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I. Verbs converted from nouns (denominal verbs).
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+ -ify), arrangement(arrange + -ment), non-smoker (non-+ smoker). Words like reappearance, unreasonable, denationalise, are often qualified as prefixal-suffixal derivatives. The reader should clearly realise that this qualification is relevant only in terms of the constituent morphemes such words are made up of, i. e. from the angle of morphemic analysis. From the point of view of derivational analysis such words are mostly either suffixal or prefixal derivatives, e. g. sub-atomic= sub-+ (atom + + -ic), unreasonable= un- +(reason + -able), denationalise= de-+ + (national + -ize), discouragement= (dis- + courage) + -ment.
A careful study of a great many suffixal and prefixal derivatives has revealed an essential difference between them. In Modern English suffixation is mostly characteristic of noun and adjective formation, while prefixation is mostly typical of verb formation. The distinction also rests on the role different types of meaning play in the semantic structure of the suffix and the prefix. 1 The part-of-speech meaning has a much greater significance in suffixes as compared to prefixes which possess it in a lesser degree. Due to it a prefix may be confined to one part of speech as, e. g., enslave, encage, unbutton or may function in more than one part of speech as, e. g., over- in overkind a, to overfeed v, overestimation n; unlike prefixes, suffixes as a rule function in any one part of speech often forming a derived stem of a different part of speech as compared with that of the base, e. g. careless a — cf. care n; suitable a — cf. suit v, etc. Furthermore, it is necessary to point out that a suffix closely knit together with a base forms a fusion retaining less of its independence than a prefix which is as a general rule more independent semantically, cf. reading — ‘the act of one who reads’; ‘ability to read’; and to re-read — ‘to read again. '
| § 7. Prefixation. Some Debatable Problems |
Prefixation is the formation of words with the help of prefixes. The interpretation of the terms prefix and prefixation now firmly rooted in linguistic literature has undergone a certain evolution. For instance, some time ago there were linguists who treated prefixation as part of word-composition (or compounding). The greater semantic independence of prefixes as compared with suffixes led the linguists to identify prefixes with the first component part of a compound word. 2
At present the majority of scholars treat prefixation as an integral part of word-derivation regarding prefixes as derivational affixes which differ essentially both from root-morphemes and non-derivational prepositive morphemes. Opinion sometimes differs concerning the interpretation of the functional status of certain individual groups of morphemes which commonly occur as first component parts of words. H. Marchand, for instance, analyses words like to overdo, to underestimate as compound verbs, the first components of which are locative particles, not prefixes. In a similar way he interprets words like income, onlooker, outhouse qualifying them as compounds with locative particles as first elements.
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There are about 51 prefixes in the system of Modern English word-formation.
1 See ‘Word-Structure’, § 9, p. 100.
2 See, for instance, E. Kruisinga. A Handbook of Present-Day English, pt. II, 1939.
According to the available word-counts of prefixal derivatives l the greatest number are verbs — 42. 4%, adjectives comprise 33, 5% and nouns make up 22. 4%. To give some examples. -
prefixal verbs: to enrich, to coexist, to disagree, to undergo, etc.;
prefixal adjectives: anti-war, biannual, uneasy, super-human, etc.;
prefixal nouns: ex-champion, co-author, disharmony, subcommittee,
etc.
It is of interest to mention that the number of prefixal derivatives within a certain part of speech is in inverse proportion to the actual number of prefixes: 22 form verbs, 41 prefixes make adjectives and 42 — nouns.
Proceeding from the three types of morphemes that the structural classification involves 2 two types of prefixes are to be distinguished:
1) those not correlated with any independent word (either notional or functional), e. g. un-, dis-, re-, pre-, post-, etc.; and
2) those correlated with functional words (prepositions or preposition like adverbs), e. g. out-, over-, up-, under-, etc.
Prefixes of the second type are qualified as semibound morphemes, which implies that they occur in speech in various utterances both as independent words and as derivational affixes, e. g. ‘ over one’s head’, ‘ over the river’ (cf. to over lap, to over pass); ‘to run out ’, ‘to take smb out ’ (cf. to out grow, to out line); ‘to look up ’, ‘hands up ’ (cf. upstairs, to up set); ‘ under the same roof, ‘to go under ’ (cf. to under estimate, under current), etc.
It should be mentioned that English prefixes of the second type essentially differ from the functional words they are correlated with:
a) like any other derivational affixes they have a more generalised meaning in comparison with the more concrete meanings of the correlated words (see the examples given above); they are characterised by a unity of different denotational components of meaning — a generalised component common to a set of prefixes and individual semantic component distinguishing the given prefix within the set.
b) they are deprived of all grammatical features peculiar to the independent words they are correlated with;
c) they tend to develop a meaning not found in the correlated words;
d) they form regular sets of words of the same semantic type.
Of late some new investigations into the problem of prefixation in English have yielded interesting results. It appears that the traditional opinion, current among linguists, that prefixes modify only the lexical meaning of words without changing the part of speech is not quite correct with regard to the English language. In English there are about 25 prefixes which can transfer words to a different part of speech in comparison with their original stems. Such prefixes should perhaps be called conversive prefixes, e. g. to begulf (cf. gulf n), to debus (cf. bus n); to embronze (cf. bronze n), etc. If further investigation of English prefixation gives
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1 The figures are borrowed from: К. В. Пиоттух. Система префиксации в современном английском языке. Канд. дисс. М., 1971.
2 See ‘Word-Structure’, § 3, р. 92.
more proofs of the conversive ability of prefixes, it will then be possible to draw the conclusion that in this respect there is no functional difference between suffixes and prefixes, for suffixes in English are also both conversive (cf. hand — handless) and non-conversive (cf. father — fatherhood, horseman — horsemanship, etc. ).
