Conjunction Constructions of Non-Valency Determined Infinitives um zu, ohne zu, statt zu in German Scientific Texts for Special Purposes

In the article, the theoretical status of infinitive constructions um zu, ohne zu, statt zu in the German language and principal aspects of their analysis in scientific linguistic literature are discussed: division of infinitive constructions with regard to valency, latent subject, relation of infinitive constructions with subordinate clauses, variants of meaning of these constructions and conditions of usage. The attention is drawn to the fact that in the majority of grammars, usage of infinitive constructions in specialized and scientific texts is mentioned indirectly or only in connection with the impact of these constructions on the text condensation/brevity. This article aims at the more comprehensive analysis of non-valency-determined infinitive constructions um zu, ohne zu, statt zu in specialized and scientific German texts on the basis of works by G. Helbig, O. Leys and S. Zifonun. The conjunction infinitive constructions um zu, ohne zu, statt zu is chosen as the subject matter due to the frequent occurrence in the texts under analysis, the multifunctionality and variety of its transformation opportunities. In this work, the variants of meaning of non-valency-determined infinitive constructions um zu (semantic aspect) and conditions of usage (pragmatic and cognitive aspects) are integrated, and the transformation of this syntactic phenomenon to other syntactic constructions.