Tense and aspect marking in (Low) German perfect constructions based on variety contact
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Kathrin Weber
Abstract
Synchronic variability is an essential characteristic of all human languages. However, issues of linguistic variation have only recently become a popular topic within the framework of construction grammar (cf. Hoffmann 2011), cognitive sociolinguistics (Geeraerts et al. 2010) and variety contact (Höder 2014). This paper investigates synchronic variation of perfect auxiliary constructions with the verb anfangen (‘to start/to begin’) in variety contact of Low- and High German in the Westphalian and Emslandic areas. Based on qualitative and quantitative data analysis, we provide a model of the constructions within Cognitive Linguistics in the form of a two-dimensional geometric analysis of aspectual construals (Croft 2012) and Construction Grammar (Goldberg 1995).
Abstract
Synchronic variability is an essential characteristic of all human languages. However, issues of linguistic variation have only recently become a popular topic within the framework of construction grammar (cf. Hoffmann 2011), cognitive sociolinguistics (Geeraerts et al. 2010) and variety contact (Höder 2014). This paper investigates synchronic variation of perfect auxiliary constructions with the verb anfangen (‘to start/to begin’) in variety contact of Low- and High German in the Westphalian and Emslandic areas. Based on qualitative and quantitative data analysis, we provide a model of the constructions within Cognitive Linguistics in the form of a two-dimensional geometric analysis of aspectual construals (Croft 2012) and Construction Grammar (Goldberg 1995).
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface 1
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Part I. Constructions in contact
- Construction Grammar and language contact 5
- Grammar is community-specific 37
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Part II. Constructional variation and change in contact
- Towards a constructional analysis of the progressive aspect in Texas German 73
- Tense and aspect marking in (Low) German perfect constructions based on variety contact 115
- Distributional assimilation in constructional semantics 143
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Part III. Item-based patterns and constructional generalizations in contact
- Constructions as cross-linguistic generalizations over instances 181
- Texas German and English word order constructions in contact 211
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Part IV. Semantic frames in contact
- A constructional account of the modal particle ‘ja’ in Texas German 253
- Frames change in language contact environments 277
- Author index 311
- Index of constructions 313
- Subject index 315
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface 1
-
Part I. Constructions in contact
- Construction Grammar and language contact 5
- Grammar is community-specific 37
-
Part II. Constructional variation and change in contact
- Towards a constructional analysis of the progressive aspect in Texas German 73
- Tense and aspect marking in (Low) German perfect constructions based on variety contact 115
- Distributional assimilation in constructional semantics 143
-
Part III. Item-based patterns and constructional generalizations in contact
- Constructions as cross-linguistic generalizations over instances 181
- Texas German and English word order constructions in contact 211
-
Part IV. Semantic frames in contact
- A constructional account of the modal particle ‘ja’ in Texas German 253
- Frames change in language contact environments 277
- Author index 311
- Index of constructions 313
- Subject index 315
