Cover not available

Article published In: Semantics and Psychology of Complex Words
Edited by Christina L. Gagné and Thomas L. Spalding
[The Mental Lexicon 15:1] 2020
► pp. 4–20

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

An ecosystem view of English word-formation

 | University of Lyon
Published online: 30 October 2020
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ml.00011.ren
Abstract
This article takes a function-to-form approach to word-formation in present-day English and argues that the ecosystem metaphor can help morphologists see competition in word-formation and its resolution in a new light. The analysis first draws correspondences between four lexical functions (transcategorial, transconceptual, evaluative, and compacting) and ten formal operations (prefixation, suffixation, compounding, blending, morphostasis, stress shift, clipping, desuffixation, initialization, and replication) and concludes that there is no across-the-board interoperation competition to encode each function, but rather a fairly complementary distribution of the operations between the four functional subsystems. Each functional subsystem is then reviewed in turn and it is shown that, again, there is no full-scale competition at this level, but rather some fairly pronounced tendencies towards complementariness, and, in one case, also towards combination. The broad division of labor within each subsystem can, remarkably, be accounted for in different terms: the conditioning is primarily semantic (with formal subconsiderations) in the transcategorial and transconceptual subsystems while it is formal in the evaluative and compacting subsystems.
Article outline
  • Competition in word-formation
  • Forms and functions in English word-formation
  • Macro-level competition and its resolution
  • An ecosystem approach to present-day English word-formation
    • The transcategorial function
    • The transconceptual function
    • The evaluative function
    • The compacting function
  • Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (53)
References
Arndt-Lappe, S. (2014). Analogy in suffix rivalry: The case of English -ity and -ness. English Language and Linguistics, 18(3), 497–548. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Aronoff, M. (2016). Competition and the lexicon. In A. Elia, C. Iacobino, & M. Voghera (Eds.), Livelli di analisi e fenomeni di interfaccia: Atti del XLVII congresso internazionale della società di linguistica italiana (pp. 39–52). Bulzoni.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2019). Competitors and alternants in linguistic morphology. In F. Rainer, F. Gardani, W. U. Dressler, & H. Ch. Luschützky (Eds.), Competition in inflection and word-formation (pp. 39–66). Springer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bauer, L. (2004). The function of word-formation and the inflection-derivation distinction. In H. Aertsen, M. Hannay, & R. Lyall (Eds.), Words and their places: A festschrift for J. Lachlan Mackenzie (pp. 283–292). Vrije Universiteit.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bauer, L., Lieber, R., & Plag, I. (2013). The Oxford reference guide to English morphology. Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bauer, L., Valera, S., & Díaz-Negrillo, A. (2010). Affixation vs. conversion: The resolution of conflicting patterns. In F. Rainer, W. U. Dressler, D. Kastovsky, & H. Ch. Luschützky (Eds.), Variation and change in morphology: Selected papers from the 13th International Morphology Meeting, Vienna, February 2008 (pp. 15–32). Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cetnarowska, B. (1993). The syntax, semantics and derivation of bare nominalisations in English. Uniwersytet Śląski.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Davies, M. (2018). The 14-billion-word iWeb corpus (2017). Retrieved from [URL]
(2020). The Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA): 1 billion words (1990–2019). Retrieved from [URL]
Díaz-Negrillo, A. (2017). On the identification of competition in English derivational morphemes: The case of -dom, -hood and -ship. In J. Santana-Lario & S. Valera (Eds.), Competing patterns in English affixation (pp. 119–161). Peter Lang.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dietz, K. (2015). Historical word-formation in English. In P. O. Müller, I. Ohnheiser, S. Olsen, & F. Rainer (Eds.), Word-formation: An international handbook of the languages of Europe, Volume 31 (pp. 1914–1930). De Gruyter Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dixon, R. M. W. (2014). Making new words: Morphological derivation in English. Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fernández-Alcaina, C., & Čermák, J. (2018). Derivational paradigms and competition in English: A diachronic study on competing causative verbs and their derivatives. SKASE Journal of Theoretical Linguistics, 15(3), 69–97.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
François, Ch. (2004). International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics. De Gruyter Saur. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gardani, F., Rainer, F., & Luschützky, H. Ch. (2019). Competition in morphology: A historical outline. In F. Rainer, F. Gardani, W. U. Dressler, & H. Ch. Luschützky (Eds.), Competition in inflection and word-formation (pp. 3–36). Springer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Grabias, M. (2016). The development of -free and its competition with the suffix -less: A corpus-based study (Doctoral dissertation, University of Liverpool). Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gries, S. Th. (2003a). Testing the sub-test: An analysis of English -ic and -ical adjectives. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 8(1), 31–61. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2003b). Isn’t that fantabulous? How similarity motivates intentional morphological blends in English. In M. Achard & S. Kemmer (Eds.), Language, culture, and mind (pp. 415–428). CSLI.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2012). Quantitative corpus data on blend formation: Psycho- and cognitive-linguistic perspectives. In V. Renner, F. Maniez, & P. J. L. Arnaud (Eds.), Cross-disciplinary perspectives on lexical blending (pp. 145–167). Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kastovsky, D. (1986). The problem of productivity in word formation. Linguistics, 24(3), 585–600. