Acknowledgments

Many metaphors could be used to describe the process of working on a text, of revising it and eventually seeing it published. No matter which words one chooses, this work becomes part of the author’s life – and the lives of people connected with them. These connections with and contributions of others that lead to the publication of this work are manifold and I am deeply thankful for each and every one of them and I will not be able to list all those that affected me and my work. Yet, some people and their impact must not go unmentioned. First of all, I want to thank Klaus P. Schneider for recognizing and appreciating my idea for a doctoral thesis, for guiding me through some rough decisions, for staying interested and for encouraging me. Thanks a million!

In addition, I want to thank my colleagues in Bochum and Bonn for always being patient with me, especially all my colleagues at bael (what a bunch of abnormally enthusiastic linguists we were and always will be), in particular Pawel Sickinger and Elisabeth Hampel along with my friend Rena Tebernum for being my emergency support group back on that special day in December; also Sabine Jautz, Michelle Kühnel, and Verena Minow, for their open ears, eyes and many helpful remarks on the manuscript, as well as Julia Salzinger, Birgit Krüper and many more for the needed moral support.

Above anyone else, though, I want to thank my family: my parents for making all of this possible; my husband Christoph for being the best it helpdesk I could ever wish for but even more for being my rock in times of turmoil and sharing the joys in revealing interesting things in research and life and, last but not least, my wonderful sons, Felix and Moritz, for being the most wonderful “distraction” one could ever hope for.

Thank you all for believing, throughout these years, that this work would still be published.