Empirical and Theoretical Investigations on Predicate Composition - A Contrastive View for German Grammar

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1. In German the participant toward whom the action described by the verb is oriented can be represented by an argument in particle verbs, e. g. anlachen 'at-laugh', whereas it is not possible in English. This difference comes from the basic word order in languages, namely SOV and SVO. 2. The dative in the German verb zulachen, which expresses 'laugh at' as well, should be analyzed a so-called possessor dative. Therefore the referent of the dative must be sentient (=a person). 3. The indirect object in the verb zuwerfen 'to throw' in German and toegooien 'to-throw' in Dutch is a possessor dative as well. Thus the dative object in zuwerfen 'to-throw' is not selected by the particle zu-' to'. 4. In German a goal can be expressed by a dative in the verb zueilen 'to-hurry', whereas it is not possible in the corresponding verb toesnellen in Dutch. This difference is attributed to the availability of the 'low dative' in German. 5. In German a 'ground', which is defined as a semantic object of particle, appears in particle verbs with ein- 'in-' and auf 'on', e. g. den Wagen aufladen 'load the car on' and das Glas eingieben 'pour the glass in'. In contrast the corresponding expressions in English are ruled out. This difference is due to the fact that the German particle in and auf denote not only the resultant goal. 6. A significant difference with respect to the verbs of manner of motion between Japanese and German does not consist in the verb meaning itself, but German constructions containing these verbs and PPs can express the resultant state, as well as the movement of the subject. E. g. the sentence Er rannte zum Bahnhof 'He ran to the station' can denote the fact that the subject stayed at the station for a while as a result of movement. Such a reading does not exist in the quasi-corresponding sentence in Japanese Kare-wa eki made hasitta.