On English and German resultative and causative-resultative derived verbs

This study is based on two related semantic patterns as tertia comparationis called “resultative” and “causative-resultative”. It aims to provide answers to two guiding questions: what commonalities and differences between English and German can be identified in the way (causative-)resultativity is morphologically expressed in derived verbs? How can differences be explained in a way that relates to more general characteristics of the two languages? Examples of relevant verbs include enable , fossilise , narrow , solidify , scrap , tighten and beruhigen , erblinden , kristallisieren , personifizieren , spitzen , versteinern . One set of differences that emerges from the descriptive part as particularly striking and is consequently focused on concerns the number of verbs that have (a) only the resultative meaning; (b) only the causative-resultative meaning; and (c) both meanings: there are significantly more derived (causative-)resultative verbs that express only resultativity in German than in English. Most of the English verbs express both resultativity and causative-resultativity; none expresses resultativity to the exclusion of causative-resultativity.