Ancora su preverbazione e sistemi verbali. Il caso dei preverbi greci

In the present paper, we show that verbal prefixation increases the degree of telicity of Greek verbs and, therefore, parallels the distributional and functional patterns that we have previously shown in Latin: the morphosyntactic reflexes of verbal prefixation are analogous in both languages and are specifically related to verb semantics. Here we show that verbal prefixes affect the direct internal argument of the predicate, that is, the only overt argument that can measure out the event that the verb denotes. Then, if a verb has a measuring-out argument, this argument, which may figure as either a direct object or a subject, shifts, on the continuum of thematic roles, to the prototypical undergoer pole. When the verb does not have a measuring-out argument, the change of actionality requires an increase in valency: the verb, then, takes a direct internal argument. Furthermore, we discuss the relationship between verbal prefixation and the applicative/causative distinction and suggest that the categories of applicative and causative are not in opposition, but, rather, can be considered as distinct points of the same gradient.