An investigation of lexical composition: the case of German be- verbs

German prefix Vs are analyzed within both the theory of predicate-argument structure & the theory of word structure. A specific interaction between word structure & the lexical entries of its constituents is assumed for derivation of the lexical entry of a complex word. A description of the lexical entry as a predicate-argument structure is outlined & some linking principles are discussed. It is argued that lexical variation partly arises from specific operations on lexical entries. Three classes of prefix Vs are distinguished & a universal rule of word composition is described which limits compounding & requires positing some lang-specific processes for German. It is argued that the universal rule does not exclude compounds with a phonologically empty head; denominal Vs are thus considered as cases of strict composition. It is further shown that the properties of productive be-Vs are fully predicted if be- is considered as a bound variant of the preposition bei 'by'. 29 References. Modified HA