Distributive Verbs in Serbian and Croatian

Abstract

This article examines the semantic nature of distributive verbs formed with the prefix po- in Serbian and Croatian. The default interpretation of such distributive verbs, that an event sequentially affects one object (or subject) after another, can in fact be cancelled, i.e., a simultaneous interpretation is possible. The default interpretation of sequential sub-events is analyzed according to the theory of Cognitive Grammar, and is explained as the result of the processing time involved in scanning the individual events being interpreted as conceived time in the default case.