Summary and outlook

The epilogue sets the book off against previous studies of the subjunctive. It summarizes the main results and derives rewarding topics for future studies from them. The frequency rise of subjunctives in main clauses at the end of the 14th century after its previous decreaseinvites an investigation of this construction type in the following periods. The hypothesis of the importance of the simplification of the verbal paradigm for the frequency decrease of the subjunctive is challenged by the observation that third person singular subjunctives contributed most to the survival of the category mood in all periods. This may be only one of the outstanding features of this form of the verbal paradigm. Changing genre conventions were found to correlate with changes in subjunctive use, and this opens a new perspective for genre studies. The inclusion of the category modality in the definition of the subjunctive allows answers to many questions about subjunctive use, among them its different development in individual construction types and adverbial clauses as well as the role it plays in periods of highly valued modal harmony.