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1992). Semantics and vocabulary. In R. M. Hogg (Ed.), The Cambridge history of the English language, Volume 1: The beginnings to 1066 (pp. 290–408). Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kaunisto, M. (2009). The rivalry between English adjectives ending in -ive and -ory. In R. W. McConchie, A. Honkapohja, & J. Tyrkkö (Eds.), Selected proceedings of the 2008 symposium on new approaches in English historical lexis (HEL-LEX 2) (pp. 74–87). Cascadilla.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Körtvélyessy, L. (2014). Evaluative derivation. In R. Lieber & P. Štekauer (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of derivational morphology (pp. 296–316). Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kwon, H. -S. (1997). Negative prefixation from 1300 to 1800: A case study in in- /un- variation. ICAME Journal, 211, 21–42.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lara-Clares, C. (2017). Competition in Present Day English nominalization by zero-affixation vs. -ation. In J. Santana-Lario & S. Valera (Eds.), Competing patterns in English affixation (pp. 207–244). Peter Lang.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lara-Clares, C., & Thompson, P. (2019). Nominal competition in present-day English affixation: Zero-affixation vs. -ness with the semantic category stative. SKASE Journal of Theoretical Linguistics, 16(2), 25–49.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lieber, R. (2012). Semantics of derivational morphology. In C. Maienborn, K. von Heusinger, & P. Portner (Eds.), Semantics: An international handbook of natural language meaning, Volume 31 (pp. 2098–2119). De Gruyter Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2015). The semantics of transposition. Morphology, 25(4), 353–369. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2016). English nouns: The ecology of nominalization. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lindsay, M. (2010). American English iz-infixation: Interaction of phonology, metrics and rhyme. The University of British Columbia Working Papers in Linguistics, 251, 159–172.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lindsay, M., & Aronoff, M. (2013). Natural selection in self-organizing morphological systems. In N. Hathout, F. Montermini, & J. Tseng (Eds.), Morphology in Toulouse: Selected proceedings of Décembrettes 7 (Toulouse, 2–3 December 2010) (pp. 133–153). LINCOM.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Luria, S. E., Gould, S. J., & Singer, S. (1981). A view of life. Benjamin/Cummings.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Merlini Barbaresi, L. (2008). Extra-grammatical morphology: English reduplicatives. In J. Douthwaite & D. Pezzini (Eds.), Words in action: Diachronic and synchronic approaches to English discourse – Studies in honour of Ermanno Barisone (pp. 228–241). ECIG.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nagano, A. (2008a). Conversion and back-formation in English: Toward a theory of morpheme-based morphology. Kaitakusha.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2008b). Categorial change of conversion and the process of relisting. English Linguistics, 25(2), 369–401. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Naya, R. (2017). Competition in word-formation: Deverbal nominalization by -ment vs. conversion. JELS, 341, 271–277.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
OED = Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved from [URL]
Plag, I. (1999). Morphological productivity: Structural constraints in English derivation. Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2018). Word-formation in English, 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rainer, F., Gardani, F., Dressler, W. U., & Luschützky, H. Ch. (2019). Competition in inflection and word-formation. Springer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Renner, V. (2006). Les composés coordinatifs en anglais contemporain (Doctoral dissertation, Université Lumière Lyon 2). Retrieved from [URL]
(2015). Lexical blending as wordplay. In A. Zirker & E. Winter-Froemel (Eds.), Wordplay and metalinguistic/metadiscursive reflection: Authors, contexts, techniques, and meta-reflection (pp. 119–133). De Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Renwick, A., & Renner, V. (2019). New lexical blends in The Simpsons: A formal analysis of English nonce formations and their French translations. Lexis, 141. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rossi, M. (in press). La création néonymique par transfert paradigmatique : dénominations, métaphores et idéologies. In M. B. Villar Díaz, J. C. De Hoyos, P. Dury, J. Makri-Morel, & V. Renner (Eds.), La néologie des langues romanes : nouvelles approches, dynamiques et enjeux. Peter Lang.
Santana-Lario, J., & Valera, S. (2017). Competing patterns in English affixation. Peter Lang. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schmid, H. -J. (2016). English morphology and word-formation, 3rd ed. Erich Schmidt.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sherman, D. (1975). Noun-verb stress alternation: An example of the lexical diffusion of sound change in English. Linguistics, 13(159), 43–71. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Simpson, J. (2001). Hypocoristics of place-names in Australian English. In D. Blair & P. Collins (Eds.), English in Australia (pp. 89–112). Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sonderegger, M., & Niyogi, P. (2013). Variation and change in English noun/verb pair stress: Data and dynamical systems models. In A. C. L. Yu (Ed.), Origins of sound change: Approaches to phonologization (pp. 262–284). Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Štekauer, P. (2017). Competition in natural languages. In J. Santana-Lario & S. Valera (Eds.), Competing patterns in English affixation (pp. 15–31). Peter Lang.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ungerer, F. (2003). The conceptual function of derivational word-formation in English. Anglia, 120(4), 534–567. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yu, A. C. L. (2004). Reduplication in English Homeric infixation. In K. Moulton & M. Wolf (Eds.), Proceedings of the 34th North East Linguistics Society (pp. 619–633). GLSA.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (12)

