Was Old Frech -able borrowable? A diachronic study of word-formation processes due to language contact
-
Carola Trips
Abstract
An in-depth corpus study will show that the ability of -able formations to highlight other arguments of the verbal base is present from the start in Old French texts, similarly to findings for Modern French (2003). Old French formations like (par)durable, decevable or changable show that unergatives and unaccusatives can just as well serve as input to -able formations, and that the traditional distinction between transitive and intransitive types cannot account for the variety of derivatives we are already faced with in the Old French period.
We also argue against the assumptions that in Old French the active meaning was clearly dominant and that in ME the free morpheme able explains the rise of the suffix -able. The semantic analysis has shown that an adequate word-formation rule should account for the event structure of the base verb rather than rely on the syntactic or semantic frame alone.
Abstract
An in-depth corpus study will show that the ability of -able formations to highlight other arguments of the verbal base is present from the start in Old French texts, similarly to findings for Modern French (2003). Old French formations like (par)durable, decevable or changable show that unergatives and unaccusatives can just as well serve as input to -able formations, and that the traditional distinction between transitive and intransitive types cannot account for the variety of derivatives we are already faced with in the Old French period.
We also argue against the assumptions that in Old French the active meaning was clearly dominant and that in ME the free morpheme able explains the rise of the suffix -able. The semantic analysis has shown that an adequate word-formation rule should account for the event structure of the base verb rather than rely on the syntactic or semantic frame alone.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- Introduction ix
-
Part I. Pragmatic and stylistic choices
- Politeness in the history of English 3
- The which is most and right harde to answere : Intensifying right and most in earlier English 31
- The diachronic development of the intensifier bloody : A case study in historical pragmatics 53
- Variation and change in the writings of 17th century scientists 75
-
Part II. Lexical and semantic change
- The convergence of two need verbs in Middle English 97
- Rivalry among the verbs of wanting 117
- A look at respect : Investigating metonymies in Earle Modern English 139
- Germanic vs French fixed expressions in Middle English prose: Towards a corpus-based historical English phraseology 159
- Latin loanwords of the early modern period: How often did French act as an intermediary? 185
- Disseisin : The lexeme and the legal fact in Early Middle English 203
- Was Old Frech -able borrowable? A diachronic study of word-formation processes due to language contact 217
- Women and other 'small things': -ette as a feminine marker 241
- Index of subjects 259
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- Introduction ix
-
Part I. Pragmatic and stylistic choices
- Politeness in the history of English 3
- The which is most and right harde to answere : Intensifying right and most in earlier English 31
- The diachronic development of the intensifier bloody : A case study in historical pragmatics 53
- Variation and change in the writings of 17th century scientists 75
-
Part II. Lexical and semantic change
- The convergence of two need verbs in Middle English 97
- Rivalry among the verbs of wanting 117
- A look at respect : Investigating metonymies in Earle Modern English 139
- Germanic vs French fixed expressions in Middle English prose: Towards a corpus-based historical English phraseology 159
- Latin loanwords of the early modern period: How often did French act as an intermediary? 185
- Disseisin : The lexeme and the legal fact in Early Middle English 203
- Was Old Frech -able borrowable? A diachronic study of word-formation processes due to language contact 217
- Women and other 'small things': -ette as a feminine marker 241
- Index of subjects 259
