Open Access

Patrick Brandt

• The article takes stock of verb types that select a prepositional object and feature as first element a preposition-homophonous form (e.g., an, auf, durch, zu) or one of the forms be-, ent-, er- or ver-. The corpuslinguistic description of this formally defined cutout of grammatical production serves as the basis for addressing questions concerning A) the boundary between morphology and syntax as reflected in the distinction between prefix vs. particle verbs, B) the relation between object and adverbial grammatical function with particular respect to the association with thematic roles and C) grammatical operations affecting prepositional or preposition-related forms, here called P-forms, as determining their distribution across different uses. A taxonomy based on the function-relative distribution of P-forms aligns, for the most part, with the superficial-formal division into inseparable prefix verbs and separable particle verbs, pointing to distinct prefix and particle verb structures. In particular classes of cases, however, function defeats form. The ability of outward prefix verbs to occur in particle verb contexts depends on the ease with which the affixed P-forms can saturate their complements (internal arguments) implicitly. Inherent reflexivization as an outward sign of a binding relation between arguments helps outward particle verbs mimic prefix verbs and boost production.