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Document Details : Title: Semantic Variants of German Particle Verbs with ab- Author(s): KLICHE, Fritz Journal: Leuvense Bijdragen - Leuven Contributions in Linguistics and Philology Volume: 97 Date: 2011 Pages: 3-27 DOI: 10.2143/LB.97.0.2977246 Abstract : Particle verbs are often considered idiosyncratic constructions, where the combination of particle and base verb is seen largely as semantically non-transparent. This paper takes an alternative view on the data and sets out by assuming that a number of meaning variants can be distinguished for a particular particle, and that the meaning of a particle verb can be obtained by combining the meaning of the verbal base with one of the meaning variants of the particle. The paper discusses my findings of some meaning variants for German verb particle ab-. For each of these variants, I will demonstrate in a DRS-construction algorithm how the semantic contribution of the particle combines with the verbal base. These variants include ab- in the sense of leaving a proximate region as in abfahren ('depart', lit. 'drive off'); ab- in the sense of ending a support relation as in einen Ast abbrechen ('break off a twig'); ab- implying orthogonality of two vectors as in von der Straße abfahren ('exit from the street'); ab- in the sense of impeding access as in die Leute von etwas abhalten ('block/restrain people from sth.'); and ab- in the sense of making a copy as in abmalen ('to portrait sth.'). In the course of the paper, it becomes apparent that the discussed variants display similarities. I will put forward the hypothesis that those variants share the concept of a 'negatively specified figure-ground relationship'. |
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