Chapter 5

A word and its relatives: derivation

5.1 Relationships between lexemes

• The suffix –ance is not one of the small class of suffixes (so- called “inflectional” suffixes) whose use is tightly determined by grammar.

• What sort of suffix is it then?• Derivational– all aspects of word structure

involving affixation that is not inflectional.• This chapter shows how derivation works in

English.

5.1 Cont…

• Performance– what lexeme could this be?• There is a plural form –performances, so

performance and performances are two forms of the lexeme PERFORMANCE.

• The relationship is one of lexemes not of word forms. (PERFORM and PERFORMANCE)

• Derivational morphology is concerned with one kind of relationship between lexemes.

5.1 Cont…

• Here, the concern is with relationships involving affixation, and the grammatical and semantic tasks that such affixation can perform.

• Base– partially complete word form to which an affix is attached so as to create either an inflected word form or a new lexeme.

• Some bases are roots, whether bound (e.g. wive, the base for wives) or free (e.g. cat, base for cats)

• Others contain a root and one or more affixes, helpful as the base for helpfulness.

5.2 Word classes and conversion

• Word classes= parts of speech= lexical categories

• PERFORM and PERFORMANCE –do they belong to the same word class?

• No– PERFORMANCE has two word forms, and PERFORM has 4 word forms

• PERFORM is a verb, PERFORMANCE is a noun,• On the basis on syntactic and inflectional

behavior, not of meaning.

5.2 Cont…

• PERFORM and RESEMBLE• Is RESEMBLE a ‘doing word’ or ‘describing

word’? (e.g. TALL, INTERESTING)• RESEMBLE has a set of forms (resembles,

resembled, resembling and resemble)• To classify words such as PERFORM and

RESEMBLE as ‘doing words’ would be to mislead us into neglecting the syntactic and inflectional parallels that justify them as verbs.

5.2 Cont…

• Does that mean, then, that a lexeme cannot have both noun forms (singular and plural) and verb forms?

• The lexemes HOPE and FEAR both have verb (she hoped/feared for the future) and noun forms (hope/fear for the future)

• Ambivalent– noun-like in its grammatical behavior (e.g. DOOR, SISTER, DESK, JOY) or purely verb-like (e.g. HEAR, SPEAK, WRITE, BELIEVE)

5.2 Cont…

• English in particular:• Compare HOPE and FEAR as verbs with other

verbs that can be followed by that-clauses, as in (1) and (2): pg. 47

• What do you notice about the nouns in (2)?• Have a suffix added to the basic form of the verb

in (1)• The verbal construction in (1) is basic, the

nominal construction in (2) being derived from it.

5.2 Cont…

• Look at HOPE and FEAR– they are also derived from verbs even though they carry no affix.

• This is called ‘zero-derived’ which is called conversion

• Conversion– a lexeme belonging to one class can simply be ‘converted’ to another, without any overt change in shape.

• FATHER– the noun form is more basic.

5.3 Adverbs derived from adjectives

• DIOECIOUSLY and DIOECIOUS –distinct lexemes (different word class) but not distinct lexical item.

• Derivational processes– change the word class of the bases to which they apply, unlike inflection.

• Mono-morphemic adverbs (OFTEN,SELDOM,NEVER,SOON), and some other adverbs are morphologically complex without containing –ly (NOWHERE,EVERYWHERE,TODAY,YESTERDAY), conversion—FAST, HARD (derived from adjectives)

5.4. Nouns derived from nouns

• Not all derivational processes change word class.

• Examples 5-9 (pg.49) :lexical items, unpredictable meanings.

• This ‘gappiness’ helps to confirm that these affixes are derivational rather than inflectional even though they do not change the word class.

5.4 Cont…

• These examples GLASWEGIAN, LOGICIAN and HISTORIAN illustrates at least superficially, the possibility that the base for a derivational process may be bound rather than free.

• GLASWEGIAN contains an idiosyncratic bound allomorph Glasweg- of the free morpheme Glasgow, which is also the only word form belonging to the lexeme GLASGOW

5.5 Nouns derived from members of other word classes

• Nouns derived from adjectives and from verbs are extremely numerous.

• Suffixes used to derive nouns from adjectives:10-12 (pg. 50)• Property of being X, where X is the base adjective.• Formed from bases other than the freeform of the

corresponding adjective, e.g. FEROCITY from feroc-(not ferocious), CONSERVATISM from conservat- (not conservative).

• All nouns in –ity are lexical items

5.6 Adjectives derived from adjectives

• Prefixes predominate• Un-adjectives –most dictionaries may not

even list them• In with allomorphs such as il-ir-im as in

INTANGIBLE, ILLEGAL, IRRESPONSIBLE, IMPOSSIBLE –see examples (22), the use of IN is more restricted.

• The modifier very and the comparative construction (more… than) show that interesting, drunk and damaged are adjectives—examples (23)

• Suffixes that form adjectives from verbs:-- -able to be Xed: breakable, readable, reiable,

watachable-- ent,-ant “tending to X”: repellent, expectant,

conversant

5.7: Adjectives derived from members of other word classes

Cont…

• --ive ‘tending to X’: repulsive, explosive, speculative

• Suffixes that form adjectives from nouns (27)-(30)

5.8 Verbs derived from verbs

• Prefixes– re and negative ones such as un, de, dis (31)-(34)

• Look at the columns in (35): Intransitive and Transitive

• Transitive verbs are ones with an ‘object’ noun phrase, usually indicating the thing or person that is the goal of the action of the verb

• (36) a. Jill laid the book on the table.• b. The book lay on the table

Cont…

• Intransitive verbs, such as lay in (36b), lack such an object.

• The transitive verbs in (35) are all causative –’cause to X’ where X stands for the meaning of the corresponding intransitive

• Involve conversion as in (37)

5.9. Verbs derived from members of other word classes

• Some affixes for deriving verbs from nouns are: (38)-(40).

• Verbs derived by replacing the final voiceless consonant of a noun with a voiced one, perhaps with some vowel change too (41).

• The suffixes –ise and –ify can derive verbs from adjectival bases too, as in NATIONALISE, TENDERISE, INTENSIFY and PURIFY

Cont…

• When the roots they are attached are bound (e.g. CAUTERISE, SANITISE, PETRIFY, SATISFY, MAGNIFY),it is often impossibe to decide whether these roots are fundamentally nominal or adjectival.

• The suffix –ate is the same.• Suffixes play a larger role than prefixes in

English derivational morphology

Cont…

• One prefix to be mentioned– en, with an allomorph em

• ‘cause to become X’ or ‘cause to possess or enter X’ from a few adjectives and nouns: ENFEEBLE,ENSLAVE,EMPOWER,ENRAGE, ENTHRONE,ENTOMB.

• Adjectives BOLD and LIVE as bases, the prefix en: EMBOLDEN, ENLIVEN

Cont…

• (e.g. TIGHTEN, LOOSEN,STIFFEN,WEAKEN, WIDEN,REDDEN,DEEPEN,TOUGHEN)• These verbs have either an intransitive meaning

‘become X’ or an transitive one ‘ cause to become X’

• It turns out that the adjectives that can be bases for deriving –en verbs are all monosyllabic and all end in plosives (the sounds usually spelled p,b,t,d, © k and g)

Cont…

• STRONG -- STRENGTHEN

CONCLUSION

Not listed in dictionary-- -ly,un-,-ing,-ness