Some recent investigations in the field of English affixation have revealed a close interdependence between the meanings of a polysemantic affix and the lexico-semantic group to which belongs the base it is affixed to, which results in the difference between structural and structural-semantic derivational patterns the prefix forms. A good illustration in point is the prefix en-.
When within the same structural pattern en- +n —> V, the prefix is combined with noun bases denoting articles of clothing, things of luxury, etc. it forms derived verbs expressing an action of putting or placing on, e. g. enrobe (cf. robe), enjewel (cf. jewel), enlace (cf. lace), etc.
When added to noun bases referring to various land forms, means of transportation, containers and notions of geometry it builds derived verbs denoting an action of putting or placing in or into, e. g. embed (cf. bed), entrap (cf. trap), embark (cf. bark), entrain (cf. train), encircle (cf. circle), etc.
In combination with noun bases denoting an agent or an abstract notion the prefix en- produces causative verbs, e. g. enslave (cf. slave), endanger (cf. danger), encourage (cf. courage), etc.
| § 8. Classification of Prefixes |
Unlike suffixation, which is usually more closely bound up with the paradigm of a certain part of speech, prefixation is considered to be more neutral in this respect. It is significant that in linguistic literature derivational suffixes are always divided into noun-forming, adjective-forming, etc. Prefixes, however, are treated differently. They are described either in alphabetical order or subdivided into several classes in accordance with their origin, meaning or function and never according to the part of speech.
Prefixes may be classified on different principles. Diachronically distinction is made between prefixes of native and foreign origin. 1 Synchronically prefixes may be classified:
1) according to the class of words they preferably form. Recent investigations, as has been mentioned above, allow one to classify prefixes according to this principle. It must be noted that most of the 51 prefixes of Modern English function in more than one part of speech forming different structural and structural-semantic patterns. A small group of 5 prefixes may be referred to exclusively verb-forming ( en-, be-, un-, etc. ).
The majority of prefixes (in their various denotational meanings) tend to function either in nominal parts of speech (41 patterns in adjectives, 42 in nouns) or in verbs (22 patterns);
2) as to the type of lexical-grammatical character of the base they are added to into: a) deverbal, e. g. rewrite, outstay, overdo, etc.; b) denominal, e. g. unbutton, detrain, ex-president, etc. and c) deadjectival, e. g.
1 See ‘Word-Formation’, § 14, p. 125.
uneasy, biannual, etc. It is of interest to note that the most productive prefixal pattern for adjectives is the one made up of the prefix un- and the base built either on adjectival stems or present and past participle, e. g. unknown, unsmiling, unseen, etc.;
3) semantically prefixes fall into mono- and polysemantic 1;
4) as to the generic denotational meaning there are different groups that are distinguished in linguistic literature:
a) negative prefixes, such as: un1-, non-, in-, dis1-, a-, e. g. ungrateful (cf. grateful), unemployment (cf. employment), non-politician (cf. politician), non-scientific (cf. scientific), incorrect (cf. correct), disloyal (cf. loyal), disadvantage (cf. advantage), amoral (cf. moral), asymmetry (cf. symmetry), etc.
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It may be mentioned in passing that the prefix in- occurs in different phonetic shapes depending on the initial sound of the base it is affixed to; in other words, the prefixal morpheme in question has several allomporphs, namely il- (before [l]), im- (before [p, m], ) ir- (before [r]), in- in all other cases, e. g. illegal, improbable, immaterial, irreligious, inactive, etc.;
b) reversative or privative prefixes, such as un2-, de-, dis2-, e. g. untie (cf. tie), unleash (cf. leash), decentralise (cf. centralise), disconnect (cf. connect), etc.;
c) pejorative prefixes, such as mis-, mal-, pseudo-, e. g. miscalculate (cf. calculate), misinform (cf. inform), maltreat (cf. treat), pseudo-classicism (cf. classicism), pseudo-scientific (cf. scientific), etc.;
d) prefixes of time and order, such as fore-, pre-, post-, ex-, e. g. foretell (cf. tell), foreknowledge (cf. knowledge), pre-war (cf. war), post-war (cf. war), post-classical (cf. classical), ex-president (cf. president);
e) prefix of repetition re-, e. g. rebuild (cf. build), re-write (cf. write), etc;
f) locative prefixes, such as super-, sub-, inter-, trans-, e. g. super- structure (cf. structure), subway (cf. way), inter-continental (cf. continental), trans-atlantic (cf. Atlantic), etc. and some other groups;
5) when viewed from the angle of their stylistic reference English prefixes fall into those characterised by neutral stylistic reference and those possessing quite a definite stylistic value. As no exhaustive lexico-stylistic classification of English prefixes has yet been suggested, a few examples can only be adduced here. There is no doubt, for instance, that prefixes like un1-, un 2-, out-, over-, re-, under- and some others can be qualified as neutral prefixes, e. g., unnatural, unknown, unlace, outnumber, oversee, resell, underestimate, etc. On the other hand, one can hardly fail to perceive the literary-bookish character of such prefixes as pseudo-, super-, ultra-, uni-, bi- and some others, e. g. pseudo-classical, superstructure, ultra-violet, unilateral, bifocal, etc.
Sometimes one comes across pairs of prefixes one of which is neutral, the other is stylistically coloured/One example will suffice here: the
1 For more details see ‘Word-Formation’, § 11, p. 121. 18
prefix over- occurs in all functional styles, the prefix super- is peculiar to the style of scientific prose.
