On Particle Verbs and Similar Constructions in German

Abstract

Linguistic distinctions between the notions of a phrase, a word and their components are challenged by so-called particle verbs in German and similar features in other languages. Particle verbs look like single words, yet are typically assembled from word-like fragments that together behave more like components of a phrase than a word. Particle verbs have previously been analyzed as morphological objects or as phrasal constructions, but neither approach fits cleanly within its chosen framwork. The resolution presented in this book, is that particle verbs should be seen as lexicalized phrasal constructions. Emphasizing morphological and sytactic testability, over 100 colloquial examples are shown to break the rules of previous approaches while remaining consistent to the book's proposition. Preverb constructions (PVCs) are introduced and diagrammed to help distinguish particle verbs from similar constructions, and to demonstrate how structural and morphological factors have been misidentified in the past. All this reveals the roles of listedness and non-transparency in word formation and clarifies the conclusion that particle verbs do not form a definable class of words.

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