Zur Distribution von Irrelevanzpartikeln in was immer/auch-Konstruktionen. Positionelle und kombinatorische Varianz im Deutschen Referenzkorpus

The present study is concerned with the distributional patterns of the so-called "irrelevance particles" immer 'ever' and 'auch' in German universal concessive conditionals and free relatives (e.g. was immer wir auch versuchen 'whatever we try'). In contrast to languages such as English, where irrelevance is conveyed by a single element in a fixed position (-ever), German has multiple positions for and combinations of immer and auch, whose distribution is mostly simplified in reference works on German syntax and grammar. Following the example of a previous study by Leuschner (2000), the present study aims at a more adequate description of the particle distribution, based on a significantly larger sample of 8734 clauses with the WH-word was 'what' from the DeReKo-corpus. The distributional patterns in subordinate clauses ('primary constructions') and their elliptically reduced forms ('secondary constructions') are analyzed using statistical methods, and the functional motivation of the patterns is analysed. It is concluded that need for disambiguation and ease of reanalysis play an important role in the rise of the respective patterns and of secondary constructions from primary ones.

http://ift.tt/2gYuvGF