6) prefixes may be also classified as to the degree of productivity into highly-productive, productive and non-productive. 1
| § 9. Suffixation. Peculiarities of Some Suffixes |
Suffixation is the formation of words with the help of suffixes. Suffixes usually modify the lexical meaning of the base and transfer words to a, different part of speech. There are suffixes however, which do not shift words from one part of speech into another; a suffix of this kind usually transfers a word into a different semantic group, e. g. a concrete noun becomes an abstract one, as is the case with child — childhood, friend — friendship, etc.
Chains of suffixes occurring in derived words having two and more suffixal morphemes are sometimes referred to in lexicography as compound suffixes: -ably = -able + -ly (e. g. profitably, unreasonably); -ically = -ic + -al + -ly (e. g. musically, critically); -ation = -ate + -ion (e. g. fascination, isolation) and some others. Compound suffixes do not always present a mere succession of two or more suffixes arising out of several consecutive stages of derivation. Some of them acquire a new quality operating as a whole unit. Let us examine from this point of view the suffix -ation in words like fascination, translation, adaptation and the like. Adaptation looks at first sight like a parallel to fascination, translation. The latter however are first-degree derivatives built with the suffix -ion on the bases fascinate-, translate-. But there is no base adap-tate-, only the shorter base adapt-. Likewise damnation, condemnation, formation, information and many others are not matched by shorter bases ending in -ate, but only by still shorter ones damn-, condemn-, form-, inform-. Thus, the suffix -ation is a specific suffix of a composite nature. It consists of two suffixes -ate and -ion, but in many cases functions as a single unit in first-degree derivatives. It is referred to in linguistic literature as a coalescent suffix or a group suffix. Adaptation is then a derivative of the first degree of derivation built with the coalescent suffix on the base adapt-.
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Of interest is also the group-suffix -manship consisting of the suffixes -man 2 and -ship. It denotes a superior quality, ability of doing something to perfection, e. g. authormanship, quotemanship, Upmanship, etc. (cf. statesmanship, or chairmanship built by adding the suffix -ship to the compound base statesman- and chairman- respectively).
It also seems appropriate to make several remarks about the morphological changes that sometimes accompany the process of combining derivational morphemes with bases. Although this problem has been so far insufficiently investigated, some observations have been made and some data collected. For instance, the noun-forming suffix -ess for names of female beings brings about a certain change in the phonetic shape of the correlative male noun provided the latter ends in -er, -or, e. g. actress
1 See ‘Word-Formation’, § 13, p. 123.
2 See ‘Word-Structure’, § 3, p. 92.
(cf. actor), sculptress (cf. sculptor), tigress (cf. tiger), etc. It may be easily, observed that in such cases the sound [9] is contracted in the feminine nouns.
Further, there are suffixes due to which the primary stress is shifted to the syllable immediately preceding them, e. g. courageous (cf. courage), stability (cf. stable), investigation (cf. investigate), peculiarity (cf. peculiar), etc. When added to a base having the suffix -able/-ible as its component, the suffix -ity brings about a change in its phonetic shape, namely the vowel [i] is inserted between [b] and [1], e. g. possible — possibility, changeable — changeability, etc. Some suffixes attract the primary stress on to themselves, there is a secondary stress on the first syllable in words with such suffixes, e. g. `e mploy ´ ee (cf. em´ ploy), ` govern ´ mental (cf. govern), ` pictu ´ resque (cf. picture).
| § 10. Main Principles of Classification |
There are different classifications of suffixes in linguistic literature, as suffixes may be divided into several groups according to different principles:
1) The first principle of classification that, one might say, suggests itself is the part of speech formed. Within the scope of the part-of-speech classification suffixes naturally fall into several groups such as:
a) noun-suffixes, i. e. those forming or occurring in nouns, e. g. -er, -dom, -ness, -ation, etc. (teacher, Londoner, freedom, brightness, justification, etc. );
b) adjective-suffixes, i. e. those forming or occurring in adjectives, e. g. -able, -less, -ful, -ic, -ous, etc. (agreeable, careless, doubtful, poetic, courageous, etc. );
c) verb-suffixes, i. e. those forming or occurring in verbs, e. g. -en, -fy, -ise (-ize) (darken, satisfy, harmonise, etc. );
d) adverb-suffixes, i. e. those forming or occurring in adverbs, e. g. -ly, -ward (quickly, eastward, etc. ).
2) Suffixes may also be classified into various groups according to the lexico-grammatical character of the base the affix is usually added to. Proceeding from this principle one may divide suffixes into:
a) deverbal suffixes (those added to the verbal base), e. g. -er, -ing, -ment, -able, etc. (speaker, reading, agreement, suitable, etc. );
b) denominal suffixes (those added to the noun base), e. g. -less, -ish, -ful, -ist, -some, etc. (handless, childish, mouthful, violinist, troublesome, etc. );
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c) de-adjectival suffixes (those affixed to the adjective base), e. g. -en, -ly, -ish, -ness, etc. (blacken, slowly, reddish, brightness, etc. ).
3) A classification of suffixes may also be based on the criterion of sense expressed by a set of suffixes. Proceeding from this principle suffixes are classified into various groups within the bounds of a certain part of speech. For instance, noun-suffixes fall into those denoting:
a) the agent of an action, e. g. -er, -ant (baker, dancer, defendant, etc. );
b) appurtenance, e. g. -an, -ian, - ese, etc. (Arabian, Elizabethan, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, etc. );
c) collectivity, e. g. -age, -dom, -ery (-ry), etc. (freightage, officialdom, peasantry, etc. );
d) diminutiveness, e. g. -ie, -let, -ling, etc. (birdie, girlie, cloudlet, squireling, wolfling, etc. ).
