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In:Discourse-oriented Syntax
Edited by Josef Bayer, Roland Hinterhölzl and Andreas Trotzke
[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today 226] 2015
► pp. 159–174

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The particle how

 | Arizona State University
Published online: 16 December 2015
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.226.07gel
Words that function in the lower part of the clause can be reanalyzed as base generated in the higher part. In this paper, I examine how the manner and degree adverb how also functions as a conjunction and yes/no marker. The latter two uses, though not accepted by all native speakers, go back quite a long time. The paper contributes to the discussion about an inventory of features so important in Minimalism since the mid 1990s by arguing that the grammaticalization of how involves a loss of certain features but an increase in others.
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