Arkhipova I.V. Intracategorial syncretism in German taxis

This article examines the manifestations of intracategorial syncretism within the functional‑semantic category of taxis in modern German. The object of analysis is polytactic prepositions (bei, mit, durch), which, by introducing prepositional deverbatives, form not isolated meanings of temporal correlation, but syncretic semantic complexes integrating taxis with modal, instrumental, conditional, or causal qualifications of verbal action. The work objective is to provide a systematic description of these complexes and the factors that actualize them. Using examples obtained through targeted sampling from the German Digital Dictionary (DWDS), functional‑semantic analysis is used to identify and classify the main types of secondary‑tactic semantic complexes (modal, instrumental‑medial, conditional, and causal). It is demonstrated that the polysemy of these prepositions is systemic and is a key mechanism for the formation of hybrid categorial meanings. The realization of a specific complex is determined by the interaction of the prototypical semantics of the preposition, the lexical‑semantic class of the deverbative, and contextual actualizers. It is concluded that intracategorial syncretism, explicated through polytactic prepositions, is not a peripheral, but a system‑forming property of taxis in German.