4) Still another classification of suffixes may be worked out if one examines them from the angle of stylistic reference. Just like prefixes, suffixes are also characterised by quite a definite stylistic reference falling into two basic classes:
a) those characterised by neutral stylistic reference such as -able, -er, -ing, etc.;
b) those having a certain stylistic value such as -oid, -i/form, -aceous, -tron, etc.
Suffixes with neutral stylistic reference may occur in words of different lexico-stylistic layers e. g. agreeable, cf. steerable (steerable spaceship); dancer, cf. transmitter, squealer; 1 meeting, cf. monitoring (the monitoring of digestive processes in the body), etc. As for suffixes of the second class they are restricted in use to quite definite lexico-stylistic layers of words, in particular to terms, e. g. rhomboid, asteroid, cruciform, cyclotron, synchrophasotron, etc.
5) Suffixes are also classified as to the degree of their productivity.
| § 11. Polysemy and Homonymy |
As is known, language is never stable: sounds, constructions, grammatical elements, word-forms and word-meanings are all exposed to alteration. Derivational affixes are no exception in this respect, they also undergo semantic change. Consequently many commonly used derivational affixes are polysemantic in Modern English. The following two may well serve as illustrations. The noun-suffix -er is used to coin words denoting 1) persons following some special trade or profession, e. g. baker, driver, hunter, etc.; 2) persons doing a certain action at the moment in question, e. g. packer, chooser, giver, etc.; 3) a device, tool, implement, e. g. blotter, atomiser, boiler, eraser, transmitter, trailer, etc.
The adjective-suffix -y also has several meanings, such as 1) composed of, full of, e. g. bony, stony; 2) characterised by, e. g. rainy, cloudy; 3) having the character of, resembling what the base denotes, e. g. inky, bushy.
The various changes that the English language has undergone in the course of time have led to chance coincidence in form of two or more derivational affixes. As a consequence, and this is characteristic of Modern English, many homonymic derivational affixes can be found among those forming both different parts of speech and different semantic groupings within the same part of speech. For instance, the adverb-suffix -ly added to adjectival bases is homonymous to the adjective-suffix -ly affixed to noun-bases, cf. quickly, slowly and lovely, friendly; the verb-suffix -en attached to noun- and adjectival bases is homonymous to the adjective-suffix -en tacked on to noun-bases, cf. to strengthen, to soften and wooden, golden; the verb-prefix -un1 added to noun- and verb-bases
1 ‘informer, complainer’ (sl. )
is homonymous to the adjective-prefix -un 2 affixed to adjectival bases, cf. to unbind, to unshoe and unfair, untrue, etc.
On the other hand, there are two homonymous adjective-suffixes -ish1 and -ish2 occurring in words like bluish, greenish, and girlish, boyish. In some books on English Lexicology the suffix -ish in these two groups of words is regarded as one suffix having two different meanings. If We probe deeper into the matter, however, we shall inevitably arrive at the conclusion that we are dealing with two different homonymous suffixes: one in bluish, the other in girlish. The reasons are as follows: the suffix -ish, in bluish, reddish, etc. only modifies the lexical meaning of the adjective-base it is affixed to without changing the part of speech. The suffix -ish2 in bookish, girlish, womanish, etc. is added to a noun-base to form an adjective. Besides, the suffixes -ish 1 and -ish 2 differ considerably in the denotational meaning so that no semantic connection may be traced between them: the suffix -ish 1 means 'somewhat like' corresponding to the Russian suffix -оват- in such adjectives as голубоватый, красноватый, etc.; the suffix -ish2 means 'of the nature of, resembling', often derogatory in force, e. g. childish — ребяческий, несерьезный (cf. childlike — детский, простой, невинный; hoggish — свинский, жадный, etc. )
| § 12. Synonymy |
In the course of its long history the English language has adopted a great many words from foreign languages all over the world. One of the consequences of extensive borrowing was the appearance of numerous derivational affixes in the English language. Under certain circumstances some of them came to overlap semantically to a certain extent both with one another and with the native affixes. For instance, the suffix -er of native origin denoting the agent is synonymous to the suffix -ist of Greek origin which came into the English language through Latin in the 16th century. Both suffixes occur in nouns denoting the agent, e. g. teacher, driller; journalist, botanist, economist, etc. Being synonymous these suffixes naturally differ from each other in some respects. Unlike the suffix -er, the suffix -ist is:
1) mostly combined with noun-bases, e. g. violinist, receptionist, etc.;
2) as a rule, added to bases of non-Germanic origin and very seldom to bases of Germanic origin, e. g. walkist, rightist;
3) used to form nouns denoting those who adhere to a doctrine or system, a political party, an ideology or the like, e. g. communist, Leninist, Marxist, chartist, Darwinist, etc. Words in -ist denoting 'the upholder of a principle' are usually matched by an abstract noun in -ism denoting 'the respective theory' (e. g. Communism, Socialism, etc. ).
Sometimes synonymous suffixes differ in emotive charge. For instance, the suffix -eer also denoting the agent is characterised, in particular, by its derogative force, e. g. sonneteer — стихоплет, profiteer — спекулянт, etc.
