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Perfect Auxiliary Selection in the Old Saxon Heliand

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2008

Carlee Arnett
Carlee Arnett
Affiliation:
University of MichiganDepartment of Germanic Languages & Literatures3110 Modern Languages BuildingAnn Arbor, MI 48109–1275 [carnett@umich.edu]
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Shannon (1990) argues that the notions of lexical aspect (Aktionsart) and transitivity are a central part of perfect auxiliary variation. This paper builds on Shannon's (1993, 1995) analyses of perfect auxiliary selection in German and other related languages. Shannon accounts for perfect auxiliary variation by means of prototypes for high transitivity and high mutativity as well as the notion of Aktionsart. This paper examines the transitivity/mutativity parameters and the concept of Aktionsart using the examples of perfect auxiliary + past participle found in the Old Saxon Heliand. An examination of some 150 examples reveals that the choice of auxiliary can be explained by Aktionsart and a definition of transitivity that is characterized by conceptual imagery.

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Articles
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Journal of Germanic Linguistics , Volume 9 , Issue 1 , Spring 1997 , pp. 23 - 72
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Copyright © Society for Germanic Linguistics 1997

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