On the Question about the Grammaticalization of Subjectless Constructions in German

Abstract

This paper is a corpus-based study on the active subjectless clauses in contemporary German. First, I defined the object of research by referring to the definition of subjectless clauses and their differentiation from other impersonal clauses. Then the historical development of the German subjectless pattern is presented and compared with its development in other Germanic languages as in English and Icelandic. Finally, the different mechanisms of subjectification are analyzed and the question is discussed, how this structure change can be explained. The aim of this study is to show that such structures, even if today they can be considered as language relics because of their very low incidence, constitute an unconcluded phase in the grammaticalization process of formal subject-es. That is due to the fact, that the impersonal construction was displaced to the periphery of the language system as a result of German subject prominence.