Rise of the Composite Present Perfect Tense in Polish with the Verb mieć ‘to Have’ as an Auxiliary

Abstract

V prispevku je obravnavan nastanek perfekta, sestavljenega časa sodobne poljščine, in sicer v okviru treh indoevropskih jezikov – angleščine, nemščine ter španščine. Čeprav kategorije perfekta jezikovni priročniki za poljski jezik ne navajajo, ga bo najbrž kmalu potrebno vključiti v slovnice in ga obravnavati ločeno, kot na primer v angleščini in španščini. Avtor prispevka prikazuje razvoj perfekta v angleščini in španščini ter prihaja do zaključka, da poljščina doživlja podoben proces. In this paper we discuss the phenomenon of the rise of the complex present perfect tense in modern Polish in the context of three Indo- European languages: English, German, and Spanish. Although the category of the present perfect tense does not exist in grammar books of the Polish language, it will probably soon need to be included, and the present perfect tense will be treated as a separate grammatical tense, as is the case in English and Spanish. While discussing the trajectory of the development of the present perfect tense in English and Spanish, we arrive at the conclusion that the Polish language is undergoing a similar process.