Home > SAS > Linguistics > PWPL > Vol. 24 > Iss. 1 (2018)
University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics
Article Title
Abstract
This study contrasts two types of prefixes in Lithuanian (a Baltic language), the lexical prefix and the nominal prefix. Despite being homophonous, I demonstrate that these prefixes are two distinct elements. There is a tradition in the literature to analyze lexical prefixes as part of a VP complement (Babko-Malaya 2003, Dimitrova-Vulchanova 1999, Svenonius 2004, ia.) since, despite being perfective, they also license an additional argument. Nevertheless, the data from Lithuanian show that the lexical prefix lacks phrasal properties. Instead, I propose that the lexical prefix is a morphological element, which is merged directly with a verbalized root (in line with Basilico 2008). In contrast, I show that the nominal prefix is a category-defining head n since it operates on the roots meaning space (Marantz 2001; Arad 2005) and can assign gender to a noun (Kramer 2016). I further gave evidence for this analysis showing that it correctly predicts polysemy resolution effects (Marantz 2013).
Recommended Citation
Šereikaitė, Milena
(2018)
"Lexical vs. Nominal prefixes and Their Meaning Domains,"
University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics: Vol. 24
:
Iss.
1
, Article 22.
Available at:
https://repository.upenn.edu/pwpl/vol24/iss1/22