Sind Sie noch bei der Arbeit oder schon am Arbeiten? Regionale Spielarten von Progressivität im Deutschen

Abstract

Progressivity in German can be expressed not only by lexical means but also by various periphrastic structures, e. g. the am-periphrasis, the prepositions bei and in combined with nominalized infinitives or the periphrastic infinitival construction with the auxiliary verb tun. However, the use of these structures can vary considerably from region to region, especially in oral communication, often also in connection with significant diastratic, diaphasic and diamesic variation. This paper investigates native speaker judgments of different progressive markers in German (i. e. am-periphrasis, beim- and im-periphrases as well as tun-periphrasis) regarding their acceptability, use, familiarity and distribution in a particular geographical area or social group. The present study essentially focuses on regional differences between three distinct dialectal regions of the German-speaking area (Middle Bavarian, South Bavarian and Rhenish-Westphalian). Results indicate a tendency towards successive advancement of the am-peri-phrasis, even though the actual usage of this specific progressive construction still shows clear diatopic and diaphasic variation.