Tracking shifts in the literal versus the intensifying fake reflexive resultative construction

Abstract

This paper explores diachronic shifts in the literal and intensifying uses of dood 'dead' in the Dutch fake reflexive resultative construction. Without sufficient context, a clause like Hij werkte zich dood (lit. 'He worked himself dead') is ambiguous in that it is unclear whether dood expresses an actual result of the activity denoted by the verb or whether it intensifies that verbal activity. We will investigate shifts in the (relative) type and token frequencies of both subtypes over the last two centuries and show that the intensifying use has become predominant. Particular attention is paid to the notion of productivity, which may help us to elucidate the possible pathways along which dood -in its function as an intensifier -is moving. By taking into account the variety of verbs that dood has occurred with since the early 19th Century, we aim to assess whether the dramatic increase in relative frequency of intensifying dood is paralleled by a concomitant extension of its collocational range or, conversely, whether this increase in frequency is mainly due to the rise of some highly frequent collocations.

Degree Resultatives as Second-Order Constructions

“…However, not all types of degree resultatives increase in token frequency throughout the two centuries we are considering. One of the more prominent constructions is type 1 in English and type 4 in Dutch: the predicates to death/dood, which peak around 1900 in English (a little later in Dutch) and then decline a bit (presumably as a result of new competitors stepping in, as suggested in Gyselinck & Colleman 2016b). In figure 3, we show the number of new combinations verb + to death/dood per half century.…”

Volgordevariatie in groepen met receptief krijgen + voltooid deelwoord in de Nederlands Nederlandse krantentaal1

“…Colleman & Rens (2016) presenteren de resultaten van een verkennend corpusonderzoek waaruit blijkt dat die voorstelling enigszins achterhaald is, tenminste voor het Nederlandse Nederlands. Er werd daarvoor gewerkt met het door Gyselinck (2018) samengestelde sample uit de bijzonder omvangrijke verzameling van 17de-tot 20ste-eeuwse Nederlandse krantenpagina's uit de collectie van de Koninklijke Bibliotheek van Nederland. 2 Meer bepaald werd uit Gyselincks sample het materiaal voor zeven meetpunten geselecteerd, nl.…”