Date of Award
January 2015
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Languages and Cultures
First Advisor
John Sundquist
Committee Member 1
Jennifer M Williams
Committee Member 2
Jeff Turco
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to understand the meaning of the present perfect in Modern German and also, to trace its development in the early stages of German. Therefore, the synchronic analysis, in which I analyze articles from a famous German magazine, is combined with the diachronic study of the present perfect attestations in Old High German and Middle High German. This study is conducted within a Complexity-Theory and Emergent Grammar approach in which languages are viewed as dynamic system that changes over time, and grammar is seen as an epiphenomenon and a result of communicative needs among speakers.
Recommended Citation
Concu, Valentina, "The Historical Evolution of the German Present Perfect from the Perspective of Complexity Theory and Emergent Grammar" (2015). Open Access Theses. 1174.
https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_theses/1174