Cited by 12 other publications

Bagasheva, Alexandra
2025. 67Creativity and Routine in Word-Formation. In Dynamics at the Lexicon-Syntax Interface, ► pp. 5 ff. DOI logo
Debouzie, Chloé
2024. Competition between affixation and conversion in Present-Day English denominal verbs. In Competition in Word-Formation [Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 284], ► pp. 208 ff. DOI logo
Efthymiou, Angeliki
2024. Diminutive formation in Modern Greek. In Competition in Word-Formation [Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 284], ► pp. 176 ff. DOI logo
Fernández-Domínguez, Jesús
2024. Actional nominalization in Present-Day English in the light of the Referenced Index of Competition. In Competition in Word-Formation [Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 284], ► pp. 72 ff. DOI logo
Fukushima, Kazuhiko
2024. Competition of lexicon vs. pragmatics in word formation. In Competition in Word-Formation [Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 284], ► pp. 275 ff. DOI logo
Iacobini, Claudio & Maria Pina De Rosa
2024. A diachronic perspective on competition in denominal verb formation in Italian. In Competition in Word-Formation [Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 284], ► pp. 247 ff. DOI logo
Nagano, Akiko, Alexandra Bagasheva & Vincent Renner
2024. Towards a competition-based word-formation theory. In Competition in Word-Formation [Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 284], ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Nedelcheva, Svetlana
2024. Creating Creative Blends In 21 Century (A Comparative Study Of English And Bulgarian. Studies in Linguistics, Culture, and FLT 12:2 ► pp. 185 ff. DOI logo
Vasileanu, Monica, Anabella-Gloria Niculescu-Gorpin & Cristina-Andreea Radu-Bejenaru
2024. Keep calm and carry on blending: Experimental insights into Romanian lexical blending. Word Structure 17:1-2 ► pp. 56 ff. DOI logo
NAGANO, AKIKO
2023. Affixal rivalry and its purely semantic resolution among English derived adjectives. Journal of Linguistics 59:3 ► pp. 499 ff. DOI logo
Renner, Vincent
2023. Blending. In The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Morphology, ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Smith, Chris A.
2019. A Case Study of -some and -able Derivatives in the. Lexis :16 DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 27 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue