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Kovalenko_lexicology

Electronic Resources:

  1. Acronym and initialism. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [Електронний ресурс]. – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acronym - 6 September 2009 at 00:35.

  2. Back-formation. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [Електронний ресурс]. – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back-formation – 27 August 2009 at 15:17.

  3. Backronym. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [Електронний ресурс]. – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backronym - 9 September 2009 at 09:35.

  4. Galèas C.G. Scalar Categorization [Електронний ресурс] / C.G. Galèas // The Web Journal of Modern Language Linguistics – 1998. – Issue 3. – P. 10. http://wjmll.ncl.ac.uk/issue03/crocco.htm

  5. Trask L. Abbreviations [Електронний ресурс] / L.Trask. – 1997. http://www.informatics.susx.ac.uk/doc/punctuation/node28.html Copyright © Larry Trask, 1997.

3.5 NON-LINEAR DERIVATION

Definition of non-linear derivation /Definition of conversion / Types of word-class conversion / Conversion between language levels / Conversion within one word-class / Compression /Partial substantivation / Noun adjunct /Metaphoric nomination / Connotation shift

Unlike the cases of linear derivation, non-linear derivation process takes place without changes of the word-form. S.V. Semchinsky uses the term ‘inner derivation’ (Уфимцева, 1977, с.53). Non-linear derivation implies redistribution (Уфимцева, 1977, с. 64, 65): the transition to a different part of speech (i.e. the change of word class) and, respectively, the change of paradigm.

Conversion is one of the inner derivation types. Lexemes change their word-class without the addition of an affix. The items chiefly produced in this way are nouns, adjectives, and verbs – especially the verbs which come from nouns (de-nominal verbs, e.g. to bottle) and the nouns which come from verbs (de-verbal nouns, e.g. a doubt).

A specific type of de-verbal nouns come from phrasal verbs: a cutoff (the line where something was cut off), a knockoff (a fake copy), hold-ups (strings that hold up stockings).

Not all the senses of a lexeme are usually carried through into the derived form, however. The noun paper has several meanings, such as 'newspaper', 'wallpaper', and 'academic article'. The verb to paper relates only to the second of these. Lecturers and editors may paper their rooms, but not their audiences or readers.

Thus, when the noun sign shifts to the verb sign(ed) without any change in the word-form we can say this is a case of conversion. Compare:

However, it does not mean that this process takes place in all the cases of homophones. Sometimes, the connection has to do with coincidences or old etymological ties that have been lost. For example, mind and matter are cases of this grammatical sameness without connection by conversion—the verbs have nothing to do today with their respective noun forms in terms of semantics. Compare:

All in all, one can mention at least 7 types of word-class conversion:

  1. Verb to Noun (de-verbal nouns): a swim, a hit, a cheat, a bore, a show­off, a drive­in. Nouns coming from verbs can express:

  1. Adjective to Noun (de-adjectival nouns): a bitter, a natural, a final, a monthly, a regular, a wet. The generalised meaning of de- adjectival nouns is ‘an object having the quality of (original adjective)’.

  2. Noun to Verb (de-nominal verbs): to bottle, to catalogue, to oil, to brake, to referee, to bicycle. Nouns that have served the base for the de-nominal verbs have the following generalised meanings in relation to the derived verbs:

  1. Adjective to Verb (de-adjectival verbs): to dirty, to empty, to dry, to calm down, to sober up. De-adjectival verbs have the generalised meaning of ‘to make like (the adjective)’.

  2. Noun to Adjective (de-nominal adjectives): it's cotton, it’s brick, it’s reproduction (problem). Most de-nominal adjectives have a generalised meaning of ‘material’ (e.g. silk). Abstract nouns used in the adjectival position (like communication competence) can generally be grouped under the term ‘noun-adjunct’ (see below).

