The nominalization of Dutch particle verbs: Schema unification and second order schemas

Abstract

Abstract The event nominalizations of Dutch particle verbs and other types of separable complex verbs are not derivations from particle verbs, but compounds nouns, with a deverbal head preceded by a word that functions semantically as a modifier of the verbal base of the head noun. This structural analysis explains two empirical generalizations: (i) simplex verbs allow for nominalization with -ing when embedded in compounds; (ii) particle verbs have corresponding nominalizations with the same unproductive type of nominalization as the corresponding simplex verbs. In order to account for these generalizations, the following related concepts from the theoretical framework of Construction Morphology are used: the representation of word formation patterns by means of constructional schemas (in which form-meaning asymmetries can be specified), schema unification (with unified schemas having their own degree of productivity), constructional idioms (constructional schemas with lexically filled slots), and second order schemas. Thus, this case study illustrates the descriptive power of Construction Morphology.