Modeling locative prefix semantics. A formal account of the English verbal prefix out-

Abstract

AbstractThe English verbal prefixout- gives rise to at least two semantic categories: comparative forms as into outplay someoneand locative forms as into outstream from somewhere. While most available studies on the comparative sense rely on insufficient databases, systematic studies on the actual behavior of locative verbalout-forms are lacking altogether. Building on a set of more than 1,500 tokens culled from corpora, this study is the first to systematically analyze, formalize, and contrast the two senses. The formal analysis will be couched in frame semantics and model both individual attested examples as well as lexeme-formation rules based on generalizations. Formalizations of the two prefixes, and their implications, are shown to speak against an analysis of one underlying, underspecified prefix. Locativeout- essentially functions as a morphologically bound, and highly restricted, version ofout- as a particle, while comparativeout- is a highly specialized, idiosynchratic construction.