- Dutch
- Frisian
- Afrikaans
- Dutch
- Phonology
- Segment inventory
- Phonotactics
- Phonological processes
- Phonology-morphology interface
- Word stress
- Primary stress in simplex words
- Monomorphemic words
- Diachronic aspects
- Generalizations on stress placement
- Default penultimate stress
- Lexical stress
- The closed penult restriction
- Final closed syllables
- The diphthong restriction
- Superheavy syllables (SHS)
- The three-syllable window
- Segmental restrictions
- Phonetic correlates
- Stress shifts in loanwords
- Quantity-sensitivity
- Secondary stress
- Vowel reduction in unstressed syllables
- Stress in complex words
- Primary stress in simplex words
- Accent & intonation
- Clitics
- Spelling
- Morphology
- Word formation
- Compounding
- Nominal compounds
- Verbal compounds
- Adjectival compounds
- Affixoids
- Coordinative compounds
- Synthetic compounds
- Reduplicative compounds
- Phrase-based compounds
- Elative compounds
- Exocentric compounds
- Linking elements
- Separable complex verbs (SCVs)
- Gapping of complex words
- Particle verbs
- Copulative compounds
- Derivation
- Numerals
- Derivation: inputs and input restrictions
- The meaning of affixes
- Non-native morphology
- Cohering and non-cohering affixes
- Prefixation
- Suffixation
- Nominal suffixation: person nouns
- Conversion
- Pseudo-participles
- Bound forms
- Nouns
- Nominal prefixes
- Nominal suffixes
- -aal and -eel
- -aar
- -aard
- -aat
- -air
- -aris
- -ast
- Diminutives
- -dom
- -een
- -ees
- -el (nominal)
- -elaar
- -enis
- -er (nominal)
- -erd
- -erik
- -es
- -eur
- -euse
- ge...te
- -heid
- -iaan, -aan
- -ief
- -iek
- -ier
- -ier (French)
- -ière
- -iet
- -igheid
- -ij and allomorphs
- -ijn
- -in
- -ing
- -isme
- -ist
- -iteit
- -ling
- -oir
- -oot
- -rice
- -schap
- -schap (de)
- -schap (het)
- -sel
- -st
- -ster
- -t
- -tal
- -te
- -voud
- Verbs
- Adjectives
- Adverbs
- Univerbation
- Neo-classical word formation
- Construction-dependent morphology
- Morphological productivity
- Compounding
- Inflection
- Inflection and derivation
- Allomorphy
- The interface between phonology and morphology
- Word formation
- Syntax
- Preface and acknowledgements
- Verbs and Verb Phrases
- 1 Characterization and classification
- 2 Projection of verb phrases I:Argument structure
- 3 Projection of verb phrases II:Verb frame alternations
- Introduction
- 3.1. Main types
- 3.2. Alternations involving the external argument
- 3.3. Alternations of noun phrases and PPs
- 3.3.1. Dative/PP alternations (dative shift)
- 3.3.1.1. Dative alternation with aan-phrases (recipients)
- 3.3.1.2. Dative alternation with naar-phrases (goals)
- 3.3.1.3. Dative alternation with van-phrases (sources)
- 3.3.1.4. Dative alternation with bij-phrases (possessors)
- 3.3.1.5. Dative alternation with voor-phrases (benefactives)
- 3.3.1.6. Conclusion
- 3.3.1.7. Bibliographical notes
- 3.3.2. Accusative/PP alternations
- 3.3.3. Nominative/PP alternations
- 3.3.1. Dative/PP alternations (dative shift)
- 3.4. Some apparent cases of verb frame alternation
- 3.5. Bibliographical notes
- 4 Projection of verb phrases IIIa:Selection of clauses/verb phrases
- 5 Projection of verb phrases IIIb:Argument and complementive clauses
- Introduction
- 5.1. Finite argument clauses
- 5.2. Infinitival argument clauses
- 5.3. Complementive clauses
- 6 Projection of verb phrases IIIc:Complements of non-main verbs
- 7 Projection of verb phrases IIId:Verb clusters
- 8 Projection of verb phrases IV: Adverbial modification
- 9 Word order in the clause I:General introduction
- 10 Word order in the clause II:Position of the finite verb (verb-first/second)
- 11 Word order in the clause III:Clause-initial position (wh-movement)
- Introduction
- 11.1. The formation of V1- and V2-clauses
- 11.2. Clause-initial position remains (phonetically) empty
- 11.3. Clause-initial position is filled
- 12 Word order in the clause IV:Postverbal field (extraposition)
- 13 Word order in the clause V: Middle field (scrambling)
- 14 Main-clause external elements
- Nouns and Noun Phrases
- 1 Characterization and classification
- 2 Projection of noun phrases I: complementation
