Zur Diachronie der Valenz von Verbphrasemen mit der Struktur Adjektiv + Kopula

Abstract

Abstract Some adjectives in the German language can only be used in connection with a copula verb (e. g., ansichtig werden and eingedenk sein/bleiben). Other adjectives can have different meanings, among which a particular meaning restricted to predicative use (i. a. bar sein). Since these constructions consist of an adjective and a fixed verb component, they can be classified as phrasemes or even as verb phrasemes. Verb phrasemes and one-word lexemes can demand a certain number of complements with a particular form and syntactic function and a certain meaning. The choice of the valency characteristics of phrasemes with a predicative adjective as the subject of this article is explained by the fact they have not yet been systematically analyzed concerning the diachronic perspective. The research approach and method examine each phraseme in its valency occurrences, documenting these by examples found in historical and modern dictionaries as well as in corpora of different kinds from Old High German to Modern German. The valency occurrences consist of a combination of complements, which are recorded as so-called complete valency. Both the quantitative and qualitative variation of complements are contained in the complete valency and can therefore be called polyvalency. Quantitative polyvalency refers to the number of complements while qualitative polyvalency refers to the type of complements. Each combination of complements found in the research material is illustrated with an example. Finally, the quantitative and qualitative valency developments are summarized in a short commentary.