This book is a contribution to the study of morphological productivity, that is, the property of word-formation processes whereby new words are created to satisfy a naming need. It presents an up-to-date picture of this phenomenon, characterising its major attributes and addressing neighbouring theoretical concepts like availability, profitability or lexicalisation. Links are also established between those notions and N+N compounding, a word-formation process regarded as very productive but traditionally overlooked in studies of this type. Unlike other productivity surveys, mostly directed at affixation, a corpus of N+N compounds is here compiled to which the mainstream models of productivity are applied. This allows to detect the pros and cons of those proposals and to propose a model of productivity. Two measures, Indicator of Profitability (π) and Trend of Profitability (Π), are introduced which can be applied across word-formation processes and are able to compute their productivity based on semantic categories.
Seminar paper from the year 2016 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 1,0, University of Leipzig, language: English, abstract: This seminar paper is concerned with the linguistic concept of productivity. The term is defined and factors that limit productivity in linguistics are pointed out (Constraints on Productivity). Finally, the relevance of productivity for English lessons is shown, which should be interesting for teachers to be.
In this work, the author proposes three criteria for measuring productivity of word formation processes, which together make up a reliable methodology for evaluating morphological productivity: productivity tests, dictionary comparison, corpus data. The model is examined in light of data from Israeli Hebrew.
The future of English linguistics as envisaged by the editors of Topics in English Linguistics lies in empirical studies which integrate work in English linguistics into general and theoretical linguistics on the one hand, and comparative linguistics on the other. The TiEL series features volumes that present interesting new data and analyses, and above all fresh approaches that contribute to the overall aim of the series, which is to further outstanding research in English linguistics.
Why are there more English words ending in -ness than ending in -ity? What is it about some endings that makes them more widely usable than others? Can we measure the differences in the facility with which the various affixes are used? Does the difference in facility reflect a difference in the way we treat words containing these affixes in the brain? These are the questions examined in this book. Morphological productivity has, over the centuries, been a major factor in providing the huge vocabulary of English and remains one of the most contested areas in the study of word-formation and structure. This book takes an eclectic approach to the topic, applying the findings for morphology to syntax and phonology. Bringing together the results of twenty years' work in the field, it provides new insights and considers a wide range of linguistic and psycholinguistic evidence.
Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 2,0, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, language: English, abstract: The drumper went on drumping until the drumperism lets him get drumpish.Every time we can form new words with the help of word formation processes. There are many different processes which lead to many different new words. But how can we form such new words? The sentenceThe drumper went on drumping until the drumperism lets him get drumpishconsists of four new or unknown words. I formed these words with the help of a very productive word formation process, called 'derivation'. But what does 'productive' actually mean? Productive in the content of word formation processes means that these processes are responsible for the large part of neologisms (Kortmann 1999: 58). Productive may be also described as “a pattern, meaning that when occasion demands, the pattern may be used as a model for new items.” (Adams 1973: 197). Some processes are more productive than others. This research paper deals with the most productive word formation processes of the English language, namely 'derivation', which includes 'prefixation', 'suffixation' and 'infixation', 'compounding' and 'conversion'. The word formation process 'back formation' is regarded as a borderline case, i.e. it can be counted as a member of the most productive word formation processes or as a member of the so called secondary word formation processes (Schmid 2005: 87). Because of the relation between compounding, especially compound verbs, and back formation I will treat the process in this research paper too. After an introduction of some basic morphological terms as well as a definition of the term 'word formation' I will present the different stages a new formed word has to pass until it can be regarded as a member of the vocabulary because not every new formed word will become established. Afterwards, in the main part of this research paper, I will present these most productive word formation processes named above and give suitable examples in each case. Finally the term 'blocking' will be introduced, i.e. there are some words which just cannot be formed because there is already another word which carries the appropriate meaning and thus 'blocks' the new word (Schmid 2005: 117). In the conclusion I will give an outlook for the secondary word formation processes and a review of words which are included in the dictionary newly.
This is the most comprehensive book to date on word formation in terms of scope of topics, schools and theoretical positions. All contributions were written by the leading scholars in their respective areas.
This textbook provides an accessible introduction to the study of word-formation, that is, the ways in which new words are built on the bases of other words (e.g. happy - happy-ness), focusing on English. The book's didactic aim is to enable students with little or no prior linguistic knowledge to do their own practical analyses of complex words. Readers are familiarized with the necessary methodological tools to obtain and analyze relevant data and are shown how to relate their findings to theoretical problems and debates. The book is not written in the perspective of a particular theoretical framework and draws on insights from various research traditions, reflecting important methodological and theoretical developments in the field. It is a textbook directed towards university students of English at all levels. It can also serve as a source book for teachers and advanced students, and as an up-to-date reference concerning many word-formation processes in English.
Although the illustrative material is drawn principally from English, general points are illustrated with a variety of languages to provide a new perspective on a confused and often controversial field of study.
Postulated word-formation rules often exclude formations that can nevertheless be found in actual usage. This book presents an in-depth investigation of a highly heterogeneous word-formation pattern in English: the formation of nouns by suffixation with "-ee." Rather than relying on a single semantic or syntactic framework for analysis, the study combines diachronic, cognitive and language-contact perspectives in order to explain the diversity in the formation and establishment of "-ee" words. It also seeks to challenge previous measurements of productivity and proposes a new way to investigate the relationship between actual and possible words. By making use of the largest and most up-to-date electronic corpus the World Wide Web as a data source, this research adds substantially to the number of attested "-ee" words. It furthermore analyses this word-formation pattern in different varieties of English (British vs. American English; Australian English). Due to the multiplicity of approaches and analyses it offers, the study is suitable for courses in English word-formation, lexicology, corpus linguistics and historical linguistics."
