Stela Manova (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780190210434
- eISBN:
- 9780190210458
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190210434.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Syntax and Morphology
This volume advances our understanding of how word structure in terms of affix ordering is organized in the languages of the world. Affix ordering is a central issue in linguistic theory and there ...
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This volume advances our understanding of how word structure in terms of affix ordering is organized in the languages of the world. Affix ordering is a central issue in linguistic theory and there has been much research on the topic. The present volume contributes novel data from typologically diverse well-studied and lesser-studied languages as well as original analyses, and covers the major approaches in the field. Unlike previous research, most of the contributions in this collection consider more than one language. Discussed are, among other things, cases of affix ordering that pose problems to linguistic theory such as affix repetition, variable ordering, and interaction of prefixes and suffixes in terms of parasynthesis and mobile affixation. Novel examples of affix repetition and variable ordering are given, and the volume provides evidence that these phenomena are neither rare nor typical only of lesser-studied languages with unstable grammatical organization, as has been claimed in the literature so far. This book also offers an explicit discussion on the (non)existence of phonological affix ordering and a discussion on the emergence of affix ordering in child language, the first of its kind in the literature. Repetitive operations that are hard to explain in many theories are frequent in early child language and seem to serve as trainings for morphological (de)composition and affix stacking. Thus, the volume also raises the question about the general architecture of grammar and the nature and the side effects of our theoretical assumptions.Less
This volume advances our understanding of how word structure in terms of affix ordering is organized in the languages of the world. Affix ordering is a central issue in linguistic theory and there has been much research on the topic. The present volume contributes novel data from typologically diverse well-studied and lesser-studied languages as well as original analyses, and covers the major approaches in the field. Unlike previous research, most of the contributions in this collection consider more than one language. Discussed are, among other things, cases of affix ordering that pose problems to linguistic theory such as affix repetition, variable ordering, and interaction of prefixes and suffixes in terms of parasynthesis and mobile affixation. Novel examples of affix repetition and variable ordering are given, and the volume provides evidence that these phenomena are neither rare nor typical only of lesser-studied languages with unstable grammatical organization, as has been claimed in the literature so far. This book also offers an explicit discussion on the (non)existence of phonological affix ordering and a discussion on the emergence of affix ordering in child language, the first of its kind in the literature. Repetitive operations that are hard to explain in many theories are frequent in early child language and seem to serve as trainings for morphological (de)composition and affix stacking. Thus, the volume also raises the question about the general architecture of grammar and the nature and the side effects of our theoretical assumptions.
Angeliki Efthymiou
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780190210434
- eISBN:
- 9780190210458
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190210434.003.0004
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Syntax and Morphology
This chapter deals with parasynthetic verbs in Modern Greek whose structure contains both prefixes and suffixes, such as apo-cefal-iz-o ‘to decapitate’ (DPREF-BASE-DSUFF-ISUFF). After a brief ...
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This chapter deals with parasynthetic verbs in Modern Greek whose structure contains both prefixes and suffixes, such as apo-cefal-iz-o ‘to decapitate’ (DPREF-BASE-DSUFF-ISUFF). After a brief overview of the relevant literature it is shown that the linear ordering of the prefixes and suffixes reflects the information content of each affix and its contribution to the morphological structure of the parasynthetic verb. More specifically, it is suggested that prefixes in parasynthetic verbs behave like internal prefixes (Di Sciullo 1997) and determine the core semantics of the verb and that affixation is influenced by various factors, such as register and frequency. Finally, the structure of the Modern Greek parasynthetic verbs (MGPVs) is explained in terms of optimal shape, constructional iconicity, transparency, and biuniqueness. The findings of this study are exemplified by reference to 308 parasynthetic verbs, collected from the Reverse Dictionary of Modern Greek (2002).Less
This chapter deals with parasynthetic verbs in Modern Greek whose structure contains both prefixes and suffixes, such as apo-cefal-iz-o ‘to decapitate’ (DPREF-BASE-DSUFF-ISUFF). After a brief overview of the relevant literature it is shown that the linear ordering of the prefixes and suffixes reflects the information content of each affix and its contribution to the morphological structure of the parasynthetic verb. More specifically, it is suggested that prefixes in parasynthetic verbs behave like internal prefixes (Di Sciullo 1997) and determine the core semantics of the verb and that affixation is influenced by various factors, such as register and frequency. Finally, the structure of the Modern Greek parasynthetic verbs (MGPVs) is explained in terms of optimal shape, constructional iconicity, transparency, and biuniqueness. The findings of this study are exemplified by reference to 308 parasynthetic verbs, collected from the Reverse Dictionary of Modern Greek (2002).
Laurie Bauer, Rochelle Lieber, and Ingo Plag
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- December 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780198747062
- eISBN:
- 9780191809323
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198747062.003.0021
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Syntax and Morphology, English Language
This chapter discusses complex words that have more than one affix. First it looks at combinations of suffixes and combinations of prefixes, the areas on which research on affix combination has ...
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This chapter discusses complex words that have more than one affix. First it looks at combinations of suffixes and combinations of prefixes, the areas on which research on affix combination has traditionally focused. Then it discusses types of derivative that have received little attention in the literature, those in which a prefix and a suffix are found in a single word, considering the issue of parasynthetic affixation as well. It also takes up the intersection of conversion with affixation, combinations including inflections, and derivatives involving more than two affixes. This chapter focuses on the extent to which a complexity-based approach predicts the behaviour of complex words in English.Less
This chapter discusses complex words that have more than one affix. First it looks at combinations of suffixes and combinations of prefixes, the areas on which research on affix combination has traditionally focused. Then it discusses types of derivative that have received little attention in the literature, those in which a prefix and a suffix are found in a single word, considering the issue of parasynthetic affixation as well. It also takes up the intersection of conversion with affixation, combinations including inflections, and derivatives involving more than two affixes. This chapter focuses on the extent to which a complexity-based approach predicts the behaviour of complex words in English.
