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Perspectives on Abstract Concepts: Cognition, language and communication
Edited by Marianna Bolognesi and Gerard J. Steen
[Human Cognitive Processing 65] 2019
► pp. 185–214

Chapter 9
Cognitive and linguistic aspects of composition in German particle verbs

Most German particle verbs (PVs) are composed of a prepositional particle (P) and a base verb (BV). For instance, anstrahlen is formed from the P an and the BV strahlen. The meaning of a PV results from often systematic interactions between the P and BV meanings. But many Ps and BVs are ambiguous and, moreover, a single P meaning and a single BV meaning can be combined in several ways. Finally, the interactions between P and BV meanings depend on the context.

This chapter presents a case study of how two particles, auf and ab, interact with certain BVs and contextual factors, while focusing on the difference between abstract and concrete BV/PV concepts, and between abstract and concrete contexts.

Keywords: abstract/concrete concepts, complex verbs, meaning shifts, neologisms
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.More data and some hypotheses
    • 2.1Particles: Core concepts and specific meanings
    • 2.2Concepts and Domains
    • 2.3Hypotheses about PV formation
      • 1.P-concept + concrete BV + concrete context → concrete PV
      • 2.P-concept + concrete BV + abstract context → abstract PV
      • 3.P-concept + abstract BV + abstract context → abstract PV
      • 4.P-concept + abstract BV + concrete context → abstract PV
  • 3.Discussing data from the experiment
  • 4.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgment
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 6 June 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.65.10spr
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