Chapter 12
On the emergence of auxiliary selection in Germanic
This paper is concerned with the development of
auxiliary selection in Germanic, i.e. the alternation between
have and be in perfects depending on the type
of lexical verb. It is argued that all of the Germanic languages
first develop a perfect of the modern English type, with
have as the only auxiliary used with all types of
verbs. This early Germanic have-perfect disallowed
positional past time adverbials in the present perfect, and perfect
doubling (see Larsson &
Brandner to appear). In a later development, German,
Dutch, and Danish developed a new perfect with auxiliary selection,
a more extended use of the present perfect, and perfect doubling. It
is suggested that this development is a consequence of the further
grammaticalization of the auxiliary into a semantically weaker
element, spelled out as either have or be (cf.
Kayne 1993). The
emergence of the new perfect leads to competition between two types
of perfects, and to a gradual spread of the new perfect which can be
observed in the historical records.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Distinguishing perfects from resultative constructions
- 3.Early Germanic have-perfects
- 4.Emergence and spread of the be-perfect
- 5.Reanalysis and its consequences
- 5.1English and German temporal auxiliaries
- 5.2The emergence of the new perfect in German: Past adverbials and doubling
- 6.Conclusion
-
Abbreviations
-
Acknowledgements
-
Notes
-
References
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