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In:Diachronic and Typological Perspectives on Anticausativization
Edited by Guglielmo Inglese, Giulia Mazzola and Eugenio Goria
[Typological Studies in Language 138] 2026
► pp. 223–248

Chapter 8
Intensifier or anticausative?

A contrastive analysis of German selbst- and Italian auto- in synthetic compounds

 | University of Zadar
 | University of Turin
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
Abstract
Contrastive Co-reference (cc) Markers (Angster 2023) are word-formation elements linked either formally or functionally to the class of intensifiers (König & Gast 2006). Their function in word-formation is often interpreted as close to reflexivity — cf. König’s (2011) label reflexive compounds. In this chapter we will examine ccConstructions — namely German synthetic selbst-compounds and their closest functional correspondent in Italian, i.e. auto-formations modified by a prepositional phrase introduced by the preposition di — in search for a possible anticausative interpretation of selbst- and auto-. We will show that an anticausative interpretation is possible when the verbs underlying a ccFormation display a valency alternation, and in particular when the patient of a transitive verb is promoted to subject, while the subject is completely eclipsed.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Intensifiers and reflexives
    • 1.2Contrastive Co-Reference
  • 2.Patterns of selbst- and auto- formations
  • 3.The data
  • 4.In search for anticausativity
  • 5.Towards a typology of CCConstructions in German and Italian
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Author queries
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
References (20)
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