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René Schiering: Flektierte Präpositionen im Deutschen? Neue Evidenz aus dem Ruhrgebiet

The present article has the aim of reviving the discussion about the extent to which the blended/fused forms (Verschmelzungsformen) in German have undergone grammaticalization. The form and function of blended/fused forms consisting of preposition + definite article in a corpus of spoken language from the Ruhr have been investigated, and the inventory of these forms is related to that of the uncontracted preposition + article syntagma. The article goes on to define their grammatical status and they are compared with the contracted form in use in standard and colloquial German. This comparison reveals that the morphological system of Ruhr German has developed a comprehensive paradigm of prepositional agreement. Finally, the grammaticalization of the definite article described here is fitted into the broader context of research into grammaticalization as a whole.