Right-branching in English derivational morphology

2003 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 279-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
THOMAS BERG

The aim of this article is to establish whether the structure of morphologically complex words in English is flat or hierarchical and, in case of the latter possibility, whether it is left- or right-branching, and whether the branching direction is consistent throughout the lexicon. Six criteria (three phonological, one morphological, one lexical, and one semantic) are introduced as arguments bearing on the internal structure of words. These criteria are applied to the complete set of prefix-stem-derivational suffix sequences in English. The overall evidence clearly weighs in favour of the hierarchical right-branching model. Right-branching is argued to be a concomitant of translating meaning into form. No branching-direction preference emerges on the semantic criterion. Right-branching is relatively weak on the lexical criterion, stronger on the morphological criterion, and strongest on the phonological criteria. Left-branching is observed to play a certain role in words with unproductive prefixes and is understood as a symptom of demorphologization. The branching direction is found to be largely, though not entirely, consistent. The six criteria generate a low percentage of conflicting outcomes, suggesting that branching paradoxes are a rather uncommon phenomenon. The reason for hierarchical right-branching structure in English is claimed to lie in the processing advantage that it incurs. This explanation applies not only to the morphological but also to the syntactic and phonological levels. Processing ease thus leads to crosslevel harmony in the English language.

1992 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 373-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Schriefers ◽  
A. Friederici ◽  
P. Graetz

Using a repetition priming paradigm, the interrelations between morphologically related words in the mental lexicon were examined in two experiments. In contrast to most previous studies, in which morphologically complex words occur as primes and stems as targets, derivationally and inflectionally complex forms were fully crossed in prime–target pairs. Experiment 1 showed asymmetries in the pattern of priming effects between different inflectional forms of German adjectives. Such asymmetries are problematic for any theory that assumes that all members of an inflectional paradigm share one entry in the mental lexicon. Experiment 2 contrasted derivational and inflectional variants of the same stems used in Experiment 1. Once again, there were same clear asymmetries in the pattern of priming effects. The implications of these results for models of lexical organization of inflectional and derivational morphology are discussed.


Author(s):  
Ray Jackendoff ◽  
Jenny Audring

The book has three interwoven themes: a morphological theory, the structure of the lexicon, and an integrated account of the language capacity and its place in the mind. These themes together constitute the theory of Relational Morphology (RM), itself an extension of the Parallel Architecture of Jackendoff’s Foundations of Language, and closely related to Construction Grammar and Construction Morphology. A fundamental feature is that phonology, syntax, and semantics are independent components of language, linked by interfaces. Another feature is the continuity between lexicon and grammar. RM extends these features to the internal structure of words. In particular, morphology is constituted of a morphosyntactic component and its interfaces to phonology, phrasal syntax, and semantics. Furthermore, RM expresses regularities among words not in terms of rules that derive morphologically complex words, but in terms of declarative schemas that capture patterns of shared structure. The chapter concludes with a survey of similarities and differences between phrasal syntax and morphosyntax.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Stefan Collini

George Orwell and William Empson worked closely together at the BBC during the Second World War and they remained friends thereafter. In The Structure of Complex Words (1951) Empson paid surprisingly serious attention to the view of language expounded in Nineteen Eighty-Four, seeing in Orwell's presentation of the meaningless slogans of totalitarianism, such as “War Is Peace,” a challenge to his own more rationalistic analysis of how language works. This article first explores the development of Orwell's thinking about language, including his engagement with Basic English (which Empson helped to propagate); a particularly close, and critical, analysis is given of his celebrated essay “Politics and the English Language.” Orwell's views are then contrasted with Empson's unpacking of the interplay of multiple senses within individual words, demonstrating that even the most extreme propaganda statements need to draw upon and respect the mechanics of meaning as embodied in such words if they are to be persuasive. Intellectual historians have much to learn from these exchanges, as do contemporary analysts of “fake news” and authoritarian bombast more generally.


2011 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 473-488 ◽  
Author(s):  
SAY YOUNG KIM ◽  
MIN WANG ◽  
IN YEONG KO

Three experiments using a priming lexical decision paradigm were conducted to examine whether cross-language activation occurs via decomposition during the processing of derived words in Korean–English bilingual readers. In Experiment 1, when participants were given a real derived word and an interpretable derived pseudoword (i.e., illegal combination of a stem and a suffix) in Korean as a prime, response times for the corresponding English-translated stem were significantly faster than when they had received an unrelated word. In Experiment 2, non-morphological ending pseudowords (i.e., illegal combination of a stem and an orthographic ending) were included, and this did not show a priming effect. In Experiment 3, non-interpretable derived pseudowords also yielded a significant priming effect just as the interpretable ones. These results together suggest that cross-language activation of morphologically complex words occurs independently of lexicality and interpretability.