There is also a considerable number of synonymous prefixes in the English language. Recent research has revealed certain rules concerning correlation between words with synonymous prefixes of native and
foreign origin. It appears, for instance, that in prefixal-suffixal derivatives the general tendency is to use a prefix of Romanic origin if the suffix is also of Romanic origin and a native prefix in the case of a native suffix, cf. unrecognised — irrecognisable; unlimited — illimitable; unformed — informal; undecided — indecisive, etc. Though adequately reflecting the general tendency observed in similar cases this rule has many exceptions. The basic exception is the suffix -able which may often occur together with the native prefix un-, e. g. unbearable, unfavourable, unreasonable, etc. In fact, the pattern un- +(v + -able) -> A is wide-spread and productive in Modern English.
| § 13. Productivity |
Distinction is usually made between dead and living affixes. Dead affixes are described as those which are no longer felt in Modern English as component parts of words; they have so fused with the base of the word as to lose their independence completely. It is only by special etymological analysis that they may be singled out, e. g. -d in dead, seed, -le, -1, -el in bundle, sail, hovel; -ock in hillock; -lock in wedlock; -t in flight, gift, height. It is quite clear that dead suffixes are irrelevant to present-day English word-formation, they belong in its diachronic study.
Living affixes may be easily singled out from a word, e. g. the noun-forming suffixes -ness, -dom, -hood, -age, -ance, as in darkness, freedom, childhood, marriage, assistance, etc. or the adjective-forming suffixes -en, -ous, -ive, -ful, -y as in wooden, poisonous, active, hopeful, Stony, etc.
However, not all living derivational affixes of Modern English possess the ability to coin new words. Some of them may be employed to coin new words on the spur of the moment, others cannot, so that they are different from the point of view of their productivity. Accordingly they fall into two basic classes — productive and non-productive word-building affixes.
It has been pointed out that linguists disagree as to what is meant by the productivity of derivational affixes. 1
Following the first approach all living affixes should be considered productive in varying degrees from highly-productive (e. g. -er, -ish, -less, re-, etc. ) to non-productive (e. g. -ard, -cy, -ive, etc. ).
Consequently it becomes important to describe the constraints imposed on and the factors favouring the productivity of affixational patterns and individual affixes. The degree of productivity of affixational patterns very much depends on the structural, lexico-grammatical and semantic nature of bases and the meaning of the affix. For instance, the analysis of the bases from which the suffix - ise ( -ize ) can derive verbs reveals that it is most productive with noun-stems, adjective-stems also favour its productivity, whereas verb-stems and adverb-stems do not, e. g. criticise (cf. critic), organise (cf. organ), itemise (cf. item), mobilise (cf. mobile), localise (cf. local), etc. Comparison of the semantic structure of a verb in -ise (-ize) with that of the base it is built on shows that the number of meanings of the stem usually exceeds that of the verb and that its basic
1 See ‘Word-Formation’, § 4, p. 112.
meaningfavours the productivity of the suffix -ise (-ize) to a greater degree than its marginal meanings, cf. to characterise — character, to moralise — moral, to dramatise — drama, etc.
Thetreatment of pertain affixes as non-productive naturally also depends on the concept of productivity. The current definition of non-productive derivational affixes as those which cannot be used in Modern English for the coining of new words is rather vague and may be interpreted in different ways. Following the definition the term non-produсtive refers only to the affixes unlikely to be used for the formation of new words, e. g. -ous, -th, fore-and some others (cf. famous, depth, to foresee).
If one accepts the other concept of productivity mentioned above, ■ then non-productive affixes must be defined as those that cannot be used for the formation of occasional words and, consequently, such affixes as -dom, -ship, -ful, -en, -ify, -ate and many others are to be regarded as non-productive.
The degree of productivity of a suffix or, to be more exact, of a derivational affix in general may be established on a statistical basis as the ratio of the number of newly-formed words with the given suffix to the number of words with the same suffix already operating in the language. To give an illustration, we shall take the suffix –ise (-ize). The dictionaries of new words compiled by P. Berg (1953) and M. Reifer (1958) as well as the Addenda section of Webster’s New International Dictionary (1958) contain 40 new verbs built up with the help of the suffix –ise (-ize). On the other hand, The Thorndike Century Junior Dictionary (1941) has 127 verbs derived by means of the same suffix. Consequently, the productivity measure of the suffix –ise (-ize) is 40: 127=0. 315. A similar examination of the verb-suffixes -ate, -en, -ify yields the following results characterising the productivity measure of each of the verbs: the suffix -ate — 0. 034, the suffix -en — 0. 018 and the suffix -ify — 0. 017. Thus, these figures lead one to the conclusion that the suffix –ise (-ize) is the most productive of the four under investigation and that the suffix -ate is more productive than -en and -ify.
The theory of relative productivity of derivational affixes is also corroborated by some other observations made on English word-formation. For instance, different productive affixes are found in different periods of the history of the language. It is extremely significant, for example, that out of the seven verb-forming suffixes of the Old English period only one has survived up to the present time with a very low degree of productivity, namely the suffix -en (cf. to soften, to darken, to whiten).
A derivational affix may become productive in just one meaning because thai meaning is specially needed by the community at a particular phase in its history. This may be well illustrated by the prefix de- in the sense of ‘undo what has been done, reverse an action or process’, E. g., deacidify (paint spray), decasualise (dock labour), decentralise (government or management), deration (eggs and butter), de-reserve (medical students), desegregate (coloured, children), and so on.
Furthermore, there are cases when a derivational affix being nonproductive in the non-specialised section of the vocabulary is used to
coin scientific or technical terms. This is the case, for instance, with the suffix -ance which has been used to form some terms in Electrical Engineering, e. g. capacitance, impedance, reactance. The same is true of the suffix -ity which has been used to form terms in physics and chemistry such as alkalinity, luminosity, emissivity and some others. -
| § 14. Origin of Derivational Affixes |
While examining the stock of derivational affixes in Modern English from the point of view of their origin distinction should first of all be made between native and foreign affixes, e. g. the suffixes -ness, -ish, -dom and the prefixes be-, mis-, un- are of native origin, whereas such suffixes as -ation, -ment, -able and prefixes like dis-, ex-, re- are of foreign origin.
