Prefixation in English and Catalan - Departament de Filologia ...

Although the dictionary lists the unprefixed Vs as having the same meaning as those
with the prefix, native speakers’ intuitions reveal that the locative meaning is best
associated with the prefixed V. Further, if a new locative V were to be created, speakers
feel that the prefix is necessary. These observations favour my analysis (the prefix is
associated with the features [-c-m]).
Of the locatum Vs, there are two other forms going in the opposite direction of
derivation and they also require some explanation. This time the dictionaries do not give
the same meaning for both the intermediate V and the prefixed V.
(43) a. freN ‘brake’ → enfrenarV (c. XIV) ‘to put the N on’ → frenarV (c. XX) ‘to
slow down’
b. greixN ‘fat’ → engreixarV (c. XIII) ‘to put N in something/somebody’ →
greixarV (c. XX) ‘to put N on something’
As for frenar, the V has become lexicalized. The fact that it does not necessarily make
reference to putting the brake on, but it can also refer to slowing down a
process/activity/job explains the omission of the prefix. Enfrenar is an archaic form, not
used by the speakers consulted. Regarding greixar, most of my subjects do not use this
word either. They prefer a prefixed version based on the Spanish N grasa ‘fat’ and the
result is engrassar, the Catalan version of the Spanish V engrasar. Again, the prefix is
felt compulsory to express the locative meaning implied by the V, which is also true for
the V engreixar. However, for those speakers who prefer the unprefixed version, some
explanation is required. Notice that this is a very minor phenomenon, though.
The conclusion from this section is that the basic generalizations established
in the previous sections also hold for Catalan en+N Vs. The Ø-conversion affix is
responsible for the [+c] role. Finally, we have seen that the prefix does have some
features, and that these play a role in Vs expressing a change of location. That is, a
denominal V will express a change of location if the features of the prefix percolate, but
it will have a creation reading if the N’s R-role is reinterpreted.
4.2 English data
Although several authors have worked on unprefixed locatum and location denominal
Vs and have classified them into extensive lists (see footnote 19), no classification has
been provided for en-prefixed Vs, as far as I am aware of (except for authors like
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