5. Assessing verb-particle constructions through classical Greek preverbation (8th to 4th c. BCE)

This paper compares the semantico-syntactic shifts entailed on English verbs by their combination with an (originally) localistic particle with those triggered by preverbation in Classical Greek. Univerbation of pre-verbed verbs guarantees the inclusion of the particle in the predicate, irrespective of the more or less idiosyncratic meaning of the lexeme thus produced. Idiosyncrasy of meaning is thus challenged as a reliable parameter for assessing the inclusion of particles in the predicate in non-univerbated forms, as English verb-particle constructions. Through the methodology of lexical decomposition, particles are analysed as heads of change-of-state subevents. The need to accommodate that change of state as a consequence of the event predicated by the lexical meaning of the verb produces the more or less idiosyncratic meaning of verb-particle combinations.