- Introduction
- 2.1. General observations
- 2.2. Prepositional and nominal complements
- 2.3. Clausal complements
- 2.4. Bibliographical notes
- 3 Projection of noun phrases II: modification
- Introduction
- 3.1. Restrictive and non-restrictive modifiers
- 3.2. Premodification
- 3.3. Postmodification
- 3.3.1. Adpositional phrases
- 3.3.2. Relative clauses
- 3.3.3. Infinitival clauses
- 3.3.4. A special case: clauses referring to a proposition
- 3.3.5. Adjectival phrases
- 3.3.6. Adverbial postmodification
- 3.4. Bibliographical notes
- 4 Projection of noun phrases III: binominal constructions
- Introduction
- 4.1. Binominal constructions without a preposition
- 4.2. Binominal constructions with a preposition
- 4.3. Bibliographical notes
- 5 Determiners: articles and pronouns
- Introduction
- 5.1. Articles
- 5.2. Pronouns
- 5.3. Bibliographical notes
- 6 Numerals and quantifiers
- 7 Pre-determiners
- Introduction
- 7.1. The universal quantifier al 'all' and its alternants
- 7.2. The pre-determiner heel 'all/whole'
- 7.3. A note on focus particles
- 7.4. Bibliographical notes
- 8 Syntactic uses of noun phrases
- Adjectives and Adjective Phrases
- 1 Characteristics and classification
- 2 Projection of adjective phrases I: Complementation
- 3 Projection of adjective phrases II: Modification
- 4 Projection of adjective phrases III: Comparison
- 5 Attributive use of the adjective phrase
- 6 Predicative use of the adjective phrase
- 7 The partitive genitive construction
- 8 Adverbial use of the adjective phrase
- 9 Participles and infinitives: their adjectival use
- 10 Special constructions
- Adpositions and adpositional phrases
- 1 Characteristics and classification
- Introduction
- 1.1. Characterization of the category adposition
- 1.2. A formal classification of adpositional phrases
- 1.3. A semantic classification of adpositional phrases
- 1.3.1. Spatial adpositions
- 1.3.2. Temporal adpositions
- 1.3.3. Non-spatial/temporal prepositions
- 1.4. Borderline cases
- 1.5. Bibliographical notes
- 2 Projection of adpositional phrases: Complementation
- 3 Projection of adpositional phrases: Modification
- 4 Syntactic uses of the adpositional phrase
- 5 R-pronominalization and R-words
- 1 Characteristics and classification
- Phonology
- Frisian
- General
- Phonology
- Segment inventory
- Phonotactics
- Phonological Processes
- Assimilation
- Vowel nasalization
- Syllabic sonorants
- Final devoicing
- Fake geminates
- Vowel hiatus resolution
- Vowel reduction introduction
- Schwa deletion
- Schwa insertion
- /r/-deletion
- d-insertion
- {s/z}-insertion
- t-deletion
- Intrusive stop formation
- Breaking
- Vowel shortening
- h-deletion
- Replacement of the glide w
- Word stress
- Clitics
- Allomorphy
- Orthography of Frisian
- Morphology
- Inflection
- Word formation
- Derivation
- Prefixation
- Infixation
- Suffixation
- Nominal suffixes
- Verbal suffixes
- Adjectival suffixes
- Adverbial suffixes
- Numeral suffixes
- Interjectional suffixes
- Onomastic suffixes
- Conversion
- Derivation
- Syntax
- Verbs and Verb Phrases
- Characteristics and classification
- Unergative and unaccusative subjects
- Evidentiality
- To-infinitival clauses
- Predication and noun incorporation
- Ellipsis
- Imperativus-pro-Infinitivo
- Expression of irrealis
- Embedded Verb Second
- Agreement
- Negation
- Nouns & Noun Phrases
- Classification
- Complementation
- Modification
- Partitive noun constructions
- Referential partitive constructions
- Partitive measure nouns
- Numeral partitive constructions
- Partitive question constructions
- Nominalised quantifiers
- Kind partitives
- Partitive predication with prepositions
- Bare nominal attributions
- Articles and names
- Pronouns
- Quantifiers and (pre)determiners
- Interrogative pronouns
- R-pronouns
- Syntactic uses
- Adjective Phrases
- Characteristics and classification
- Complementation
- Modification and degree quantification
- Comparison by degree
- Comparative
- Superlative
- Equative
- Attribution
- Agreement
- Attributive adjectives vs. prenominal elements
- Complex adjectives
- Noun ellipsis
- Co-occurring adjectives
- Predication
- Partitive adjective constructions
