The availability of verb-particle constructions in lexical resources: How much is enough?

In this paper, we investigate the phenomenon of verb-particle constructions, discussing their characteristics and availability in some lexical resources. Given the limited coverage provided by these resources and the constantly growing number of verb-particle combinations, possible ways of extending their coverage are investigated, taking into account regular patterns found in some productive combinations of verbs and particles. We propose, in particular, the use of a semantic classification of verbs (such as that defined by [English verb classes and alternations - a preliminary investigation, The University of Chicago Press]) as a means to obtain productive verb-particle constructions and the use of the World Wide Web to validate them, and discuss the issues involved in adopting such an approach.