The privative derivational suffix in Hungarian

The paper is devoted to the examination of the distribution and the productivity of the privative suffix in Hungarian. It is shown that the privative suffix can be attached productively to nouns referring to concrete objects but it is blocked in the case of abstract nouns formed by means of the suffix -sÁg. Moreover, deverbal agent and actions nouns do not admit the privative suffix either. As for adjectival bases, normally the privative suffix cannot be attached to monomorphemic adjectives, some derived adjectives, however, do admit neg-suffixation though the derivation is not productive. Finally, verbal bases can be affixed by the privative suffix provided the base is transitive. Intransitive and stative bases do not take the privative suffix. Since the privative suffix attaches directly to the verbal base, no derived verb can enter into the derivational process. Lexicalized cases are left out of consideration throughout the paper. A distinction is made between lexical, actual and potential words. It is pointed out that German contact may have contributed to the productivity of certain derivation types. Furthermore, negative affixation can be found in all languages of the Uralic language family.