Article published In: Studies in Language
Vol. 50:1 (2026) ► pp.160–205
BE-perfects and grammaticalization in Bulgarian and Lithuanian
A study based on data from Facebook comments
Published online: 9 October 2025
https://doi.org/10.1075/sl.23042.kap
https://doi.org/10.1075/sl.23042.kap
Abstract
The goal of this paper is to put the semantic functions of the Lithuanian and Bulgarian perfects into a
perspective of the grammaticalization cline specific to BE-perfects, i.e., perfects that exclusively use auxiliaries derived from
verbs meaning ‘to be’. The study is based on synchronic data and on the idea that diachronic conceptual shifts, characteristic of
grammaticalization, are reflected in synchronic variation. The analysis follows semantic links between perfect functions from
statives and resultative constructions to experientials and evidentials. Quantitative frequency data from genre-parallel
collections of Facebook comments in Bulgarian and Lithuanian shows that, in both doculects, auxiliaries are more frequently
omitted with less grammaticalized perfect functions, while with cross-linguistically typical functions the auxiliary is more
frequently present. In Bulgarian, the auxiliary-drop tendency resurfaces with evidential functions of the perfect. I argue that
this auxiliary usage pattern aligns with the grammaticalization cline of BE-perfects.
Keywords: BE-perfect, grammaticalization, auxiliary, Bulgarian, Lithuanian
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 1.1Defining the Perfect
- 1.2Grammaticalization of HAVE- and BE-perfects
- 1.3Bulgarian and Lithuanian perfects
- 2.Data and methodology
- 3.Semantic functions of Bulgarian and Lithuanian perfects
- 3.1Statives
- 3.2Subject-oriented resultatives
- 3.3Possessive resultatives
- 3.4Transitive resultatives
- 3.5Current relevance perfects
- 3.6Experientials
- 3.7Cumulative, sufficitive, and durative perfects
- 3.8Evidential functions
- 4.Results
- 4.1Grammaticalization pathways of Lithuanian and Bulgarian BE-perfects
- 4.2Statistical analysis of auxiliary usage
- 5.Conclusions
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
- Abbreviations
References Data sources
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