Untersuchungen zur Theorie der Grammatikalisierung am Beispiel des Westmitteldeutschen

Hitherto, research on grammaticalization has been largely language-typological and universalist in its leanings and as such has been consistently gaining ground within the framework of German studies. The present monograph proposes a theory of grammaticalization collating various approaches and discussing them on a broad empirical basis. The material drawn upon is largely taken from spoken West Central German. The area covered by the grammaticalization phenomena discussed is documented on 16 language maps. The inclusion of diachronic analyses places the present-day grammaticalization processes in a broader context.