The optimal placement of up and ab – a comparison

Abstract The particle verb construction (PVC), also referred to in the literature as phrasal verb or separable complex verb, occurs in most if not all of the Germanic languages. The work presented here deals with a comparison of the transitive PVC in English and German. In English, the construction occurs in two alternating word orders (They called off the concert vs. They called the concert off ). In German, on the other hand, only one order is possible (Sie sagten das Konzert ab vs. *Sie sagten ab das Konzert; *Sie absagten das Konzert). The central question is why this kind of word order al... Mehr ...