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

The verbal prefixation in Greek, as well as in Latin, increases the degree of telicity of a given verb and its morphosyntactic reflexes are analogous in both languages, depending on the semantic properties of the verb. It is shown that the proverbs operate on the direct internal argument, the only overt argument which can measure out the event the verb denotes. Then, if a verb has a measuring-out argument, that argument - whether it figures as direct object or subject - shifts, on the continuum of thematic relations, to the prototypical undergoer's pole. When a given verb doesn't have a measuring-out argument, the change of actionality needs an increase in valency: the verb in question takes a direct internal argument. It is also claimed that the categories of applicative and causative are not in opposition, but they occupy different points of the same gradient.