FROM VERBS OF MOTION TO ASPECTUAL AND COPULA VERBS A INTRA 'ENTER' AND A IESI 'EXIT'

The paper discusses the trajectory that the two initially verbs of motion intra 'enter' and iesi 'exit' undergo from verbs of motion to copula verbs and the mechanisms the come to designate a become/quasi-resultative meaning, passing through a partially common type of evolution. We argue that the mechanism which can explain their evolution is reanalysis. The verb intra goes from the motion meaning through an inceptive meaning ('begin a process') to the become meaning ('acquire a new status or rank), with the switch context being that with an adjectival predication. The verb ieV goes from the motion meaning through a terminative meaning ('end a process') to a quasi-resultative meaning ('about a process') end up in a certain way'), with the switch context most likely being that with a nominal predication.