by Bridget Drinka
[Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 350] 2020
► pp. 293–316
It is commonly accepted that the -(v)ši- resultatives in North Slavic are a product of the areal diffusion of a similar resultative formation in -vęs- (< *-ṷes-) from Baltic. The author argues that the anterior grammaticalization of the -(v)ši- resultative in North Slavic has been largely an internally motivated process. The analysis is premised on the distinction of spoken vs. written discourse which preconditions the parallel use of finite and non-finite predication, including the resultative structures, in the history and dialects of North Slavic. The author argues that language contact was but one of several factors influencing the convergent tendencies in the use of resultatives in the Circum-Baltic zone and well beyond.