Does preverbal Old English ge- have semantic or aspectual force?: evidence from the Dictionary of Old English

Abstract

ABSTRACT Although many attempts have been made to identify the function of preverbal ge- in Old English, no definite consensus has emerged. The recent tendency has been to assume that ge- has little or no semantic force, and work has focused especially on its role in language change and grammaticalization. The Dictionary of Old English (DOE) has now been published up to the letter I, and it scrupulously distinguishes simple and prefixed forms. In this study, I set about comparing the entries for simple and ge- prefixed verbs in the DOE, with the goal of answering the question of whether ge- has any detectable semantic force. My results are organized into three categories: instances where the use of ge- seems to reflect a difference in meaning; those where it seems to correlate with particular types of verbal action; and those where it may correspond with lexical aspect. This study is thus an example of how the extensive work done by the DOE might be used more further work on semantics, morphology, and lexical aspect.