[Lingtyp] query: 1st syllable deletion

[Christian Lehmann]

Am 02.11.22 um 11:33 schrieb Randy LaPolla:
> Good question, David!
> Not a matter of phonetics or morphology, though.
> Possibly a simple pragmatic phenomenon where predictable elements, 
> especially topics, can be left unspoken.
> Common in many languages.
> Not considered “grammatical” in English, but maybe English is changing.
>
> Randy
>
Judging from German, Randy seems to be on the right track here. See:

Lehmann, Christian 1991, “Grammaticalization and related changes in 
contemporary German”. Traugott, Elizabeth C. & Heine, Bernd (eds.), 
/Approaches to grammaticalization/. Vol. II: Focus on types of 
grammatical markers. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: J. Benjamins (Typological 
Studies in Language, 19:2); 2:493-535. [ download 
<https://www.researchgate.net/publication/246338410_Grammaticalization_and_related_changes_in_contemporary_German> 
]; section 5.2.

Best,
Christian
-- 

Prof. em. Dr. Christian Lehmann
Rudolfstr. 4
99092 Erfurt
Deutschland

Tel.: 	+49/361/2113417
E-Post: 	christianw_lehmann at arcor.de
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