The German present perfect from a contrastive perspective

Lecture by Hanna Fischer, University of Marburg. 

The lecture is open to all.

Abstract

Combining both temporal and aspectual construals the present perfect forms are the most fascinating expressions. Especially when comparing the form-meaning relations in related languages and varieties, we can recognize language-specific similarities and differences in the dynamics of the tense and aspect systems. Based on historical and dialect data, the presentation will focus on the development of the present perfect in the history of German and its modern dialects. Especially, processes like the perfect expansion and the loss of preterite forms will be discussed. The findings will be compared to other European languages as e.g., English, Danish, and Swedish. As an outlook, double-perfect constructions will be discussed as they are part of a bigger picture in which a repeated process of emergence and loss of aspectual distinctions is displayed.