On (apparently) synonymous affixes: A contrastive analysis of Catalan “des-” and “es-”
It is commonly assumed that the Catalan prefixes des- and es- are synonymous, since they can be found attached to the same base in change of state verbs with an apparently identical meaning; cf. desgranar and esgranar ‘to extract the grain’. The aim of this paper is to show that these two prefixes...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Catalan |
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Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Catalan Journal of Linguistics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://revistes.uab.cat/catJL/article/view/384 |
| _version_ | 1797956395379720192 |
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| author | Elisabeth Gibert-Sotelo |
| author_facet | Elisabeth Gibert-Sotelo |
| author_sort | Elisabeth Gibert-Sotelo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
It is commonly assumed that the Catalan prefixes des- and es- are synonymous, since they can be found attached to the same base in change of state verbs with an apparently identical meaning; cf. desgranar and esgranar ‘to extract the grain’. The aim of this paper is to show that these two prefixes are non-trivially different, as suggested by the fact that only the latter, but not the former, is attested with an ingressive (or Goal-oriented) meaning; cf. estovar ‘to soften’. Following a nanosyntactic approach to grammar, I claim that the trees lexicalized by des- and es- are not composed of the same morphosyntactic features, which accounts for their different morphosyntactic behaviour as well as for their semantic contrasts. It is proposed that des- lexicalizes a Source Path, whereas es- lexicalizes a Goal Path in addition to a root node. The paper is also a contribution to the long-standing debate of how morphemes with similar meanings compete for insertion.
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| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T23:48:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a8e7b7c549be4aaebf001c3c5372f861 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1695-6885 2014-9719 |
| language | Catalan |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T23:48:20Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Catalan Journal of Linguistics |
| spelling | doaj.art-a8e7b7c549be4aaebf001c3c5372f8612023-01-10T21:50:58ZcatUniversitat Autònoma de BarcelonaCatalan Journal of Linguistics1695-68852014-97192022-12-012110.5565/rev/catjl.384On (apparently) synonymous affixes: A contrastive analysis of Catalan “des-” and “es-”Elisabeth Gibert-Sotelo0Universitat Rovira i Virgili It is commonly assumed that the Catalan prefixes des- and es- are synonymous, since they can be found attached to the same base in change of state verbs with an apparently identical meaning; cf. desgranar and esgranar ‘to extract the grain’. The aim of this paper is to show that these two prefixes are non-trivially different, as suggested by the fact that only the latter, but not the former, is attested with an ingressive (or Goal-oriented) meaning; cf. estovar ‘to soften’. Following a nanosyntactic approach to grammar, I claim that the trees lexicalized by des- and es- are not composed of the same morphosyntactic features, which accounts for their different morphosyntactic behaviour as well as for their semantic contrasts. It is proposed that des- lexicalizes a Source Path, whereas es- lexicalizes a Goal Path in addition to a root node. The paper is also a contribution to the long-standing debate of how morphemes with similar meanings compete for insertion. https://revistes.uab.cat/catJL/article/view/384prefixesrootscomplex verbschange of stateGoal PathsSource Paths |
| spellingShingle | Elisabeth Gibert-Sotelo On (apparently) synonymous affixes: A contrastive analysis of Catalan “des-” and “es-” Catalan Journal of Linguistics prefixes roots complex verbs change of state Goal Paths Source Paths |
| title | On (apparently) synonymous affixes: A contrastive analysis of Catalan “des-” and “es-” |
| title_full | On (apparently) synonymous affixes: A contrastive analysis of Catalan “des-” and “es-” |
| title_fullStr | On (apparently) synonymous affixes: A contrastive analysis of Catalan “des-” and “es-” |
| title_full_unstemmed | On (apparently) synonymous affixes: A contrastive analysis of Catalan “des-” and “es-” |
| title_short | On (apparently) synonymous affixes: A contrastive analysis of Catalan “des-” and “es-” |
| title_sort | on apparently synonymous affixes a contrastive analysis of catalan des and es |
| topic | prefixes roots complex verbs change of state Goal Paths Source Paths |
| url | https://revistes.uab.cat/catJL/article/view/384 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT elisabethgibertsotelo onapparentlysynonymousaffixesacontrastiveanalysisofcatalandesandes |