Coverb

Coverb is a grammatical term that can have several different meanings but generally denotes a word or prefix that resembles a verb or co-operates with a verb. Coverbs should not be confused with converbs, which are nonfinite verb forms used to express subordination.

In languages that have the serial verb construction, coverbs are a type of word that shares features of verbs and prepositions. A coverb takes an object or complement and forms a phrase that appears in sequence with another verb phrase in accordance with the serial construction. Acoverb appears to be subordinate to a main verb and fulfills a function similar to that of a preposition.

Some words that may be classed as coverbs can also function as independent verbs, but that is not always the case. Coverbs in that sense are found in Asian languages such as Chinese and Vietnamese, and, for example, West African languages such as Yoruba. Examples are given below.

The term coverb (like preverb) is also sometimes used to denote the first element in a compound verb or complex predicate. There, the coverb supplies significant semantic information, and the second element (a light verb) is inflected to convey mainly grammatical information. The term is used in this way in relation to, for instance, North Australian languages.

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