Abstract
Abstract The loss of the preterite form in German dialects is still a disputed and unresolved matter. The article summarizes the results of a new study that analyzes several dialectological documentations (e. g. dialect grammars, dialect atlases) and recognizes the areal distribution of the loss of the preterite as a threefold scale (number of preterite building verbs, frequency of forms, hierarchy in loss of forms). On this basis the article reconstructs the historical process of the loss of the preterite and suggests an integrative explanation of the described process as the result of the semantic and functional expansion of the German present perfect.
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