The Competition Between Overt Suffixation and Zero-Affixation in Present-Day English Nominalisation

This book researches the competition between overt suffixation and zero affixation for the nominalization of the semantic categories action, agentive, instrument and state aiming at hints of resolution, diachronically and in present day English.

In linguistic morphology, competition is expected to be resolved, on the grounds that it is not economical for a system to keep two or more processes for one purpose. This volume researches overt suffixation and zeroaffixation for the nominalisation of the semantic categories action, agentive, instrument and state aiming at hints of resolution, diachronically and in presentday English, using both lexicographic and corpus sources. Specifically, the book explores resolution in terms of specialisation regarding mode, register, and meaning. To this aim, (i) the frequency of use of each semantic category is computed for every competitor, (ii) statistical analysis is performed to test association between mode or register and wordformation process and (iii) semantic specialisation is explored in individual groups of competition. The results enlarge on the claim that competition may take place to varying degrees and prove that it needs to be researched at the level of the semantic category.

Autorentext

Cristina Lara-Clares is a lecturer at the University of Jaén. She completed her PhD in 2023 at the University of Granada. She has been a researcher in three publicly funded research projects and has presented her research on competition in international publications (2017, 2019). She has co-edited two volumes on derivational paradigms (2020, 2022).

Inhalt

Contents - Typographical conventions - List of Figures - List of Tables - Acknowledgments - List of Abbreviations - Abstract - Resumen - Introduction - Research on competition in morphology - Method - The competition between overt affixation and zero-affixation - Conclusions - Appendices - References - Subject index