Superlexical vs. lexical prefixes

This paper is intended to justify the classification of all the Russian prefixes into lexical and superlexical. It gives semantic and syntactic criteria for distinguishing between the two groups, including: the idiosyncratic or spatial lexical meaning versus operator-like function; the (in)ability to measure over objects and events; the (in)ability to stack; the (in)ability of a host verb to form secondary imperfective; attaching to (a)telic stems; the (in)ability to change the argument structure of a host verb. Applying these criteria results in finer gradation within the group of superlexical prefixes. It is accounted for by their different syntactic positions with respect to vP. At the end of the paper I speculate about the effect this architecture can have on the prefixation of unaccusative and unergative verbs.