Acknowledgements

This book represents a revised version of my PhD thesis, which I defended in June 2021. I would like to thank my supervisor Anne Barron at Leuphana University Lüneburg for her continued support, encouragement and friendship over the years. Her example and the academic freedoms and responsibilities she has given me have taught me great lessons. I am also grateful to Billy Clark, Manuel Padilla-Cruz and two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and valuable suggestions. Without them, the book would have been less nuanced and a much rougher read. Thanks also to Anita Fetzer, the P&BNS series editor, and Isja Conen and Susan Hendriks at John Benjamins for their excellent support during the editing and publication process. Needless to say, all remaining errors in the text are my own. I also thank Sonja Kleinke and John Kirk, my professors at the University of Heidelberg and Queen’s University Belfast, for inspiring me to specialise in linguistics and encouraging me to pursue a PhD degree. Finally, my deepest gratitude is to my family. My parents Svetla and Trayan gave me my wings and I will be forever indebted to them for their sacrifices and faith in me. I thank my husband Eugen for his endless patience and for his unconditional love and friendship. I like to joke that this book is co-authored. I came up with the most significant ideas in it and finally got my thesis finished while our baby daughter was making saltos in my belly. Anna, you are an inspiration like no other.