The Decomposition of Particle and Prefix Verbs in German: through the Lens of Distributed Morphology
Open Access
Author:
Giovagnoli, Jason
Area of Honors:
Linguistics
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Michael Travis Putnam, Thesis Supervisor J.-Marc Authier, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
syntax morphology p elements german verbs
Abstract:
Verbs in German have varying syntactic properties. It is known that verbs with prefixes either separate or remain unseparated. A major question is how similar these verbs are as they are decomposed. What is it that blocks morpheme realization when these verbs form participles? After the analysis of multiple verbs, the framework of Distributed Morphology shows that there are certain syntactic and/or semantic features of prefixes that determine how these participles are formed. This study analyzes verbs with separable and inseparable prefixes, examining their properties from their smallest meaning bearing units to their fully composed participles. The analysis shows that there is a semantic relation between inseparable prefixes and shows that there is a strong connection between separable prefixes and prepositions. These semantic features are the key to understanding the decomposition of inseparable prefix verbs. Knowing the link between prepositions and separable prefixes is also crucial to understanding p elements as a whole.