TY  - JOUR
A1  - Wischer, Ilse
A1  - Habermann, Mechthhild
T1  - The use of prefix verbs for the expression of aspect/action type in Old English and Old High German : Der Gebrauch von Präfixverben zum Ausdruck von Aspekt/Aktionsart im Altenglischen und Althochdeutschen
N2  - English and German, though genetically closely related, have undergone different developments with regard to the verbal category aspect in its interaction with aktionsart. English has grammaticalized a periphrastic construction to mark the progressisve whereas German - if at all - uses word formation to mark the perfective. This study deals with verbal prefixes, especially ge-/gi-, in the earliest attestable stages of the two languages, i.e. in Old English (King Alfred's Orosius) and Old High German (Tafan). These elements have often been considered markers of perfective aspect or aktionsart and can be compared to perfectives, which - according to Bybee/Perkins/Pagliuca (1994) - have developed from "bounders", i.e. adverbial particles to denote situation boundaries. Our analyses suggest that although there are basic similarities in the use of the various verbal constructions, the diverging paths of development with regard to aspect seem to begin already in these early stages
Y1  - 2004
SN  - 0301-3294
ER  -