Two-Prefix Verbal Diminutives with Prefix po- in Bulgarian and the Serbian Dialects of Prizren and Timok Regions

Abstract

A comparative analysis of two-prefix verbal diminutives with the prefix po- in Bulagarian and the Serbian dialects of Prizren and Timok regions shows equivalence at the levels of word formation and semantics respectively. At the former level one can notice identical two-prefix relations featuring the prefix po- and numerous other prefixes of primarily prefixed verbs, indirectly implying a high productivity of the two-prefix verbs with the prefix po- as a secondary one in both idioms examined. The corpus analysed confirms identical two-prefix relations, but there is no overlapping when the most productive prefixes are concerned, since the prefix pri- is dominant in the Prizren and Timok regions and the prefix na- in Bulgarian. Furthermore, the prefix po- is attached to already prefixed verbs in both idioms in this way, but the doubled prefix does not mean its redundancy, since each prefix invests its own meaning into the newlyformed unit. At the latter level there are two semantic subtypes of the analysed verbal diminutives visible.