This monograph is an investigation of cliticization processes attested throughout Otfrid von
Weissenburg's Old High German Evangelienbuch. Its central argument may be simply stated:
attestations such as meg ih (< mag ih) 'I am able to ' theiz (< thaz iz) 'that it ' and wolt er
(< wolta er) 'he wanted' comprise a host and clitic and are all manifestations of one unified
process of cliticization. Establishing the crucial elements of the argument however requires
that we reach beyond a phonological and prosodic account of the cliticization process. In order
to show that attested clitic groups are actively produced as opposed to lexically listed or
grammaticalized this work examines Otfridian clause structure an analysis that provides an
alternative to the more traditional treatment of clitics within the framework of
grammaticalization theory. Finally as the Evangelienbuch is a work of poetry the effect of
the meter on cliticization patterns is also addressed.
