Chapter 1. Communication, emotions and expressivity -- 1.1. Aim and scope -- 1.2. Contextualizations -- 1.3. Leading concepts -- Chapter 2. The so-called possessive dative -- 2.1. Plan of discussion -- 2.2. Introduction -- 2.3. Dative and possession -- 2.4. Meaning surplus -- 2.5. Synopsis -- Chapter 3 The ethic dative -- 3.1. Plan of discussion -- 3.2. The state of the art -- 3.3. The ethic dative as speaker's attachment -- 3.4. Ethic dative versus benefactive dative? -- 3.5. Synopsis -- Chapter 4. The expanded form -- 4.1. Plan of discussion -- 4.2. The Modern English form and its function -- 4.3. The expanded form in early usage: Bede's Ecclesiastical History -- 4.4. Challenge and reconciliation -- 4.5. Glancing at Modern English anew -- 4.6. Synopsis -- Chapter 5. The present perfect -- 5.1. Plan of discussion -- 5.2. Orientation marks -- 5.3. Against tense-based views -- 5.4. Toward a non-temporal view of the present perfect -- 5.5. Time frames -- 5.6. The use of the present perfect in the history of English -- 5.7. Synopsis -- Chapter 6. The periphrastic do -- 6.1. Plan of discussion -- 6.2. Introduction -- 6.3. The do-periphrasis in affirmative statements -- 6.4. The do-periphrasis in negations and questions -- 6.5. Case study: A Supplicacyon for the Beggers -- 6.6. The development of the do-periphrasis toward present-day English usage -- 6.7. Synopsis -- Chapter 7. The get-passive -- 7.1. Plan of discussion -- 7.2. Main-stream concepts and alternatives -- 7.3. What's passive about get + V-ed? -- 7.4. Instrumental condition of the get-passive -- 7.5. Propositional condition of the get-passive -- 7.6. Attachment -- 7.7. Case study: S. Terkel, Working. People talk about what they do all day and how they feel about what they do -- 7.8. Synopsis -- Chapter 8. Putting the results in perspective: Grammar and the Self -- 8.1. The major results.

8.2. Subjectification -- 8.3. A cultural-historical frame -- Notes -- References -- Index of authors -- Index of subjects.