Work

Should a conditional marker arise … The diachronic development of conditional sollte in German

Year: 2019

Type: article

Abstract: Like other Germanic languages, German has a modal verb that, when used in the protasis of a conditional, does not have one of the modal meanings it has in other contexts, but only seems to underline the conditional meaning. The current paper looks at the diachronic development of conditional sollen, and shows how the past (subjunctive) form sollte, particularly in V1-protases, is in the process of developing into a pure conditional marker. Following Breitbarth (2015) and Breitbarth et al. (2016), this development is analysed in a framework combining Roberts & Roussou’s (2003) Minimalist approach to grammaticalization with a cartographic analysis of modality and conditionals based on Cinque (1999) and Haegeman (2010b).

Source: Glossa a journal of general linguistics

DOI: 10.5334/gjgl.599

Author: Anne Breitbarth

Institution: Ghent University

Language: English

Topic: Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation

Subfield: Language and Linguistics

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $551

Funder: Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek