Verb-particle constructions and prefixed verbs in Italian: typology, diachrony and semantics

Verb-particle constructions are generally regarded as a peculiar property of Germanic languages. In this paper we show that verb-particle constructions also exist in Italian. The presence of verb-particle constructions in Romance languages seems to contradict Talmy’s generalization about “frame-based languages” and “satellite-based languages”, which makes these constructions a rather interesting typological issue. Further, the typological perspective raises the question of the development of these complex verbs in the Italian language. The paper briefly deals with these typological and diachronic issues and then focuses on the semantic properties of these constructions in present-day Italian. In particular, we will analyse the actional properties of Italian post-verbal particles. The results of the analysis allow us to outline the diachronic and synchronic relationship between verbal prefixes and post-verbal particles, which turn out to cooperate in the expression of locative and aspectual meanings.