Abstract
As has been observed in the latest studies on the get verbs in English (Gronemeyer 2001a, 2001b), Swedish (Viberg 2002), Thai (Takahashi 2006), and German (Lenz 2008), and on acquisitive modals in the languages of Northern Europe and South(east) Asia (van der Auwera, Kehayov, and Vittrant 2009), these verbs are highly polysemous and have a modal meaning of possibility and/or necessity. The present paper is concerned with a synchronic variation pertaining to two Lithuanian acquisitive verbs: gauti (‘get’) and tekti (‘be gotten’). The purpose of the present study is twofold: first, it aims to reveal the range of modal meanings expressed by the two verbs; second, it intends to analyse the potential for grammaticalization of the acquisitive modality in Lithuanian. We will also look at the frequency of acquisitive modal meanings as this parameter can cast light on the patterns and dynamics of language change. Grammaticalization is viewed as a process encompassing a broad range of changes that involve semantic shift and bleaching, frequency increase, reduction of syntagmatic variability and syntacticization (Bybee 2002, 2003; Heine 1993; Heine and Kuteva 2005; Lehmann 2002; Traugott 2003; Traugott and Dasher 2003).
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