This comprehensive volume contains twenty-six out of thirty three papers that were presented at the International Conference on "Les Périphrases Verbales". The conference took place at the University of Caen-Basse-Normandie from June 25th to June 28th 2003, and was co-organized by the Crisco umr cnrs research group and the French Department at Tel Aviv University, Israel. The contributors to this volume aim to present a broad spectrum of theoretical approaches to the analysis of constructions entitled "périphrases verbales". Their work revolves around three central themes: the definition of these constructions and the distinction between certain verbal expressions and true periphrastic expressions; a particular meaning or function of these expressions; and specific nominal constructions considered as periphrastic expressions. The volume is divided into seven sections, each throwing light on a particular aspect of periphrastic expression from various perspectives. The issues discussed are: temporal and aspectual periphrases; auxiliaries, copula, and support verbs; causative periphrases; venire and aller + infinitive / participle; inchoative periphrases; modal periphrases; and the heritage of Gustave Guillaume.

Angela Schrott, Kassel, in Romanische Forschungen, 122 (2010):
Über die Einzelanalysen hinaus bietet der Band eine Zusammenschau, in der sich dank der thematisch kohärenten Kombinatorik der Beiträge grundlegende Fragestellungen im Bereich der Verbalperiphrasen deutlich herauskristallisieren, sodass der Band auch wertvolle methodisch-theoretische Klärungen leistet.