  3. Grammatical word to Noun, among them:

  1. Grammatical word to Verb: to down tools, to up and do it.

Conversion also takes place between language levels. Thus, a morpheme can be used as a separate word, usually a noun:

Certain cases of change of word-combinations into lexemes can also be regarded as inter-level conversion, though there is no clear distinction between conversion, compounding and the nonce-words. As the examples of conversion of phrases to nouns the following can be listed: a has-been; a free-for-­all; an also-­ran; a down-­and-out.

There are cases of semantic change and the change of distribution within one and the same word-class which can as well be classified as conversion. In such cases a shift between word-class subcategories takes place, for example:

The third of the above examples illustrates an occasional case of the word-class subcategories shift. Though, personal and geographical names do become a source of naming objects. When a personal name is used in this way, it is known as an eponym, and the process as eponymy. Confusingly, the same term is also sometimes used for the derived form. So, the name of the French acrobat Jules Leotard (1842-70) as well as the close-fitting one-piece costume (leotards) which he introduced in his circus act could both be referred to as eponyms. Similarly, lexemes which are derived from place names, as well as the place names themselves, are often known as toponyms.

Here are some examples of eponyms:

Fictitious or mythical people can also be eponymous: He's a real Romeo; What a Scrooge! Here are some more examples: atlas (Greek Titan, Atlas); Cinderella (fairy tale character); herculean (Greek god, Hercules); Jekyll and Hyde (characters in a novel by Robert Louis Stevenson); June (Roman goddess, Juno); keeping up With the Joneses (characters in a US comic strip (1913)); man Friday (character in Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe); mentor (Mentor, a character in Homer's Odyssey); quixotic (hero of Cervantes' novel, Don Quixote de la Mancha); Romeo (character in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet); Scrooge (character in Dickens' story, A Christmas Carol); Shylock (character in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice); Thursday (Norse god, Thor).

Place names are a common source of lexemes. Here are some examples of toponymic derivatives: alsatian (Alsace, France); balaclava (Balaclava, Crimea); bikini (Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands); bourbon (Bourbon County, Kentucky); Brussels sprouts (Brussels, Belgium); champagne (Champagne, France); conga (Congo, Africa); copper (Cyprus); currant (Corinth, North Africa); denim (Nimes, France; originally, serge de Nim); dollar (St Joachimsthal, Bohemia, which minted silver coins, called joachimsthalers, shortened to thalers, hence dollars); duffle coat (Duffel, Antwerp); gauze (Gaza, Israel); gypsy (Egypt); hamburger (Hamburg, Germany); jeans (Genoa, Italy); jersey (Jersey, Channel Islands); kaolin (Kao-ling, China); labrador (Labrador, Canada); lesbian (Lesbos, Aegean island); marathon (Marathon, Greece); mayonnaise (Mahón, Minorca); mazurka (Mazowia, Poland); muslin (Mosul, Iraq); pheasant (Phasis, Georgia); pistol (Pistoia, Italy); rugby (Rugby (School), UK); sardine (Sardinia); sherry (Jerez, Spain); suede (Sweden); tangerine (Tangier); turquoise (Turkey); tuxedo (Tuxedo Park Country Club, New York); Venetian blind (Venice, Italy).

Compression (elliptical nomination) is quite a different word-building mechanism (Левицький, 2001, p.102). The material for compression is usually set word-combinations. The core element of a word-combination is severed, and the meaning of the whole word-combination shifts to the modifier. Thus, a pin-up girl becomes a pin-up. This type of word-building is particularly typical for the fashion language: comb-over (comb-over hairstyle), iron-on (an iron-on picture), push-up (a push-up bra), slip (a slip dress).

If the word-combination denotes a pair of objects (boots, tights), the plural ending -s shifts to the modifier: slide shoes – slides, knee high socks – knee highs, “Demi-john” pants – Demi-johns, short pants – shorts, slack pants – slacks, Oxford baggy pants – oxford bags, Long John pants – long johns, Capri pants – the Capris, corduroy pants – the cords, nylon stockings – the nylons. Later, in the American English the names of certain types of trousers began to be used without the plural ending: pant, slack, coulotte.

