Diachrony of Italian complex preposition fino a

Abstract

This paper aims at analyzing the lexicalization path leading to the formation of the Contemporary Italian complex preposition fino a. The first section of the work describes the theoretical issues related to the processes involved in the development of complex prepositions, i.e. grammaticalization and lexicalization. The second part of the paper is devoted to the analysis of the historical pathways leading to the reanalysis of fino a. For this purpose, data extracted from Latin, Old and Contemporary Italian corpora are investigated.