Onginnan and beginnan, both meaning 'begin', allow two infinitival complements: the
infinitive with to and the bare infinitive (without to). There are syntactic and semantic
differences between the two constructions after these inchoative verbs which seem to point
to auxiliary status when these verbs are followed by the bare infinitive, and lexical status
when they are followed by the to-infinitive. As an auxiliary, onginnan/beginnan with the bare
infinitive is shown to have been subject to considerable semantic bleaching. When …