The diachrony of light and auxiliary verbs in Indo-Aryan

This study examines the historical development of light verbs in Indo-Aryan. I investigate the origins of the modern Indo-Aryan compound verb construction, and compare this construction with other light verb constructions in Indo-Aryan. Examination of the antecedents of the Indo-Aryan compound verb construction alongside other Indo-Aryan light verb constructions, combined with analysis of lexical and morphosyntactic differences between the compound verb systems of two Indo-Aryan languages (Hindi and Nepali), demonstrate that light verbs are not a stable or unchanging part of grammar, but rather undergo a variety of changes, including reanalysis as tense/aspect auxiliaries.