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?).