The aim of the study is finding out whether it is possible to draw diachronic conclusions on synchronic variation of an observed linguistic phenomenon. To find an answer, I observe the synchronic variation of the verb licet in Plautus and Terence’s comedies. The study revealed that licet performs five separate functions: a pre-modal one, modal functions, including deontic and epistemic, and two additional: a confirmative function and a concessive one. After comparing the treatments of licet in three dictionaries, I isolate all the syntactic constructions containing licet in the PT corpus. Then I conduct a detailed study of the permitting participant (i.e., the participant which makes the desired state of affairs possible or prevents it). The study revealed that this participant plays a crucial role in the diachronic semantic development of the verb licet and that it is observing this participant which makes studying the diachronic development possible. I conclude with a suggestion of the diachronic reconstruction of the semantic development of licet.
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