Synchronic variation as a result of grammaticalization: concessive subjunctions in German and Italian

Abstract

In this paper, the grammaticalization of German and Italian concessive subjunctions is analyzed from a primarily synchronic perspective. On the basis of data drawn from contemporary written texts it will be shown that different stages of ongoing grammaticalization can coexist synchronically. Morphological, semantic, and syntactic parameters of grammaticalization turn out to be closely interrelated, with the two languages - German and Italian - showing considerable similarities. Morphologically, concessive subjunctions are complex, mostly consisting of an adverbial subjunction and a focus particle. Progressive grammaticalization leads to tighter integration of the individual components and to loss of productivity of the wordformation pattern. Semantically, grammaticalization results in an increased bleaching of the original meaning (mostly conditional, but also temporal and quantitative). Syntactically, highly integrated subjunctions tend to occur more frequently in tightly integrated hypotactic constructions: in subordinate clauses without a finite verb, in interposed subordinate clauses, in subordinate clauses followed by a superordinate clause with verb-first position (in German) and in subordinate clauses with a subjunctive (in Italian).