Polski bezokolicznik celu przy czasownikach ruchu

Abstract

POLISH INFINITIVE OF PURPOSE WITH MOTION VERBS The authors of the article discuss Polish verbal constructions with an infinitive indicating the purpose of the motion, such as pobiegł otworzyć drzwi (he ran to open the door). In the first part of the study, the authors describe the research field, separating lexicalised expressions such as [ktoś] idzie spać ([someone] goes to sleep), (nie) idzie wytrzymać (it is hard to bear this), spieszę donieść, że… (I’m in a rush to report that…). The second part is devoted to the formal characteristics of structures with the infinitive of purpose. The semantic aspects of the studied structures are considered in the third part of the article. The authors present several arguments contradicting the common view that the analysed expressions and the corresponding structures with a subordinate purpose clause are synonymous. Part four of the study provides information on the status of the examined structures in contemporary Polish. Their formal and semantic properties suggest that they are products of a semantic-syntactic operation. In the last, fifth section of the article, the authors place Polish verbal constructions with the infinitive of purpose against a broader typological background, considering their relationship with similar expressions in other languages, which are at various stages of grammaticalization.