Anmerkungen zur Funktionsgeltung periphrastischer Vergangenheitsformen des Indikativs im Althochdeutschen

Abstract The traditional view that Old High German – like all old West Germania – has two paradigmatized synthetic tense forms, present and past, as well as syntactic constructions with pre-auxiliaries ›have‹ and ›be‹ as – not yet paradigmatized – archetypes of analytical tense forms of the perfect and pluperfect, have been partially relativized in recent research. The tense periphrases are said to have a higher degree of grammaticality than previously assumed. The article primarily deals with the question of the criteria of grammaticality of tense periphrases, which are largely redefined, taking into account their functional performance in the narrative and descriptive-evaluative discourse mode in comparison to New High German. It is shown that the Old High German evidence demonstrates an overall high level of systematic use of tense periphrases in both event time and reference time readings and can therefore be classified in the periphrastic part of the tense paradigm. Further evidence of this is the full verb selection, which already in Old High German goes far beyond a genuine possessive relation of the syntactic archetype.