Pre-locativity as the schematic meaning of the Croatian verbal prefix pred-

Abstract: Criticising the traditional approach, according to which verbs formed with the same prefix form a cluster of homonymous relations, in this paper we introduce the concept schematic meaning which links together the quite distinct specific meanings of different verbs sharing a prefix. In the case of the Croatian verbal prefix pred- and its allomorph pret- this schematic meaning can best be characterised as the superschema of pre-locativity. This superschema characterises both the prototypical and the peripheral cases, whereby their (non)prototypicality derives from the conceptual status of and relations among the agentive trajector, trajector and landmark as the superschema’s conceptual substructures. A cognitive model based on conceptual networks allows us to characterise the category of verbs prefixed by pred- as a category exhibiting prototype effects; the schematic meaning establishes a motivated link between their diverse specific meanings and creates a semantic unity within the apparent semantic diversity.