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    te-
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    The prefix te- derives verbs on the basis of other verbs. Verb derivations with te- indicate that the action denoted by the base form has a devastating and irreparable consequence for its object. An example is bite to bite > tebite to destroy by biting. The prefix is mainly accepted by verbs bearing a destructive meaning in themselves. As a result, the addition of te- mainly serves an intensifying purpose. Its use is comparable to the use of the prefix fer-, which is far more productive than te-. The use of te-derivations is mainly restricted to the written language.

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    [+]General properties

    The prefix te- derives verbs from other verbs. Verb derivations with te- indicate that the action denoted by the base form has a devastating and irreparable consequence for its object. The prefix is mainly accepted by verbs bearing a destructive meaning in themselves. As a result, the addition of te- mainly serves an intensifying purpose. The prefix stresses the damaging effect on the object and is often used to indicate that the object actually becomes worthless. Examples of derivations with te- are listed below:

    Table 1
    Base form Derivation
    brekke to break tebrekke to destroy by breaking
    barste to burst tebarste to destroy by bursting
    slope to demolish teslope to destroy by demolishing
    gnauwe to gnaw tegnauwe to destroy by gnawing
    raffelje to unravel teraffelje to destroy by unravelling
    bite to bite tebite to destroy by biting
    traapje to step tetraapje to destroy by stepping
    fykje to cut out tefykje to destroy by cutting

    The prefix te- can also be added to verbs which do not have a meaning of destruction in themselves. The implication of destruction is then added by te-. An example is reine to rain > tereine to destroy by raining. More examples are listed below:

    Table 2
    Base form Derivation
    grieme to spill tegrieme to destroy
    bringe to bring tebringe to waste (obsolete)
    driuwe to drive tedriuwe to destroy by driving (obsolete)
    waaie to be windy tewaaie to destroy by the wind
    skrieme to cry teskrieme to spoil by crying

    In some cases the derivation changes the valency of the base form. This is shown in the examples below:

    1
    a. It reint
    it rains
    It is raining
    b. De blommen wienen tereind
    the flowers were PREF-rained
    The flowers were destroyed by rain
    2
    a. De knyn haffele op 'e woartel
    the rabbit gnawed on the carrot
    The rabbit gnawed the carrot
    b. De knyn tehaffele de woartel
    the rabbit PREF-gnawed the carrot
    The rabbit bit the carrot to pieces

    It is also possible, although not quite common, to construe te- derivations from reflexive verbs. The derivation then denotes that the action named in the base form has a negative consequence for the subject of the verb. An example is bargje to spill > jin tebargje to spill on oneself.

    extra
    Etymology

    Although they have the same form, the prefix te- has a different origin from the word te to(o), which can occur independently as both a preposition and an adverb. The prefix is associated with the Gothic morpheme twis- and the root of the numeral twa two. Its meaning has developed towards in two, in half, broken, apart, separate. The meaning of te-derivations always tends to imply aspects of separation and dissociation. The prefix is a distant relative of the Latin prefix dis-, which is known in Frisian as well.

    Originally, te- occurred in all West-Germanic languages. The prefix was commonly used in Old English and Middle English, but in contemporary English the prefix is hardly found. In contrast, in German it has become a very strong element over time. It boomed as zer- (the final segment being a relatively recent addition), under strong influence of the written language and became attached to many simplex verbs, transitive, intransitive and reflexive. In Dutch the verbal prefix te- is only found in the period of Middle Dutch. It is not common anymore in contemporary Dutch. In Frisian the prefix te- has been used since the period of Old Frisian up till now.

    [+]Productivity

    The use of derivations with te- is restricted mainly to the written language. Its use is comparable to the use of the prefix fer-, which is far more productive than te-. From the verb skuorre to tear apart, for example, one can derive teskuorre or ferskuorre, both meaning to destroy by tearing apart. The difference between the two is that the derivation with te- is stronger and stylistically heavier. Sometimes the verb prefixed by te- seems to be formed on the basis of the fer-verb, with truncation of fer. An example is tebrizelje to shatter, which lacks a base form *brizelje. Therefore, tebrizelje might have been derived from ferbrizelje to shatter. The same applies to a verb mainly found as the adjectively used participle tekankere harmed, eroded, litt. to be riddled with cancer, which might be assumed to be a derivation from ferkankere id.. But there is also a verb kankerje to suffer from cancer, from which it could have been derived as well.

    [+]Phonological properties

    The prefix is pronounced as [tə]. As it is pronounced with a schwa, the stress in derivations with te- is never on the prefix, e.g. teBREkke to demolish by breaking (see for this effect schwa restriction).

    In the dialect spoken on the island of Schiermonnikoog the prefix is still pronounced with a full vowel as [to], written as tò-. A few examples from this dialect are listed below:

    Table 3
    Base form Derivation
    bane to burn tòbane to burn down
    brakke to break tòbrakke to break to pieces
    heisterje to make a fuss tòheisterje to damage
    extra
    Literature

    This topic is based on Hoekstra (1998:148), Veen (1984-2011; s.v. te-) and Tamminga (1973:90-93), who also accounts for etymological aspects. For the data from the dialect of Schiermnonnikoog, see Visser and Dyk (2002). More details in Tamminga (1973).

    References
    • Hoekstra, Jarich1998Fryske wurdfoarmingLjouwertFryske Akademy
    • Tamminga, Douwe Annes1973Op 'e taelhelling. Losse trochsneden fan Frysk taellibben. IIA.J. Osinga
    • Tamminga, Douwe Annes1973It foarheaksel to- by tiidwurdenUs Wurk22215-222
    • Veen, Klaas F. van der et al1984-2011Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal - Woordenboek der Friese taalFryske Akademy
    • Visser, Willem & Dyk, Siebren2002Eilander Wezzenbúek: woordenboek van het SchiermonnikoogsFryske Akademy Ljouwert
    About this article
    Author(s): Siebren Dyk, Gerbrich de Jong
    Category: Frisian Morphology
    Keywords: prefixverb
    Version: 1.0, July 2017
    Version history:
    version editor(s) date remarks
    1.0 Siebren Dyk July 2017
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