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Elena Smirnova: Rekonstruktion eines Grammatikalisierungsprozesses. Entwicklung der Konstruktion würde + Infinitiv zum Konjunktiv II-Grammem

In modern German, the periphrasis würde + infinitive is an analytic alternative to the synthetic preterit subjunctive. This construction acquired this function in the course of the New High German period, and as a consequence has become largely detached from other formations in which werden is coupled with the infinitive. The present article seeks to demonstrate that the development of this construction into a subjunctive grammeme represents a process of grammaticalization. This particular process begins in the paradigm of werden + infinitive, but gradually detaches itself from the development of other formations of the type werden + infinitive and ends with the development of würde + infinitive with a modal function. The three successive stages in this process are described in detail.