Reportatives sollen in historischen deutschen Zeitungen (1660–1954)

This study conducts a quantitative analysis of reportative sollen in historical German newspapers (1660–1954). The study shows that, throughout the investigated period, the conditions triggering the possible readings of sollen remained stable and are linked to the presence of an information source either in the nearer or broader context of sollen. Additionally, the study highlights a steady decrease in sollen under impersonal speech report predicates. This could suggest that sollen evolved into a reportative marker by taking on the reportative function formerly expressed by its superordinate (impersonal) reporting clause. Further investigations of sollen are needed to prove this hypothesis.