Third Party Funds Group - Sub project
Acronym: GRK 2839 Project 8
Start date : 01.10.2022
End date : 30.09.2027
Word formation processes occupy a central position in constructional space in that they involve
units which are small in size but nevertheless complex and because word formation processes
are located between the lexical and syntactic poles of this space (cf. Felfe 2012, Michel 2014).
However, studies on word formation in language change are rare. For this reason, we will address
one key aspect of the diachronic emergence of verbs with particles and prefixes in this project. In
the first phase, German verbs with durch-, hinter-, über-, um-, unter-, and wider- will be analysed
with respect to their formal and semantic change from initially loose syntagms to stable word
units. The change in the form-function pairs will be described alongside the variation and change
of the syntactic constructions in which they are embedded. In accordance with Booij’s view (2010:
3) that word formation patterns are “abstractions over sets of related words”, and that complex
words are based on constructional schemata, we are aiming to identify different levels of
abstraction for the combinations analysed. In the second phase, we want to uncover the multifacetted
network of the continuum of schematicity in diachrony by tracing the processes of
idiomatization resulting in non-transparent expressions. In the third phase, the conditions of the
spread of word formation change phenomena in the language will be analysed. Methodologically,
this is an empirical research project based on the analysis of historical language corpora of
German. In addition to historical word formation research, approaches of Construction Grammar
and Relational Morphology (Jackendoff & Audring 2020), grammaticalization research and
valency grammar are drawn upon.
The first phase of the project will involve analysing data from historical language corpora of
German such as the following: Deutsch Diachron Digital (DDD) Altdeutsch, Mittelhochdeutsch,
Frühneuhochdeutsch, Mittelhochdeutsche Begriffsdatenbank, GerManC, Deutsches Textarchiv (DTA) and DWDS. The analysis will include the description of all verbs with durch-, hinter-,
über-, um-, unter-, and wider- to be found in these corpora. The development of the selected
particles or prefixes will be studied phonologically and graphemically to determine
grammaticalization processes (erosion, univerbization) diachronically. All of these verb
combinations will be described (and annotated, wherever possible) morphologically (word
formation base, separable particle or non-separable prefix, etc.) and syntactically (valency,
semantic role, lexical filler of slots, syntactic collocations, topology). Subsequently, the individual
verbs will be assigned to semantically defined schemas (e.g. ‘local’, ‘aspectual’) and
subschemata defined by their specific word formation components and their syntactic
environment.This part of the project will focus on the GRQ CON1 (How do we identify
constructions – in this case, to what extent do word formation schemata differ from lexical items,
and what is construction change in word formation?; cf. Hilpert 2013, Jackendoff & Audring
2020).
The second phase of the project will deal with constraints on open slots in syntactic use and their
semantic fixation on certain words: for example, in the construction x geht um, literally ‘x walks
around’, the x slot was highly productive in MHG, whereas in NHG it is restricted to ein Gespenst
‘a ghost’, eine Seuche ‘a plague’, eine Liste ‘a list’ and a small number of related NPs. We will
model the processes and degrees of idomaticity in meaning change in terms of a "continuum of
schematicity" (Croft & Cruse 2004: 255). The data for different periods will be analysed
synchonically before a diachronic analysis is attempted – cf. Habermann (in press). This part of
the project will address the GRQs CON2 (How can we operationalize the degree of lexical
specificity vs. productivity of construction slots?).
A third aim of this research will ask to what extent some factors favour the spread of word
formation constructions from individual use in particular situations, text types, or regions to more
general use throughout society (as far as this can be seen historically). To find an answer to this
question, the verbs of the text corpus will be described (and annotated) for frequency, with special
attention paid to hapax legomena, taking into account factors such as individual usage (author),
stylistic (text type) and regional context (see also Bybee 2015). (This latter aspect could be
extended in a follow-up project in the second phase of the RTG.) This part of the project will
address GRQs ENT1 (How do frequency, salience and dispersion influence entrenchment?) and
USE4 (How do the factors communicative intentions, socioeconomic status, and dialect result in
language change at the community level at different timescales?)