Jurgis
Pakerys
Vilnius
University
Old Prussian dāt ‘give’ in causative and hortative constructions
Extended
uses of Old Prussian dāt ‘give’ are studied to
demonstrate independent and German-influenced developments. The permissive
function of this predicate is argued to be original and historically and
areally shared by Baltic, Slavic and Finnic languages, while factitive and
hortative constructions are regarded as copies of corresponding German lassen-constructions.
The German influence is also seen in the coding of the causee when it is marked
by the accusative instead of the original dative. In general, Old Prussian
shows effects of interference with German lassen-constructions
similar to the ones observed in West Slavic and western South Slavic languages
(von Waldenfels 2015).
Keywords: verbs of
possession transfer, periphrastic causative constructions, periphrastic
hortative constructions, language contact, Old Prussian, German