Date: Tue, 8 Oct 1996 00:42:24 -0600

From: Samuel Jones smjones1[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]FACSTAFF.WISC.EDU

Subject: Re: The Germanic Separable Prefix "mit



The "dangling" or separable prefix WITH is primarily a product of Germanic

construction; however, the German "mit" [as well as the Norwegian, Swedish,

Danish equivalents] is also found in countless verbs, such as mitmachen

(= to go along with, follow suit), mitlaufen (= to run with, participate),

mitarbeiten (= to work with, collaborate), mithelfen (= to help with,

assist), mitgehen (= to go along with, accompany), and so forth. In our

home, German is spoken on a daily basis. It was for my children their 1st

language and, early on, as they gradually added English vocabularly and

construction to their language skills, the "come with" appeared quite

often.



smjones



Dennis,



You are right about the German, but the "want to come with" can also be a

literal translation from Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, and Finnish as

well. That is why it is so common in Minnesota.



Mike



On Mon, 7 Oct 1996, Dennis R. Preston wrote:



Dale,



You're right about the Germanness of the 'come with'; my Milwaukee wife has

it solidly.



Any number of things you seem to be able to rather freely delete in

'transitive' object position, I can't. Smells like age to me (since it

can't hardly be prescriptivism on my part). I hope to get a student to play

with this. Since the minimalists tell us all the grammar is in the lexicon,

it ought to be easy to show generationally.



Best,



Dennis



( Dennis-



Now I find myself flipping through the entire lexicon trying to figure out

what I can and can't say... take off, take down, put off, put down, get

down,

pipe down... You ask about:



the parent would be expected to drop off and go back home



When I think about it, I would normally say "Drop them off" but I guess

intransitive "drop off," though not the usual construction, is comparable to

pick up:



When shall I pick them up?

What time is pick up?

When shall I pick up?



None of which get the asterisk for me.



However, in a different construction, I've got a friend from California who

makes me shudder every time she says:



Do your kids want to come with?



Where I would say,



Do they want to come with us?



Maybe German influence from mitkommen- Kommen die Kinder mit?



Also consider...To everything there is a season...A time to drop off and a

time to pick up.



Dale Coye

Princeton, NJ



Dennis R. Preston

Department of Linguistics and Languages

Michigan State University

East Lansing MI 48824-1027 USA

preston[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]pilot.msu.edu

Office: (517)432-1235

Fax: (517)432-2736





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Prof. of Music & Latin American Studies TELNET: samjones[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]macc.wisc.edu

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