On the Diachronic Nature of Marathi Light Verbs

The diachronic nature of Indo-aryan light verbs has been a matter of debate. Scholars like Hook (1991, 1993) and Slade (2013) consider light verbs to have emerged as a resultant of diachronic change; whereas Butt and Lahiri (2002, 2013) opine that light verbs are historically stable and resistant to change. In the light of these views, the present paper traces the Marathi light verbs across time to i. show that their pattern is indicative of gradual emergence rather than historical stability, and ii. affirm Butt and Lahiriís (2013) observation that once established, they show little change in terms of their semantics and morphophonology.