Author(s):  
Brett Grainger

One of the most complex words in the English language, “nature” (sometimes personified as “Nature” or “Mother Nature”) has been central to developments in American religions. Despite their different origins, the three cosmologies present on the North American continent during the early modern “age of contact”—Native American, African American, and Euro-American—shared a number of similarities, including the belief in an enchanted or animate cosmos, the ambivalence of sacred presences manifested in nature, and the use of myth and ritual to manage these ambivalent presences in ways that secured material and spiritual benefits for individuals or communities. Through encounters on colonial borderlands and through developments in society and culture (in science, economics, politics, etc.), these cosmologies have been adapted, developed, and combined in creative ways to produce new forms of religious life. These developments have been characterized by a series of recurrent tensions, including the notion of divine or spiritual realities as being transcendent or immanent, organicism or mechanism, and of the natural world as including or excluding human beings. Organicist and animist cosmologies, severely challenged by the early modern scientific revolution, were resurgent in the antebellum period, fueling a series of new religious developments, from Transcendentalism and revivalism to Mormonism and the early environmentalist movement. These generative tensions continue to reverberate into the modern day, in part as an outworking of the environmental crisis of the 1960s, which saw a purported “greening” of established religions as well as the rise of new forms of nature spirituality.


Author(s):  
Boichuk M.I.

The article outlines the concept of “conversion”, which is defined as an affixless, derivational way of word formation, in which a new word formed from another part of the language does not acquire an external word-forming rearrangement. The concept of “word formation” has also been analyzed and the phonetic component of compounds of religious vocabulary characterized. The structural classification has been distinguished taking into account the structure of compoundings. It has been found that among the layer of religious vocabulary derivational connections of conversion occur between two, three or more words, and the main ways of direction of this process have been identified. Five main models of conversion of lexical units of the religious sphere have been determined, such as: Noun – Verb, which further is divided into three categories, Verb – Noun, Adjective – Noun, Noun – Adjective, Adjective – Verb. The process of substantivization of religious vocabulary as a variant of conversion has also been analyzed. Under substantivization we understand the process of changing the paradigm of the basic word and a part of speech. Analysis of religious vocabulary shows that the transition is from adjectives to nouns, the first acquires the characteristic features of the latter.The article presents an analysis of religious vocabulary based on the dictionary of O. O. Azarov “Comprehensive English-Russian dictionary of religious terminology” which allows to identify such productive models of word formation of religious vocabulary in English: Noun + Noun, Noun + Participle, Adjective + Noun, Noun + Preposition + Noun, Participle + Noun, Pronoun + Noun, Adjective + Participle. These models are most actively involved in the creation of religious vocabulary in English, as they have the largest number of words in their structure. Compounds of religious lexis are divided into root compounds and compound derivatives, the structural integrity of which allows to distinguish them from phrases. Considering the components of compound words, the main element can be both the first and second part. According to the relationship between the components, compounds are divided into endocentric and exocentric types. The first is expressed by a compound word, the meaning of which is derived from the sum of the meanings of the compound’s components, the latter includes complex words, the meaning of which is not determined by any of its constituent elements. Among the layer of religious vocabulary of the English language we distinguish the following endocentric models: Adj + N = N, V + N = N, Part I + N = N, Ger + N = N, N + N = N and exocentric models: Participle + N = Adj, N+Pro.=Adj, V+Prep.=N, Adv+Participle=Adj.Key words:compounding, endocentric and exocentric compound words, substantivization, conversion. У статті обґрунтовано поняття «конверсія», яке визначається як безафіксальний, дериваційний спосіб словотвору, за якого нове слово, що утворюється з іншої частини мови, не набуває зовнішньої словотвірної перебудови. Також у роботі проаналізовано поняття «словоскладання», охарактеризовано фонетичний складник композитів релігійної лексики та виділено структурну класифікацію з урахуванням структури композитів складених слів. З’ясовано, що серед пласту релігійної лексики конверсивні дериваційні зв’язки відбуваються між двома, трьома та більшою кількістю слів, та визначено основні способи спрямованості цього процесу. Виділяємо п’ять основних моделей конверсії лексичних одиниць релігійної сфери: Noun – Verb, яка своєю чергою поділяється на три категорії, Verb – Noun, Adjective – Noun, Noun – Adjective, Adjective – Verb. Також проаналізовано процес субстантивації релігійної лексики як варіант конверсії. Під субстантивацією розуміємо процес зміни парадигми твірного слова й частини мови. Аналіз релігійної лексики показує, що перехід відбувається від прикметників у іменники, прикметник набуває характерних ознак іменника. У статті представлено аналіз релігійної лексики на основі словника О.О. Азарова «Большой англо-русский словарь религиозной лексики», який дає змогу виокремити такі продуктивні моделі словоскладання релігійної лексики в англійській мові: Noun + Noun, Noun + Participle, Adjective + Noun, Noun + Preposition + Noun, Participle + Noun, Pronoun + Noun, Adjective + Participle.Ці моделі беруть найактивнішу участь у творенні релігійної лексики в англійській мові, оскільки налічують найбільшу кількість слів у своїй структурі. Композити релігійної лексики поділяються на власне складні та склад-нопохідні, структурна цілісність яких дозволяє відмежувати їх від словосполучень. Щодо компонентів складних слів, то головним елементом може бути як перша, так і друга частина. Відповідно до відносин між компонентами складні слова поділяються на ендоцентричний та екзоцентричний типи. Перший виражається складним словом, значення якого виводиться із суми значень компонентів композита, до останнього відносяться складні слова, значення яких не визначається жодним із його складових елементів. Серед пласту релігійної лексики англійської мови виокремлюємо такі ендоцентричні моделі: Adj + N = N, V + N = N, Part I + N = N, Ger + N = N, N + N = N та екзоцентричні моделі: Participle + N = Adj, N+Pro.=Adj, V+Prep.=N, Adv+Participle=Adj.Ключові слова:словоскладання, ендоцентричні та екзоцентричні складні слова, субстантивація, конверсія.


