Eckhard Bick - VISL

an V a DERP a- [ANT]
brad Vi as HV DERP bradi-
psic Vo as DERP psico-
psiqu ei as DERP psico-
re sv DERP re [AG+]
mini s DERP mini- [DIM]
Prefix form is what the program's prefix module cuts off a word form it
receives as input. Like suffixes, prefixes can come in several disguises, depending on
the spelling context. Also, homonyms - with different combinatorial behaviour and
semantics - do exist. Thus, 'a-' can be both an antonymy-prefix co-varying with 'an-'
(one before vowels, the other before consonants) and a STATE-prefix, that combines
in a kind of "circumfix" construction with causative suffixes like '-izar'.
Base condition controls which root-initial letters a prefix can combine with: it
may read V for vowel, C for consonant, or just something like 'lmn' for the individual
letters 'l', 'm' and 'n'. Any letter x after the 'V' can be added to the prefix form, when
searching for roots without an initial vowel (x may be called the standard ligation
vowel for this particular prefix). Thus, both 'psic|análise' and 'psico|drama' can be
found. Root initial doubling of 's' and 'r' after a prefix-vowel (which preserves the
[s]- and [R]- sounds) is not listed as a base condition in the prefix lexicon, but treated
directly in the program's main module (inflexional analysis) when called from the
prefix module: 'mini-ssaia' (root 'saia').
Word class condition must be matched by either the root's word class or - if
any - by the words outermost suffix. Prefixes need only inward 13 compatibility
conditions, since they do not by themselves influence a derived word's word class, so
no information comparable to field 6 and 7 in the suffix lexicon is found here.
(2) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _____________
| | | | (combinat. rules for inflexion endings)
# # # #
prefix ((( root ) suffix ) suffix ...) inflexion ending
|_____________|
|___________________|
(semantic "circumfix" conditions)
In the above expression, word class compatibility is checked along brackets, with
"inward" and "outward" defined by the bracket's convexity orientation. Further
combination rules apply between inflexion endings and the root or the last suffix.
13 By Inward compatibility I understand word class or inflexion class compatibility with what the affix in question is
attached to (i.e. a root or another affix closer to the root than itself), while outward compatibility is about what
further/other affixes or endings may be attached to it, in the form of yet another onion layer - on top of the affix in
question. This way, the use of a prefix may be conditioned not only by the root, but by another prefix, its inward
neighbour in the affix segmentation chain, - and likewise, the use of a suffix may be conditioned by other (inwardly
neighbouring) suffixes.
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