Newsgroups: sci.lang
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!das-news2.harvard.edu!news2.near.net!news.mathworks.com!gatech!howland.reston.ans.net!news.nic.surfnet.nl!sun4nl!cwi.nl!dik
From: dik@cwi.nl (Dik T. Winter)
Subject: Re: Verbal phrases = one word in your language?
Message-ID: <D8wFCA.EMJ@cwi.nl>
Sender: news@cwi.nl (The Daily Dross)
Nntp-Posting-Host: boring.cwi.nl
Organization: CWI, Amsterdam
References: <D8vJLL.ELr@discus.technion.ac.il> <D8vvFr.ABD@midway.uchicago.edu>
Date: Sat, 20 May 1995 22:48:09 GMT
Lines: 33

In article <D8vvFr.ABD@midway.uchicago.edu> deb5@midway.uchicago.edu writes:
 > >turn up   = increase (volume)   aufdrehen ("Dreh den Radio auf!")
 > >come back = return              zurueckkommen ("Kommt sie gleich zurueck?")
 > >go off    = leave               abgehen ("Sie ist schon abgegangen.")

Dutch has similar features.  "Terugkeren", "afgaan".  Although "afgaan" has
a much more strict meaning than "leave", it is in general only used when
leaving the stage in a theatre.
 > 
 > In some cases (the verbs with *in*separable prefixes), the particle
 > has become bound to the verb.

These are extremely rare in Dutch, offhand I do not know any (although I
am quite sure they do exist).
...
 > Note that the form with a separable prefix often has a more literal
 > meaning than that with an inseparable.
 > 
I do not think this is a feature of Dutch.  "Afgaan" above has an enormous
amount of meanings, some very literal, some not at all, but in all cases
the prefix is separable.  The Dutch form of the German sentence above is
in most cases not complimentary, only when you talk about the stage.

Note that in Dutch (as in German) the separable prefix gets glued again to
the verb when its form is the past particle ("abgegangen").  This is also
a distinction between separable and inseparable:
 > uebersetzen ['yb@`zEts@n] "to ferry across"
 > uebersetzen [`yb@'zEts@n] "to translated"
pp: "uebergesetzt" and "uebersetzt".  Although I think the former at least
has been used for "translated".
-- 
dik t. winter, cwi, kruislaan 413, 1098 sj  amsterdam, nederland, +31205924098
home: bovenover 215, 1025 jn  amsterdam, nederland; e-mail: dik@cwi.nl