Author(s):  
Nataliia Alexandrovna Kameneva

This article is dedicated to the formation of English-language neologisms as a result of lexical and semantic nomination. The object of this research is the changes in the lexical system of modern English language based on the analysis of media and online publications. The subject of this research is the methods of formation of neologisms in the late XX and early XXI centuries. The author determines the most common methods of the formation neologisms in digital periodicals, online news websites, forums and blogs. Analysis is conducted on such methods of word formation as affixation, conversion, formation of complex words, shortening and hybridization, abbreviation, etc. It is noted that the majority of neologisms result from lexical nomination. The goal of this article lies in analysis of the formation of neologisms used in the English lexicon for a long period of time, and thus have acquired a certain official standing. Such lexical innovations have been included or are in the process of being included into the official English language. An attempt is made to reveal the key features of methods of formation of neologisms, which are of primary importance for the communicative and social activity in their broadest sense. Majority of neologisms in the language, which is over 70%, result from the lexical methods of word formation; while the share of neologisms formed via semantic derivation is only a few percent of the total number of lexical innovations.


2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iris Berent ◽  
Joseph Tzelgov ◽  
Uri Bibi

Is morphological decomposition automatic? To address this question, we examine whether Hebrew readers decompose morphologically complex words when reading is not required, in the Stroop task. Morphological decomposition is assessed using two markers. One marker examines whether color-naming is modulated by morphologically complex words generated from color roots. For example, we compare words generated from the Hebrew root of “blue” displayed in either blue or an incongruent color. The second marker examines whether color-naming is sensitive to root phonotactics. Here we compare color-naming with words whose (color-unrelated) roots are either phonologically illicit (e.g., ssm) or well-formed (e.g., smm). Results suggest that morphological decomposition proceeds even when reading is discouraged, but unlike previous research with intentional reading tasks, Stroop-like conditions do not allow for a detailed representation of the root’s internal structure.


Author(s):  
Efrika Siboro ◽  
Barli Bram

This paper aimed to explore derivational affixes, more specifically the types of derivational affixes and the functions of the derivational affixes in the story of Rapunzel, which was written by the Brothers Grimm. The exploration of the affixes is urgent to conduct because it would assist learners of English in general in enriching their vocabulary items. This study was quantitative descriptive. The researchers collected complex words from the story and analyzed their derivational affixes. Results showed that, first, there existed 33 occurrences of words containing derivational affixes. Four of the 33 words contained three types of prefixes, namely en-, un- and re-, occurring twice, and 29 of the 33 contained suffixes, such as -ful, -ness, -able, -ly, -ing, -ed, -en, -ent, -less, -y, -ous, and -dom. Second, there were four functions of derivational affixes in the story of Rapunzel, namely noun formation, with 10 occurrences (30.4%); adjective formation, with eight occurrences (24.2%); verb formation, with seven occurrences (21.2%); and adverb formation, with eight occurrences (24.2%).Keywords: affix, derivational morphology, prefix


Author(s):  
Muhammad Rafi’ie ◽  
I Wayan Pastika ◽  
Ni Luh Nyoman Seri Malini

This journal entitled Types of IndonesianReduplication as the Translation Equivalence of English Lexiconsinvestigates the types of Indonesian reduplications and how the English lexicons are translated in Indonesian reduplications. The data of the research is drawn from an English narrative textbook “The Magic” (Byrne, 2012) and its translation version in Indonesian “The Magic” (Purwoko, 2012). This study reveals three types of reduplications with their own distinctive forms and varieties on meaning implications, namely: full reduplication, partial reduplication, and imitative reduplication. Full reduplication consists of four sub-categories, namely: reduplication of simple words, reduplication of complex words, reduplication of bases within a complex word, and reduplication without corresponding single bases. The results of the research show that meaning is structured and therefore, it can be analyzed and represented into another language. English inflectional and derivational morphology can correspond productively to Indonesian reduplications. A menu of affixes of both English and Indonesian are the corresponding features of the morphological processes and the meaning components involvedin the translation equivalence analysis. The translation equivalence is then established by textual equivalence and formal correspondence or by contextual relations of the contextual meaning and relatable situational features of grammatical functions of the English lexicons into Indonesian reduplications.


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