Many of the suffices and prefixes of native origin were originally independent words. In the course of time they have gradually lost their independence and turned into derivational affixes. For instance, such noun-suffixes as -dom, -hood, -ship may be traced back to words: -dom represents the Old English noun dom which meant ‘judgement’; ’sentence’. The suffix -hood goes back to the OE, noun had, which meant ’state’, ‘condition’; the adjective suffix -ly (e. g. manly, friendly) is also traced back to the OE. noun lī c — ‘body’, ’shape’. Some suffixes are known to have originated as a result of secretion. An instance of the case is the suffix -ling occurring in words like duckling, yearling, hireling, etc. The suffix is simply the extended form of the Old English suffix -ing and has sprung from words in which -ing was tacked on to a stem ending in [1] as lỹ tling. Many suffixes, however, have always been known as derivational affixes within the history of the English language, for instance -ish, -less-, -ness, etc.
The same is true of prefixes: some have developed out of independent words, e. g. out-, under-, over-, ethers have always functioned as derivational affixes, e. g. mis-, un-.
In the course of its historical development the English language has adopted a great many suffixes and prefixes from foreign languages. This process does not consist in borrowing derivational affixes as such. It is words that the language borrows from a foreign language and the borrowed words bring with them their derivatives formed after word-building patterns of this language. When such pairs of words as derive and derivation, esteem and estimation, laud and laudation found their way into the English vocabulary, it was natural that the suffix -ation should be recognised by English speakers as an allowable means of forming nouns of action out of verbs. In this way a great many suffixes and prefixes of foreign origin have become an integral part of the system of word-formation in English. Among borrowed derivational affixes we find both suffixes, e. g. -able, -ible, -al, -age, -ance, -ist, -ism, -ess, etc., and prefixes, e. g. dis-, en[em]-, inter-, re-, non- and many others.
It is to be marked that quite a number of borrowed derivational affixes are of international currency. For instance, the suffix -ist of Greek origin is used in many European languages to form a noun denoting ‘one who adheres to a given doctrine or system, a political party, an ideology’ or ‘one, who makes a practice of a given action’ (cf. socialist, communist,
Marxist; artist, scenarist, realistand their Russian equivalents). Of international currency is also the suffix -ismof Greek origin used to form abstract nouns denoting ‘philosophical doctrines, political and ’scientific theories, ’ etc. (e. g. materialism, realism, Darwinism). Such prefixes as anti-, pre-, extra-, ultra-are also used to coin new words in many languages, especially in political and scientific terminology (e. g. anti-fascist, pro-German, extra-territorial, transatlantic, ultra-violet).
The adoption of countless foreign words exercised a great influence upon the system of English word-formation, one of the result being the appearance of many hybrid words in the English vocabulary. The term hybrid words is, needless to say, of diachronic relevance only. Here distinction should be made between two basic groups:
1) Cases when a foreign stem is combined with a native affix, as in colourless, uncertain. After complete adoption the foreign stem is subject to the same treatment as native stems and new words are derived from it at a very early stage. For instance, such suffixes as -ful, -less, -ness were used with French words as early as 1300;
2) Cases when native stems are combined with foreign affixes, such as drinkable, joyous, shepherdess. Here the assimilation of a structural pattern is involved, therefore some time must pass before a foreign affix comes to be recognised by speakers as a derivational morpheme that can be tacked on to native words. Therefore such formations are found much later than those of the first type and are less numerous. The early assimilation of -able is an exception. Some foreign affixes, as -ance, -al, -ity, have never become productive with native stems.
Reinterpretation of borrowed words gave rise to affixes which may not have been regarded as such in the source language. For instance, -scape occurring in such words as seascape, cloudscape, mountainscape, moonscape, etc. resulted from landscape of Dutch origin. The suffix -ade developed from lemonade of French origin, giving rise to fruitade, orangeade, gingerade, pineappleade, etc.; the noun electron of Greek origin contributed the suffix -tron very widely used in coining scientific and technical terms, e. g. cyclotron, magnetron, synchrophasotron, thyratron, etc.
| § 15. Summary and Conclusions |
1. Affixation (prefixation and suffixation) is the formation of words by adding derivational affixes (prefixes and suffixes) to bases. One distinguishes between derived words of different degrees of derivation.
2. There are quite a number of polysemantic, homonymous and synonymous derivational affixes in Modern English.
3. Classifications of derivational affixes are based on different principles such as: 1) the part of speech formed, 2) the lexico-grammatical character of the stem the affix is added to, 3) its meaning, 4) its stylistic reference, 5) the degree of productivity, 6) the origin of the affix (native or borrowed), 1 etc.
1 Lists of all derivational affixes of Modern English containing detailed information of the kind necessary for the practical analysis just referred to may be found in various handbooks and manuals such as L. Bankevich. English Word-Buiding. L., 1961;
4. The productivity of derivational affixes is relative and conditioned by various factors. t
5. Many of the Modern English derivational affixes were at one time independent words. Others have always been known as suffixes or prefixes within the history of the English vocabulary. Some of them are of international currency.
Conversion
| § 16. Definition |
Conversion, one of the principal ways of forming words in Modern English is highly productive in replenishing the English word-stock with new words. The term conversion, which some linguists find inadequate, refers to the numerous cases of phonetic identity of word-forms, primarily the so-called initial forms, of two words belonging to different parts of speech. This may be illustrated by the following cases: work — to work; love — to love; paper — to paper; brief — to brief, etc. As a rule we deal with simple words, although there are a few exceptions, e. g. wireless — to wireless.
