Talk:halb-

Suffix?
Is this really a suffix? Personally, I would have never analyzed the supposed derived terms as such but rather as compounds with. &mdash; Fytcha〈 T | L | C 〉 16:07, 6 March 2022 (UTC)
 * Definitely not a suffix, but possibly a prefix. Are there any tests for determining whether something is a prefix or the first element of a compound? —Mahāgaja · talk 16:37, 6 March 2022 (UTC)
 * Oops, that's what I meant. Not that I'm aware of, I think the usual analysis is "if it can't stand on its own, it's an affix", e.g. stief- or -los. &mdash; Fytcha〈 T | L | C 〉 16:40, 6 March 2022 (UTC)
 * But can stand on its own. —Mahāgaja · talk 16:43, 6 March 2022 (UTC)
 * Could you please provide a grammatical example sentence where is an independent word meaning ~lacking/without? Things like "Wir sind ihn los." don't count because it's still an affix (a prefix) there (, evidenced by the fact that  is grammatical), it's just that such verbs are split in certain conjugated forms. &mdash; Fytcha〈 T | L | C 〉 17:24, 6 March 2022 (UTC)
 * I'd consider a compound, the same as all verbs with separable prefixes, which I would say aren't prefixes at all but adverbs or maybe particles. —Mahāgaja · talk 17:50, 6 March 2022 (UTC)
 * Hmmm I see. In that case I don't think I have a convincing case to present against the prefixness of halb-. The best thing I could say now is probably to point out that Duden has los- and herum- etc. as prefixes but not halb-, but Duden is habitually wrong so it doesn't count for much. &mdash; Fytcha〈 T | L | C 〉 17:58, 6 March 2022 (UTC)
 * For what it's worth, I think you're probably right that isn't a prefix, but I don't know how to prove it. —Mahāgaja · talk 18:03, 6 March 2022 (UTC)


 * If any of the predecessors were definitely prefixes (e.g. if references accept PGmc halba- as distinct from halb(az) in compounds, or OHG predecessors of halbvoll etc had a different form than halb), it might make sense to view it as having continued to be a prefix (an Occam's razor-like principle of "don't posit a change in POS if you don't have to")... but that doesn't seem to be the case, it seems like all the evidence can be explained by it being halb(?), so the same razor would say let's not posit a new prefix POS if we don't have to, especially if other reference works don't. I see only a few old or lower-quality references mentioning a "prefix halb-" at Google Books. (Compare WT:RFDN.) The existence of Viertelbruder, viertelvoll, even viertelnackt, and drittelvoll etc, but not viertel- etc, seems suggestive of it just being halb. RFD? - -sche (discuss) 21:37, 7 March 2022 (UTC)

Category:German terms prefixed with halb-
German, per Talk:halb-, not a real prefix. Supposed derivations are instead compounds with halb. &mdash; Fytcha〈 T | L | C 〉 12:22, 8 March 2022 (UTC)


 * Yeah, delete per the talk page. - -sche (discuss) 18:44, 15 March 2022 (UTC)

RFD-deleted. &mdash; Fytcha〈 T | L | C 〉 17:43, 4 July 2022 (UTC)