In the recently published Volume 22 of the SASA Dictionary, as many as 76 pages are devoted to lexemes containing the formative ????-, numbering more than 1,100 entries. Although the dictionary provides an extensive treatment of the meanings of this prefixoid, according to I. Klajn, the formative ????- generally has two meanings: a primary one, half (of something), and a secondary one, partial, incomplete, insufficient, unfinished. The secondary meaning refers to an incomplete degree of the quality expressed by the motivating word. When it denotes an incomplete manifestation of a property, the component ????- may introduce a pejorative meaning into the derivative (e.g., ????????????????? ?semi-intellectual?), but it can also serve as a formative means for expressing fine nuances of lexical gradation (e.g., ??? ? ??????? ? ?????????? ? ?????? ?lie ? half-lie ? half-truth ? truth?). This paper analyzes the ability of the prefixoid ????- to denote the degree of a property, particularly in cases where it marks non-lexicalized intermediate values between two antonyms. When a prefix such as ???- (?without?) or ??- (?un-, non-?) is added to the motivating word to produce a lexeme expressing the absolute absence of the property denoted by the base, the occurrence of ????-combined with such lexemes (e.g., ?????????????, ?semi-absurd?, ??????????????? ?semi-independence?) is unexpected yet semantically significant. The study demonstrates that the role of the prefixoid ????- lies in the gradation of possession or absence of a quality, or in emphasizing incompleteness. The emphasis on incompleteness is particularly evident when ????- is added to a lexeme already containing a prefix indicating partiality (e.g., ?????????????? ?to half-close?) or to a diminutive, whose suffix already suggests a weaker degree of the expressed feature (e.g., ??????????? ?semi-whitish?). The described lexemes with ????- attest to the exceptional potential of this formative element in expressing and levelling degrees of incompleteness of a property.
Rajna Dragićević (Wed,) studied this question.