This first chapter introduces the reader to the central research questions and hypotheses investigated in this book. In particular, it discusses the role that the morphologically and semantically related simple verbs (e.g. notice in the case of take notice of) may play for the semantic evolution of the CPs. It draws on previous literature, showing that not much has been done in the way of studying the role of the simple verb. Further, the chapter introduces other factors that may help predict or explain the evolution of the CPs. The chapter is rounded off by a summary of the book’s structure.

Chapter 2 reviews previous literature on the evolution of composite predicates and discusses the relevance of these studies for the present investigation. While the present study is more interested in the semantic and syntactic changes that the CPs go through than in the question of whether they go down the path of grammaticalization or lexicalization, Section 2.1 briefly reviews how the evolution of the CPs has previously been classified as either type of development, with a only a few studies suggesting a combination of the two theories (Section 2.1). Next, I report on what previous research (on CPs) has to say on the notions of ’idiomatization’ (and its limitations) and ’specialization’ (Section 2.2). It is the latter concept that is the most relevant one for the present study. The chapter is rounded off by a review of how the NP status of the complements (e.g. use in make use of) may change over time (Section 2.3).