Bettelou Los is a senior lecturer in English linguistics at Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Corrien Blom is a consultant at the Bureau Taal, Beusichem, The Netherlands. Geert Booij is a professor of linguistics at the University of Leiden, The Netherlands. Marion Elenbaas is a reader in English linguistics at the University of Leiden, The Netherlands. Ans van Kemenade is a professor of English linguistics at Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

'Offering a wealth of data material, the authors proceed far beyond the exploratory, presenting a coherent analysis of compositionality and conventionality, with important implications for diachronic and synchronic syntactic theory.' Jan-Wouter Zwart, University of Groningen

• 1. Separable complex verbs; 2. The paradox of particle verbs; 3. The synchronic analysis of Dutch SCVs; 4. The diachronic analysis of Dutch SCVs; 5. The lexical decomposition of present-day English verb-particle combinations; 6. The diachrony of the English verb-particle combination; 7. The diachrony of prefixes in West Germanic; 8. Conclusions.

Bettelou Los is a senior lecturer in English linguistics at Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Corrien Blom is a consultant at the Bureau Taal, Beusichem, The Netherlands. Geert Booij is a professor of linguistics at the University of Leiden, The Netherlands. Marion Elenbaas is a reader in English linguistics at the University of Leiden, The Netherlands. Ans van Kemenade is a professor of English linguistics at Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

'Offering a wealth of data material, the authors proceed far beyond the exploratory, presenting a coherent analysis of compositionality and conventionality, with important implications for diachronic and synchronic syntactic theory.' Jan-Wouter Zwart, University of Groningen

• 1. Separable complex verbs; 2. The paradox of particle verbs; 3. The synchronic analysis of Dutch SCVs; 4. The diachronic analysis of Dutch SCVs; 5. The lexical decomposition of present-day English verb-particle combinations; 6. The diachrony of the English verb-particle combination; 7. The diachrony of prefixes in West Germanic; 8. Conclusions.

Bettelou Los is a senior lecturer in English linguistics at Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Corrien Blom is a consultant at the Bureau Taal, Beusichem, The Netherlands. Geert Booij is a professor of linguistics at the University of Leiden, The Netherlands. Marion Elenbaas is a reader in English linguistics at the University of Leiden, The Netherlands. Ans van Kemenade is a professor of English linguistics at Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

'Offering a wealth of data material, the authors proceed far beyond the exploratory, presenting a coherent analysis of compositionality and conventionality, with important implications for diachronic and synchronic syntactic theory.' Jan-Wouter Zwart, University of Groningen

• 1. Separable complex verbs; 2. The paradox of particle verbs; 3. The synchronic analysis of Dutch SCVs; 4. The diachronic analysis of Dutch SCVs; 5. The lexical decomposition of present-day English verb-particle combinations; 6. The diachrony of the English verb-particle combination; 7. The diachrony of prefixes in West Germanic; 8. Conclusions.