By analogy with word-combinations, compound words can serve as the material for compression, e.g. dreads from dreadlocks.

A separate group of words created by means of compression come from word-combinations with proper names in the position of the modifier. In this case, compression is accompanied by the shift in word-class subcategories (from the category of proper noun to the category of common noun): fedora from fedora hat (named after the character of the play “Dora” (1877) by Victorien Sardou), melton from melton wool (after the name of the town Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire County, which used to produce this type of wool); jersey from jersey cotton (after the Isle of Jersey in the North Sea); ascot from Ascot tie (after Ascot, a place near Windsor); tuxedo from tuxedo jacket (after Tuxedo Club in Tuxedo Park, New York); bikini from bikini bathingsuit (after the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean).

The adjectives like the good, the rich, the poor are also the result of compression, not conversion, as they originate from the word-combinations (the rich people, the good people, the poor people). P.M. Karaschuk calls this process ‘substantivation as the result of ellypsis’ (Каращук, 1977). Cases like these can also be called the results of partial substantivation, as they do not acquire the whole noun paradigm (they cannot be used in the singular) (Левицький, 2001).

Noun adjuncts are regarded as the result of partial conversion. This means that the nouns are used in an attributive position before other nouns (like adjectives), but they do not acquire the whole adjectival paradigm. If the de-nominal adjective can be used in a predicative position as well as in an attributive, it is the result of full conversion. For example, the word-combination mahogany music box can be turned into a sentence: The music box is mahogany, with the de-nominal adjective mahogany in a predicative position. At the same time, the word-combination antiques dealers cannot be transformed in the same way (we can’t say dealers are antiques). Thus, the word antiques cannot be treated as an adjective.

Noun adjuncts traditionally used to be singular in most cases (e.g., trouser press) except when there were lexical restrictions (e.g., arms race), but there is a recent trend towards more use of plural ones, especially in the British English. Many of these can also be and/or were originally interpreted and spelled as plural possessives (e.g., chemicals' agency, writers' conference, Rangers' hockey game) (Chicago Manual of Style), but they are now often written without the apostrophe although this is criticised by some authorities.

Expressions with plural possessives are increasingly interpreted as having a plural noun adjunct even in cases where this is incorrect because the form cannot be interpreted as not being a possessive, e.g., mens club for men's club9.

Derivation due to semantic shift (within the same word-class and preserving the same word-class subcategories) can be of two types: metaphoric nomination (the change on the denotation level) and connotation shift.

Potentially every word is capable of naming new objects and phenomena by association (Кубрякова, 2004). In cases of metaphoric nomination a part of the original word’s meaning is transferred to the new word (usually a noun).

The metaphor is the most typical kind of meaning transference. The meaning transference is usually based upon a feature common between two objects (it may be colour, shape, movement, etc.) (Семчинський, 1963, p.83). The association between the two objects is so strong, that the new object acquires the name of the already existing one. In this way, some hairstyles were named: beehive, pageboy, pigtails, ponytail. Several kinds of shoes (clogs, tote, wallabies, winkle picker) and clothes (boa, fishnets, thong, toughskins, turtleneck) were also named by means of metaphoric nomimation.

Connotation shift takes place when a new word receives a positive or negative evaluation element in meaning, different from that of the original word. The cases of elevation of connotative meaning are called amelioration. Good examples of lexical amelioration are the names of youth cultures and their representatives. Young people representing alternative cultures quite often select the words to denote their groups which originally possess negative connotation, but which gradually receive a positive connotation within the cultural group, e.g., geek, grunge, nerd, punk.

Pejoration of meaning takes place when the word denoting a new object receives a negative connotation compared to that of the original word. For example, the word silly formerly meant ‘deserving sympathy, helpless or simple’, and has come to mean ‘showing a lack of good sense, frivolous.’(The Free Dictionary)10

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