Alternations of German
| Alternation name | Coded? | Description | Examples | Verbs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
C
|
y | valency decreasing alternation. A prepositional object is deleted. | 2 | |
|
C
|
y |
valency transposing operation The former prepositional object becomes a direct object. (And the direct object of the original sentence becomes a prepositional object or gets omitted.) |
9 | |
|
U
|
n | The relevant verbs can drop all their arguments appart from the subject and thus, can be used in an intransitive frame. The meaning becomes somewhat generic. | 14 | |
|
U
|
n | Valency decreasing. The patient of the transitive sentence becomes the single argument of the intransitive sentence. The agent of the transitive sentence is omitted. (This way the verb can be transitive and intransitive.) | 3 | |
|
C
|
y |
The formerly dative marked recipient-like argument becomes a prepositional object instead and possibly turns into an adjunct. The benefactive alternation (which introduces an additional dative object) is in many cases the starting point for this alternation. Where this is the case we pretend as if the Prepositional alternation (I) occurs never, but we sometimes still provide an example for this alternation. |
3 | |
|
C
|
y | The patient of the transitive sentence becomes the single argument of the intransitive sentence. The agent can be added as an adjunct. | 51 | |
|
U
|
n |
Valency increasing The verb gets normally one single argument but a second argument (a direct obejct) can be added. The number of items that can fulfill the direct object position is very limited for every verb, which is able to undergo this alternation. |
4 | |
|
C
|
y |
prepositional object of basic verb becomes obligatory accusative object in alternation e.g. um etwas kämpfen - etwas erkämpfen ('fight for sth.') |
1 | |
|
C
|
y |
X -> P' argument added (a former adjunct or non-obligatory prepositional object becomes a P) P -> X' The former accusative-marked patient becomes a non-obligatory prepositional object or gets omitted. |
5 | |
|
U
|
n | valency increasing operation, additional argument gets marked with Dative | 16 | |
|
C
|
y |
The original agent is completely eliminated. An object (direct or indirect) is now the subject and the verb gets reflexive. (In the 'true' reflexive alternation, the change from object to subject does not take place.) Ex. Ich oeffne den Vorhang --> Der Vorhang oeffnet sich. (Middle alternation in English) There may be more examples on another level (Die Kartoffeln schaelen sich gut.) but normally one uses lassen (Die Kartoffeln lassen sich gut schaelen.) |
1 | |
|
U
|
n | An instrumental adjunct (mit+NP) is promotet to subject position. The former adjunct is removed from the frame. | 7 | |
|
C
|
y | 17 | ||
|
C
|
y | 2 |