- Adverbial use
- Participles and infinitives
- Adposition Phrases
- Characteristics and classification
- Complementation
- Modification
- Intransitive adpositions
- Predication
- Preposition stranding
- Verbs and Verb Phrases
- Afrikaans
- General
- Phonology
- Afrikaans phonology
- Segment inventory
- Overview of Afrikaans vowels
- The diphthongised long vowels /e/, /ø/ and /o/
- The unrounded mid-front vowel /ɛ/
- The unrounded low-central vowel /ɑ/
- The unrounded low-central vowel /a/
- The rounded mid-high back vowel /ɔ/
- The rounded high back vowel /u/
- The rounded and unrounded high front vowels /i/ and /y/
- The unrounded and rounded central vowels /ə/ and /œ/
- The diphthongs /əi/, /œy/ and /œu/
- Overview of Afrikaans consonants
- The bilabial plosives /p/ and /b/
- The alveolar plosives /t/ and /d/
- The velar plosives /k/ and /g/
- The bilabial nasal /m/
- The alveolar nasal /n/
- The velar nasal /ŋ/
- The trill /r/
- The lateral liquid /l/
- The alveolar fricative /s/
- The velar fricative /x/
- The labiodental fricatives /f/ and /v/
- The approximants /ɦ/, /j/ and /ʋ/
- Overview of Afrikaans vowels
- Word stress
- The phonetic properties of stress
- Primary stress on monomorphemic words in Afrikaans
- Background to primary stress in monomorphemes in Afrikaans
- Overview of the Main Stress Rule of Afrikaans
- The short vowels of Afrikaans
- Long vowels in monomorphemes
- Primary stress on diphthongs in monomorphemes
- Exceptions
- Stress shifts in place names
- Stress shift towards word-final position
- Stress pattern of reduplications
- Phonological processes
- Vowel related processes
- Consonant related processes
- Homorganic glide insertion
- Phonology-morphology interface
- Phonotactics
- Morphology
- Syntax
- Afrikaans syntax
- Nouns and noun phrases
- Characteristics of the NP
- Classification of nouns
- Complementation of NPs
- Modification of NPs
- Binominal and partitive constructions
- Referential partitive constructions
- Partitive measure nouns
- Numeral partitive constructions
- Partitive question constructions
- Partitive constructions with nominalised quantifiers
- Partitive predication with prepositions
- Binominal name constructions
- Binominal genitive constructions
- Bare nominal attribution
- Articles and names
- Pronouns
- Quantifiers, determiners and predeterminers
- Syntactic uses of the noun phrase
- Adjectives and adjective phrases
- Characteristics and classification of the AP
- Complementation of APs
- Modification and Degree Quantification of APs
- Comparison by comparative, superlative and equative degree
- Attribution of APs
- Predication of APs
- The partitive adjective construction
- Adverbial use of APs
- Participles and infinitives as adjectives
- Verbs and verb phrases
- Characterisation and classification
- Argument structure
- Verb frame alternations
- Complements of non-main verbs
- Verb clusters
- Complement clauses
- Adverbial modification
- Word order in the clause: Introduction
- Word order in the clause: position of the finite Verb
- Word order in the clause: Clause-initial position
- Word order in the clause: Extraposition and right-dislocation in the postverbal field
- Word order in the middle field
- Emphatic constructions
- Adpositions and adposition phrases
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.
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:
| 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:
| 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:
| a. | It reint | ||||||||||||||
| it rains | |||||||||||||||
| It is raining | |||||||||||||||
| b. | De blommen wienen tereind | ||||||||||||||
| the flowers were PREF-rained | |||||||||||||||
| The flowers were destroyed by rain | |||||||||||||||
| 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.
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.
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.
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:
| 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 |
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).
- 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
