Prefixes in contrast

Abstract

This paper proposes a meaning-based contrastive methodology for the study of prefixation in English, French and Italian which is easily adaptable to other languages and word-formation processes. Our discussion centres on some of the central methodological and theoretical issues involved in contrastive lexical morphology, an area which, to date, has largely remained under-researched. Precise defining criteria for derivative (and prefix) status are presented in order to decide what counts as a derivative (or as a prefix) and what does not. Emphasis is also put on a fined-grained semantic tertium comparationis elaborated for the cross-linguistic investigation of lexical morphology and based on a six-tiered semantic categorisation, viz. location, evaluation, negation, quantity, modality, and inchoativity, most of which are further divided into finer subcategories. This macro-approach makes it possible to draw important generalisations about the use of word-formation devices across languages.