Horodilova T. Grammatical Means for Interpretation of Negation in the History of the German language: Structure and Function

The thesis aims to reveal structural-semantic and functional peculiarities of the negative sentence in the German language of the eighth-seventeenth centuries. The study highlights the structural-semantic and functional characteristics of the negative sentence with singular and multiple negation in the German language of the eighth-seventeenth centuries; it reveals the main trends in the formation of the negation pattern, considering the processes of grammaticalization and language change during the three periods of the German language development, namely in Old High German (750-1050 AD), Middle High German (1050-1350 AD), and Early New High German (1350-1650 AD). The analysis of the structural and functional features of negative constructions was accomplished on the basis of generative grammar, in specific from the standpoint of the X-bar theory. The functioning peculiarities of the negative sentence formations are presented form the point of view of the information structure theory. The evolutionary path of the sentence negation development in the history of the German language is represented by a sequence of changes, evidenced by the reduction of negative elements, the appearance of new categorial units due to the transformation of pronouns, adverbs, etc. The key role in the transformation of the negation pattern in the German languahe was played by the principle of grammatical redundancy in a diachronic perspective, with the gradual elimination of redundant elements. It testifies in favor of an evolutionary explanation of changes that took place in Germanic languages.