The morphosyntax of the German inseparable prefixes in a figure/ground framework
niis study attempts a comprehensive analysis of the German so-called inseparable prefixes be-, ge-. er-, ver-, ent-. The framework Is Talmy's (1978) Figure/Ground distinction, in which a Figure is perceived as located or moving with respect to a frame of reference, the Ground. The pre-syntactic templates of X categories [Figure V [[Â±LOC] Ground]] and [Agent V Figure [[+LOC] Ground]]derive Das Heu war auf dem Wagen ~The hay was on the cart' and Er bid Heu avf den Wagen âHe loaded hay onto the cart'. The be- prefix and its inverse the ent- prefix are prepositional allomorphs which alternatively realize the feature (+LOC]. Foregrounding of [[+LOC] Ground]] causes the feature [+LOC] to be adjoined to the verb as the prefix be-: Er belud den Wagen mitt Heu 'He be-loaded the cart with hayâ. The Figure argument may also be incorporated by substitution into the verb forming a denominal be- or ent-verb (bewaffnen 'be-weapon, arm', entwaffnen 'ent-arm, disarm'. Adjunction of [+LOC] and substitution of the Figure are according to Van Riemsdijk's (1998) Head Adjacency Principle for syntactic head movement A set of verb Classes is established according to whether the Figure and Ground arguments are VP-internal, subjects,
Maylor, Roger
Linguistics
The morphosyntax of the German inseparable prefixes in a figure/ground framework. niis study attempts a comprehensive analysis of the German so-called inseparable prefixes be-, ge-. er-, ver-, ent-. The framework Is Talmy's (1978) Figure/Ground distinction, in which a Figure is perceived as located or moving with respect to a frame of reference, the Ground. The pre-syntactic templates of X categories [Figure V [[Â±LOC] Ground]] and [Agent V Figure [[+LOC] Ground]]derive Das Heu war auf dem Wagen ~The hay was on the cart' and Er bid Heu avf den Wagen âHe loaded hay onto the cart'. The be- prefix and its inverse the ent- prefix are prepositional allomorphs which alternatively realize the feature (+LOC]. Foregrounding of [[+LOC] Ground]] causes the feature [+LOC] to be adjoined to the verb as the prefix be-: Er belud den Wagen mitt Heu 'He be-loaded the cart with hayâ. The Figure argument may also be incorporated by substitution into the verb forming a denominal be- or ent-verb (bewaffnen 'be-weapon, arm', entwaffnen 'ent-arm, disarm'. Adjunction of [+LOC] and substitution of the Figure are according to Van Riemsdijk's (1998) Head Adjacency Principle for syntactic head movement A set of verb Classes is established according to whether the Figure and Ground arguments are VP-internal, subjects,
morphosyntax german inseparable prefix figure ground framework study attempt comprehensive_analysis german so_called inseparable prefix framework talmy figure ground distinction figure perceive locate move respect frame_reference ground pre syntactic template category figure ground agent figure ground derive war dem the hay cart bid load hay onto cart prefix prefix prepositional alternatively realize feature foregrounding ground cause feature adjoin verb prefix cart hay figure argument may_also incorporate substitution verb_form verb weapon arm arm adjunction substitution figure accord head adjacency principle syntactic head_movement set verb classes establish accord whether figure ground arguments internal subject