I propose a diachronic analysis of degree constructions within a representative corpus of Romanian texts (starting from the 16th century). The historical observations have the aim of highlighting certain aspects pertaining to the present-day language, a phase in which certain syntactic or interpretative changes have occurred. It is generally acknowledged that, gradually, the inventory of degree markers has expanded. I establish the syntactic-semantic particularities of the patterns in succession, insisting especially on grammaticalization phenomena in comparative and in superlative structures as well.
I insist on certain aspects of syntactic variation among which are the following: the status of degree markers (grammaticalized or undergoing a grammaticalization process), the syntactic structure of the degree phrase, the free word order.
Key words:
română veche, operator, topică, gramaticalizare
old Romanian, marker, word order, grammaticalization
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Journal “Diacronia” ISSN: 2393-1140 Frequency: 2 issues / year