Function verb

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A function verb is a verb that has a very general meaning and is part of a function verb structure . Examples are verbs like “bring, come, make” in expressions like “bring to the performance”, “get going”, “make a sentence”. Functional verbs add little to the meaning of the functional verb structure; Their main function is seen in the fact that they bring the personal ending of the verbs and thus their grammatical functions into the sentence.

Functional verbs appear as verbs that can only form a predicate together with a noun. Examples:

  • Find recognition in the meaning of "to be recognized"
  • to get embarrassed in the meaning of "to be embarrassed"

From a semantic-syntactic point of view, functional verbs take on the task of giving the event or happening expressed by the noun a certain perspective. They usually promise a state, a change in state or the effect and initiation of a change in state.

Differentiation of the functional verb from functionally similar parts of speech

Functional verbs have in common with auxiliary verbs , copula verbs and modal verbs in the German language - but without developing a common word class - that they relate the components of the sentence to one another. If the auxiliary verbs and copula are in connection with a nominalized verb , they have, similar to the functional verb , no thematic or semantic roles . Auxiliary and modal verbs have a second verb, the copula incorporate a predicative and the functional verbs have a deverbative noun , i.e. H. a noun or adjective derived from a verb.

It is typical for auxiliary verbs that they can only form the predicate together with other verbs. The copula, on the other hand, do not require a further verb, but a predicative; In turn, a content-bearing element must be linked to the function verbs, which is able to semantically fill open syntactic gaps in a cooperation . So together with the noun, they now form the predicate. The lexical meaning is determined by the noun, but modified by the finite function verb.

In contrast to the full verbs, the group of functional, copula, auxiliary and modal verbs according to Heinrich Weber (2005) forms a set of verbs that are not able to form the predicate on their own. Weber suggests the designation "structural verbs" for this.

According to Heringer (1968), the functional verbs are on a continuum of semantic specification behind the main verb , but before the auxiliary verb, copula and modal verb on the opposite side. In such a continuum a verb loses its semantic specification with increasing generalization. From this it can be deduced that the higher its degree of semantic specification , the more likely it is that a verb is capable of forming the predicate in a sentence alone.

literature

Web links

Wiktionary: Function verb  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. Quote: “Functional verbs are related to auxiliary verbs in that they cannot form the predicate alone, but only in conjunction with other linguistic elements (accusative object or prepositional group).” From Der Duden 12 volumes. Bibliographisches Institut, Mannheim 1995, ISBN 3-411-04046-7 , p. 112.
  2. ^ Heinrich Weber: Structural Verbs in German. De lingua et litteris: Studia in honorem Cassimiri Andreae Sroka. Danuta Stanulewicz, Roman Kalisz, Wilfried Kürschner, Cäcilia Klaus (eds.): Gdańsk. Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego, 2005, OCLC 824294418 .
  3. Hans Jürgen Heringer: The opposition of 'to come' and 'to bring' as functional verbs. Schwann, Düsseldorf 1968.