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

some historical reanalysis might have taken place, i.e. the prefix might have been
attached to these Vs originally, and then for some reason, it was dropped, although the
meaning remained the same. I pursue this idea here, and I suggest that the prefix
originally attached to the V had the [-c-m] features still present in the prefix of Vs like
encase and enrage. Historical data (cf. Marchand (1969) confirm my suggestion. All the
forms in (63-64) were initially prefixed forms: embox, enjail, enkennel, encrown,
encurtain, and enchain.
Now it needs to be explained how all the forms which lost the prefix still have a
[-c-m] role. I propose that the loss of the prefix has been a gradual process in which
speakers have disassociated the [-c-m] features from the prefix and have relinked them
to the base N (cf. autosegmental phonology, see e.g. Kenstowicz (1994), Roca et al.
(2000)). The prefix with no features of its own had no function in the word and was
probably lost gradually. (Maybe phonological weakening helped to its loss). If that view
is correct, one needs to explain how speakers can differentiate Vs of creation from
locative Vs, because the [-c-m] features in both cases have the same source (the N), a
question which will be discussed in the following section. Although the most productive
type of denominal Vs in English seems to complicate the picture as for the source of the
[-c-m] features, at the same time it provides some evidence to say that the Ø-suffix,
apart from providing the [+c] role in Vs like (63-64), is the element responsible for the
conversion of Ns to Vs. One could also entertain the idea that there is simply a change
of category ([ ]N →[ ]V), but that option would leave the presence of the [+c] role
unaccounted for.
The conclusion from this section is that the analysis proposed for Catalan en+N
Vs can be maintained, but only for a few denominal Vs in English, namely Vs of
creation (e.g. enslave) and those prefixed Vs with a locative reading (e.g. encase,
enrage). In both cases the [+c] role originates in the Ø-suffix, also responsible for the
conversion (N→V). The [-c-m] features come from the reinterpreted R-role in Vs of
creation and from the prefix in locative denominal Vs. However, another type of
denominal Vs was found, viz. those that have no prefix but have a locative reading. For
those, I proposed that the [-c-m] features are contained in the base N. Crucially, in all
cases, the RHR is observed: the element containing a specific feature specification
constitutes the rightmost element marked with those features.
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