The neutralizing value of movement in separable preverbs in the german language: retroalterations from ADV DIR to ADV EST

Abstract

In German, the expression of directionality within the framework of prepositional groups introduced by one of the so-called «Wechselpräpositionen» is carried out by applying an accusative regime, unlike what happens with the dative case, which usually refers to meanings that imply a static import. In the case of certain verbs of displacement, however, the use of a very specific separable prefix can annul this accusative regime and, despite maintaining the displacement relationship, reconvert it into the dative. One of the clearest examples of this phenomenon is the transformation into the dative, instead of the accusative, to which tends any prepositional relationship of the verb kommen (in die Stadt kommen > in der Stadt ankommen). The objective of this essay is to study the cases in which this phenomenon occurs by resorting to a corpus of work and, likewise, to analyze to what extent it can be productive in other German verbs.