It is fairly obvious that in the case of a noun and a verb not only are the so-called initial forms (i. e. the infinitive and the common case singular) phonetically identical, but all the other noun forms have their homonyms within the verb paradigm, cf. (my) work [wэ: k]) — (I)work [wэ: k]; (the) dog’s [dogz] (head) — (many) dogs [dogz] — (he) dogs [dogz], etc.
It will be recalled that, although inflectional categories have been greatly reduced in English in the last eight or nine centuries, there is a certain difference on the morphological level between various parts of speech, primarily between nouns and verbs. For instance, there is a clear-cut difference in Modern English between the noun doctor and the verb to doctor — each exists in the language as a unity of its word-forms and variants, not as one form doctor. It is true that some of the forms are identical in sound, i. e. homonymous, but there is a great distinction between them, as they are both grammatically and semantically different.
If we regard such word-pairs as doctor — to doctor; water — to water; brief — to brief from the angle of their morphemic structure, we see that they are all root-words. On the derivational level, however, one of them should be referred to derived words, as it belongs to a different part of speech and is understood through semantic and structural relations with the other, i. e. is motivated by it. Consequently, the question arises: what serves as a word-building means in these cases? It would appear that the noun is formed from the verb (or vice versa) without any morphological change, but if we probe deeper into the matter, we inevitably come to the conclusion that the two words differ in the paradigm. Thus it is the paradigm that is used as a word-building means. Hence, we may define conversion as the formation of a new word through changes in its paradigm. 1
M. Rayevskaya, English Lexicology. Kiev, 1957; D. Vesnik, S. Khidekel. Exercises in Modern English Word-Building. M., 1964; О. Д. Мешков. Словообразование английского языка. М., 1976.
1 See also ‘Word-Structure’, § 7, p. 96.
It is necessary to call attention to the fact that the paradigm plays a significant role in the process of word-formation in general and not only in the case of conversion. Thus, the noun cooker (in gas-cooker) is formed from the word to cook not only by the addition of the suffix -er, but also by the change in its paradigm. However, in this case, the role played by the paradigm as a word-building means is less obvious, as the word-building suffix -er comes to the fore. Therefore, conversion is characterised not simply by the use of the paradigm as a word-building means, but by the formation of a new word sоlelу by means of changing its paradigm. Hence, the change of paradigm is the only word-building means of conversion. As a paradigm is a morphological category conversion can be described as a morphological way of forming words. The following indisputable cases of conversion have bееn discussed in linguistic literature:
1) formation of verbs from nouns and more rarely from other parts of speech, and
2) formation of nouns from verbs and rarely from other parts of speech.
Opinion differs on the possibility of creating adjectives from nouns through conversion. In the so-called “stone wall” complexes the first members are regarded by some linguists as adjectives formed from the corresponding noun-stems by conversion, or as nouns in an attributive function by others, or as substantival stems by still others so that the whole combination is treated as a compound word. In our treatment of conversion on the pages that follow we shall be mainly concerned with the indisputable cases, i. e. deverbal substantives and denominal verbs.
Conversion has been the subject of a great many linguistic discussions since 1891 when H. Sweet first used the term in his New English Grammar. Various opinions have been expressed on the nature and character of conversion in the English language and different conceptions of conversion have been put forward.
The treatment of conversion as a morphological way of forming words accepted in the present book was suggested by the late Prof. A. I. Smirnitsky in his works on the English language.
Other linguists sharing, on the whole, the conception of conversion as a morphological way of forming words disagree, however, as to what serves here as a word-building means. Some of them define conversion as a non-affixal way of forming words pointing out that the characteristic feature is that a certain stem is used for the formation of a different word of a different part of speech without a derivational affix being added. Others hold the view that conversion is the formation of new words with the help of a zero-morpheme.
The treatment of conversion as a non-affixal word-formation process calls forth some criticism, it can hardly be accepted as adequate, for it fails to bring out the specific means making it possible to form, for instance, a verb from a noun without adding a derivational affix to the base. Besides, the term a non-affixal word-formation process does not help to distinguish between cases of conversion and those of sound-
interchange, e. g. to sing — song; to feed — food; full — to fill, etc. which lie outside the scope of word-formation in Modern English.
The conception of conversion as derivation with a zero-morpheme, however, merits attention. The propounders of this interpretation of conversion rightly refer to some points of analogy between affixation and conversion. Among them is similarity of semantic relations between a derived word and its underlying base, on the one hand, and between words within a conversion pair,
e. g. 1. action — doer of the action: to walk — a walker (affixation) to tramp — a tramp (conversion);
2. action — result of the action: to agree — agreement (affixation), to find — a find (conversion), etc.
They also argue that as the derivational complexity of a derived word involves a more complex semantic structure as compared with that of the base, it is but logical to assume that the semantic complexity of a converted word should manifest itself in its derivational structure, even though in the form of a zero derivational affix.
There are also some other arguments in favour of this interpretation of conversion, which for lack of space cannot be considered here.
If one accepts this conception of conversion, then one will have to distinguish between two types of derivation in Modern English: one effected by employing suffixes and prefixes, the other by using a zero derivational affix.
There is also a point of view on conversion as a morphological-syntactic word-building means, 1 for it involves, as the linguists sharing this conception maintain, both a change of the paradigm and a change of the syntactic function of the word, e. g. I need some good paper for my rooms and He is papering his room. It may be argued, however, that as the creation of a word through conversion necessarily involves the formation of a new word-stem, a purely morphological unit, the syntactic factor is irrelevant to the processes of word-formation proper, including conversion.
