On English and German resultative and causative-resultative derived verbs
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Carsten Breul
Abstract
This study is based on two related semantic patterns as tertia comparationis called “resultative” and “causative-resultative”. It aims to provide answers to two guiding questions: what commonalities and differences between English and German can be identified in the way (causative-)resultativity is morphologically expressed in derived verbs? How can differences be explained in a way that relates to more general characteristics of the two languages? Examples of relevant verbs include enable, fossilise, narrow, solidify, scrap, tighten and beruhigen, erblinden, kristallisieren, personifizieren, spitzen, versteinern. One set of differences that emerges from the descriptive part as particularly striking and is consequently focused on concerns the number of verbs that have (a) only the resultative meaning; (b) only the causative-resultative meaning; and (c) both meanings: there are significantly more derived (causative-)resultative verbs that express only resultativity in German than in English. Most of the English verbs express both resultativity and causative-resultativity; none expresses resultativity to the exclusion of causative-resultativity.
© School of English, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland, 2011
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- Contrastive word-formation today: Retrospect and prospect
- Aspect indicators for deverbal nominals on different syntactic levels
- Adverb formation and modification: English, German and Dutch adverbial morphology in contrast
- On English and German resultative and causative-resultative derived verbs
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- Negation and lexical morphology across languages: Insights from a trilingual translation corpus
- Contrastive word-formation and lexicography: Compound verbs in English and Bulgarian
- Coordinate compounding in English and Spanish
- The similarities and differences of four neglected lexical categories: English [VerN]N and [VingN]N, and French [NVveur]N and [NVant]N units
- English–French contrasts in word-formation. Morphological patterns and stylistic effects
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Special issue on contrastive word-formation: Editors’ preface
- Contrastive word-formation today: Retrospect and prospect
- Aspect indicators for deverbal nominals on different syntactic levels
- Adverb formation and modification: English, German and Dutch adverbial morphology in contrast
- On English and German resultative and causative-resultative derived verbs
- Intensifying affixes across Italian and English
- Negation and lexical morphology across languages: Insights from a trilingual translation corpus
- Contrastive word-formation and lexicography: Compound verbs in English and Bulgarian
- Coordinate compounding in English and Spanish
- The similarities and differences of four neglected lexical categories: English [VerN]N and [VingN]N, and French [NVveur]N and [NVant]N units
- English–French contrasts in word-formation. Morphological patterns and stylistic effects
