Genre influence on word formation (change)
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Luise Kempf
Abstract
Building on Kempf (2016), this paper analyzes genre influence on adjectival derivation in the history of German. The approach is empirical, based on data from two corpora of historical German (1350–1800 ). Quantitative measures of word-formation productivity reveal substantial differences between sermons, narrative prose, scientific texts, and newspapers. A long-term diachronic comparison highlights considerable changes in suffix distribution. Against this backdrop, the four genres are assessed as progressive or conservative. An analysis of the syntactic use of derived adjectives reveals stronger or weaker tendencies to condense information within noun phrases. This reflects differing affinities to oral or written language, as does the differing use of endophoric vs. exophoric reference (obig ‘the above’ vs. gestrig ‘of yesterday’). Overall, genre greatly impacts word-formation and conversely, word-formation contributes to genre variation.
Abstract
Building on Kempf (2016), this paper analyzes genre influence on adjectival derivation in the history of German. The approach is empirical, based on data from two corpora of historical German (1350–1800 ). Quantitative measures of word-formation productivity reveal substantial differences between sermons, narrative prose, scientific texts, and newspapers. A long-term diachronic comparison highlights considerable changes in suffix distribution. Against this backdrop, the four genres are assessed as progressive or conservative. An analysis of the syntactic use of derived adjectives reveals stronger or weaker tendencies to condense information within noun phrases. This reflects differing affinities to oral or written language, as does the differing use of endophoric vs. exophoric reference (obig ‘the above’ vs. gestrig ‘of yesterday’). Overall, genre greatly impacts word-formation and conversely, word-formation contributes to genre variation.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface and acknowledgments vii
- Using diachronic corpora to understand the connection between genre and language change 1
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Part I. Methods in diachronic corpus linguistics
- ‘From above’, ‘from below’, and regionally balanced 19
- Diachronic collocations, genre, and DiaCollo 41
- Classical and modern Arabic corpora 65
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Part II. Genre and diachronic corpora
- Scholastic genre scripts in English medical writing 1375–1800 95
- Academic writing as a locus of grammatical change 117
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Part III. Genre-based analyses of linguistic phenomena
- The importance of genre in the Greek diglossia of the 20th century 149
- “You can’t control a thing like that” 171
- Concessive conjunctions in written American English 195
- Variation of sentence length across time and genre 219
- A comparison of multi-genre and single-genre corpora in the context of contact-induced change 241
- Some methodological issues in the corpus-based study of morphosyntactic variation 261
- The interplay between genre variation and syntax in a historical Low German corpus 281
- Genre influence on word formation (change) 301
- Index 333
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface and acknowledgments vii
- Using diachronic corpora to understand the connection between genre and language change 1
-
Part I. Methods in diachronic corpus linguistics
- ‘From above’, ‘from below’, and regionally balanced 19
- Diachronic collocations, genre, and DiaCollo 41
- Classical and modern Arabic corpora 65
-
Part II. Genre and diachronic corpora
- Scholastic genre scripts in English medical writing 1375–1800 95
- Academic writing as a locus of grammatical change 117
-
Part III. Genre-based analyses of linguistic phenomena
- The importance of genre in the Greek diglossia of the 20th century 149
- “You can’t control a thing like that” 171
- Concessive conjunctions in written American English 195
- Variation of sentence length across time and genre 219
- A comparison of multi-genre and single-genre corpora in the context of contact-induced change 241
- Some methodological issues in the corpus-based study of morphosyntactic variation 261
- The interplay between genre variation and syntax in a historical Low German corpus 281
- Genre influence on word formation (change) 301
- Index 333
