Home Linguistics & Semiotics The diachronic productivity of native combining forms in American English
Chapter
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

The diachronic productivity of native combining forms in American English

  • Leonie Wiemeyer
Become an author with De Gruyter Brill
Explore this Subject How to publish with us
Corpus Linguistics, Context and Culture
This chapter is in the book Corpus Linguistics, Context and Culture

Abstract

Combining forms (CFs) are bound lexical elements which are abundant in the English language, such as the well-established CFs eco-, geo-, -holic, and -athon. In the 20th century, a new class of so-called ‘native combining forms’ emerged. These often occur in jocular formations, predominantly on the Internet. They are used to name new cultural phenomena and have given rise to a considerable number of neologisms in the past two decades. This chapter presents the results of a corpus study of the productivity of native CFs in written American English. The productivity of 21 CFs was examined diachronically from 1950 until 2009 using the Corpus of Historical American English (COHA). The aim of the study was to determine whether the elements investigated are currently productive and how this productivity has changed over time. A further aim was to identify factors influencing productivity and to establish a connection between an element’s productivity and its topicality.

Abstract

Combining forms (CFs) are bound lexical elements which are abundant in the English language, such as the well-established CFs eco-, geo-, -holic, and -athon. In the 20th century, a new class of so-called ‘native combining forms’ emerged. These often occur in jocular formations, predominantly on the Internet. They are used to name new cultural phenomena and have given rise to a considerable number of neologisms in the past two decades. This chapter presents the results of a corpus study of the productivity of native CFs in written American English. The productivity of 21 CFs was examined diachronically from 1950 until 2009 using the Corpus of Historical American English (COHA). The aim of the study was to determine whether the elements investigated are currently productive and how this productivity has changed over time. A further aim was to identify factors influencing productivity and to establish a connection between an element’s productivity and its topicality.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents V
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Part I: Discourse contexts and cultures
  5. Patterns of discursive urban place-making in Brooklyn, New York 13
  6. The English of current Caribbean newspapers 43
  7. Corporate identity and its variation over time 75
  8. Applying Geographical Information Systems to researching historical corpora 109
  9. Corpus linguistics: Widening the remit 137
  10. Part II: Contexts of lexis and grammar
  11. Family collocation 165
  12. Factors influencing the translation of -ing participial free adjuncts 197
  13. The diachronic productivity of native combining forms in American English 223
  14. Advise against -ing: An emerging class of exceptions to Bach’s Generalization 253
  15. Subjective progressives in the history of American English 275
  16. Part III: Learner contexts
  17. A syntactic analysis of the introductory it pattern in non-native-speaker and nativespeaker student writing 307
  18. Phraseological teddy bears 339
  19. “Dear Man men and women madam, dear xxx sir” 363
  20. Marked themes in advanced learner English 387
  21. Phrasal verbs in the spoken and written modes of Norwegian L2 learner English 409
  22. Conversational gesture corpus analysis 437
  23. Corpus research for SLA 467
  24. List of contributors 483
  25. Index 487
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110489071-009

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents V
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Part I: Discourse contexts and cultures
  5. Patterns of discursive urban place-making in Brooklyn, New York 13
  6. The English of current Caribbean newspapers 43
  7. Corporate identity and its variation over time 75
  8. Applying Geographical Information Systems to researching historical corpora 109
  9. Corpus linguistics: Widening the remit 137
  10. Part II: Contexts of lexis and grammar
  11. Family collocation 165
  12. Factors influencing the translation of -ing participial free adjuncts 197
  13. The diachronic productivity of native combining forms in American English 223
  14. Advise against -ing: An emerging class of exceptions to Bach’s Generalization 253
  15. Subjective progressives in the history of American English 275
  16. Part III: Learner contexts
  17. A syntactic analysis of the introductory it pattern in non-native-speaker and nativespeaker student writing 307
  18. Phraseological teddy bears 339
  19. “Dear Man men and women madam, dear xxx sir” 363
  20. Marked themes in advanced learner English 387
  21. Phrasal verbs in the spoken and written modes of Norwegian L2 learner English 409
  22. Conversational gesture corpus analysis 437
  23. Corpus research for SLA 467
  24. List of contributors 483
  25. Index 487
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2026 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 26.1.2026 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110489071-009/html
Scroll to top button