Slovotvorná produktivita a gramatičnost: gradační expresivní adjektiva s prefixy pra-, pře- a vele- v současné psané češtině

Abstract

In current Czech grammars, only little, if any, information is found on the productivity and historical competition between the Czech prefixes pra-, pře- (cf. Latin per-, as in peraltus) and vele- in amplifying adjectives such as prastarý (very old), překrásný (very, most beautiful, splendid) and veledůležitý (very important). No special treatment of the subject has been published so far, either. The corpus research has revealed that significant distinctions govern the use and the distribution of these prefixes through the history of written Czech and in current written usage. The prefix pra- is the least important one of all, its productivity is the weakest. There are only about 40 different adjectives with this prefix, having the meaning ´very + basic adjective´ in the corpus. The prefix pře- is the most widespread one with this type of adjectives (překrásný - most beautiful) in present- day written Czech but additional phenomena show that its productivity is not unrestricted. The prefix vele- is the most productive one of all, in spite of the fact that it is less common in present-day written standard Czech than the prefixe pře-.