Besides, there is also a purely syntactic approach commonly known as a functional approach to conversion. Certain linguists and lexicographers especially those in Great Britain and the USA are inclined to regard conversion in Modern English as a kind of functional change. They define conversion as a shift from one part of speech to another contending that in Modern English a word may function as two different parts of speech at the same time. If we accept this point of view, we should logically arrive at the conclusion that in Modern English we no longer distinguish between parts of speech, i. e. between noun and verb, noun and adjective, etc., for one and the same word cannot simultaneously belong to different parts of speech. It is common knowledge, however, that the English word-stock is subdivided into big word classes each having its own
1 See, for instance, I. V. Arnold. The English Word. L. — M., 1973.
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semantic and formal features. The distinct difference between nouns and verbs, for instance, as in the case of doctor — to doctor discussed above, consists in the number and character of the categories reflected in their paradigms. Thus, the functional approach to conversion cannot be justified and should be rejected as inadequate.
| § 17. Synchronic Approach |
Conversion pairs are distinguished by the structural identity of the root and phonetic identity of the stem of each of the two words. Synchronically we deal with pairs of words related through conversion that coexist in contemporary English. The two words, e. g. to break and a break, being phonetically identical, the question arises whether they have the same or identical stems, as some linguists are inclined to believe. 1 It will be recalled that the stem carries quite a definite part-of-speech meaning; for instance, within the word-cluster to dress — dress — dresser — dressing — dressy, the stem dresser — carries not only the lexical meaning of the root-morpheme dress-, but also the meaning of substantivity, the stem dressy- the meaning of quality, etc. These two ingredients — the lexical meaning of the root-morpheme and the part-of-speech meaning of the stem — form part of the meaning of the whole word. It is the stem that requires a definite paradigm; for instance, the word dresser is a noun primarily because it has a noun-stem and not only because of the noun paradigm; likewise, the word materialise is a verb, because first and foremost it has a verbal stem possessing the lexico-grammatical meaning of process or action and requiring a verb paradigm.
What is true of words whose root and stem do not coincide is also true of words with roots and stems that coincide: for instance, the word atom is a noun because of the substantival character of the stem requiring the noun paradigm. The word sell is a verb because of the verbal character of its stem requiring the verb paradigm, etc. It logically follows that the stems of two words making up a conversion pair cannot be regarded as being the same or identical: the stem hand- of the noun hand, for instance, carries a substantival meaning together with the system of its meanings, such as: 1) the end of the arm beyond the wrist; 2) pointer on a watch or clock; 3) worker in a factory; 4) source of information, etc.; the stem hand- of the verb hand has a different part-of-speech meaning, namely that of the verb, and a different system of meanings: 1) give or help with the hand, 2) pass, etc. Thus, the stems of word-pairs related through conversion have different part-of-speech and denotational meanings. Being phonetically identical they can be regarded as homonymous stems.
A careful examination of the relationship between the lexical meaning of the root-morpheme and the part-of-speech meaning of the stem within a conversion pair reveals that in one of the two words the former does not correspond to the latter. For instance, the lexical meaning of the root-morpheme of the noun hand corresponds to the part-of-speech meaning of
1 See, for instance, А. И. Смирницкий. Лексикология английского языка. М., 1956, с. 71 — 72, also О. С. Ахманова. Некоторые вопросы семантического анализа слов. — Вестн. МГУ, 1957, № 2, с. 70.
its stem: they are both of a substantival character; the lexical meaning of the root-morpheme of the verb hand, however, does not correspond to the part-of-speech meaning of the stem: the root-morpheme denotes an object, whereas the part-of-speech meaning of the stem is that of a process. The same is true of the noun fall whose stem is of a substantival character (which is proved by the noun paradigm fall — falls — fall’s — falls’, whereas the root-morpheme denotes a certain process.
It will be recalled that the same kind of non-correspondence is typical of the derived word in general. To give but two examples, the part-of-speech meaning of the stem blackness — is that of substantivity, whereas the root-morpheme black-denotes a quality; the part-of-speech meaning of the stem eatable- (that of qualitativeness) does not correspond to the lexical meaning of the root-morpheme denoting a process. It should also be pointed out here that in simple words the lexical meaning of the root corresponds to the part-of-speech meaning of the stem, cf. the two types of meaning of simple words like black a, eat v, chair n, etc. Thus, by analogy with the derivational character of the stem of a derived word it is natural to regard the stem of one of the two words making up a conversion pair as being of a derivational character as well. The essential difference between affixation and conversion is that affixation is characterised by both semantic and structural derivation (e. g. friend — friendless, dark — darkness, etc. ), whereas conversion displays only semantic derivation, i. e. hand — to hand, fall — to fall, taxi — to taxi, etc.; the difference between the two classes of words in affixation is marked both by a special derivational affix and a paradigm, whereas in conversion it is marked only by paradigmatic forms.
| § 18. Typical Semantic Relations |
As one of the two words within a conversion pair is semantically derived from the other, it is of great theoretical and practical importance to determine the semantic relations between words related through conversion. Summing up the findings of the linguists who have done research in this field we can enumerate the following typical semantic relations.
I. Verbs converted from nouns (denominal verbs).
This is the largest group of words related through conversion. The semantic relations between the nouns and verbs vary greatly. If the noun refers to some object of reality (both animate and inanimate) the converted verb may denote:
1) action characteristic of the object, e. g. ape n — ape v — ‘imitate in a foolish way’; butcher n — butcher v — ‘kill animals for food, cut up a killed animal’;
2) instrumental use of the object, e. g. screw n — screw v — ‘fasten with a screw
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