9 Diminutive verbs in the Austrian language area: Morphological and semantic challenges
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Sabine Wahl
Abstract
In German, a number of verbs appear with the suffix -(e)l- (e.g., tänzeln ‘to mince, to step delicately’), which resembles the l-containing suffixes of nominal diminutives (e.g., Rös-lein ‘rose-DIM’). Due to this morphological analogy to nominal diminutives and due to their semantics which have been linked to ATTENUATION (especially LOW INTENSITY, ITERATIVE and CONTEMPT), these verbs can be referred to as “diminutive verbs”. Diminutive verbs cannot only be derived from verbs but also from nouns and other parts of speech. Moreover, they may be the result of morphological missegmentation and reanalysis. This article analyzes diminutive verbs in three sources within the Austrian language area (WBÖ, VWB, AMC). I show that they are especially frequent (types) in the Bavarian dialects of (historical) Austria. Semantically, several of the diminutive verbs in the Austrian language area cannot be associated with ATTENUATION. The verb färbeln ‘to color sth.’ exemplifies that there are even cases in which the verbal basis (färben ‘to color sth.’) and the diminutive verb share the same meaning(s). The findings are compared with results for diminutive verbs in Standard German in Germany and other languages and (German) dialects, as well as with nominal diminutives in German.
Abstract
In German, a number of verbs appear with the suffix -(e)l- (e.g., tänzeln ‘to mince, to step delicately’), which resembles the l-containing suffixes of nominal diminutives (e.g., Rös-lein ‘rose-DIM’). Due to this morphological analogy to nominal diminutives and due to their semantics which have been linked to ATTENUATION (especially LOW INTENSITY, ITERATIVE and CONTEMPT), these verbs can be referred to as “diminutive verbs”. Diminutive verbs cannot only be derived from verbs but also from nouns and other parts of speech. Moreover, they may be the result of morphological missegmentation and reanalysis. This article analyzes diminutive verbs in three sources within the Austrian language area (WBÖ, VWB, AMC). I show that they are especially frequent (types) in the Bavarian dialects of (historical) Austria. Semantically, several of the diminutive verbs in the Austrian language area cannot be associated with ATTENUATION. The verb färbeln ‘to color sth.’ exemplifies that there are even cases in which the verbal basis (färben ‘to color sth.’) and the diminutive verb share the same meaning(s). The findings are compared with results for diminutive verbs in Standard German in Germany and other languages and (German) dialects, as well as with nominal diminutives in German.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- 1 Introduction: Diminutives across languages, theoretical frameworks and linguistic domains 1
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Part I: Theoretical approaches to diminutive formation
- 2 On a low and a high position for diminutive non-manual markers in Italian Sign Language 37
- 3 Diminutive or singulative? The suffixes -in and -k in Russian 65
- 4 Slavic diminutive morphology: An interplay of scope, templates and paradigms 89
- 5 Diminutive formation in Spanish: Evidence for word morphology 115
- 6 The syllable as the basis for word formation: Evidence from diminutives, hypocoristics and clippings in English, Dutch, Afrikaans, Swedish and French 131
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Part II: Corpus-based and other empirical studies
- 7 The Swedish suffix -is and its place within evaluative morphology 153
- 8 Diminutives and number: Theoretical predictions and empirical evidence from German in Austria 179
- 9 Diminutive verbs in the Austrian language area: Morphological and semantic challenges 205
- 10 Challenges in analyzing Polish diminutives 231
- 11 Diminutives among other -k(a) words in colloquial Russian: Frequency and suffix variation 253
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Part III: Sociolinguistic, pragmatic and acquisitional studies
- 12 Borrowed or inspired? Komi diminutive under Russian influence 277
- 13 Acquisition of diminutives in Russian and Estonian from a typological perspective 305
- 14 Morphological richness and priority of pragmatics over semantics in Italian, Arabic, German and English diminutives 335
- 15 Diminutive variation in Austrian Standard German: A corpuslinguistic study 363
- 16 Gender discrepancies and evaluative gender shift: A cross-linguistic study within Distributed Morphology 387
- Index 415
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- 1 Introduction: Diminutives across languages, theoretical frameworks and linguistic domains 1
-
Part I: Theoretical approaches to diminutive formation
- 2 On a low and a high position for diminutive non-manual markers in Italian Sign Language 37
- 3 Diminutive or singulative? The suffixes -in and -k in Russian 65
- 4 Slavic diminutive morphology: An interplay of scope, templates and paradigms 89
- 5 Diminutive formation in Spanish: Evidence for word morphology 115
- 6 The syllable as the basis for word formation: Evidence from diminutives, hypocoristics and clippings in English, Dutch, Afrikaans, Swedish and French 131
-
Part II: Corpus-based and other empirical studies
- 7 The Swedish suffix -is and its place within evaluative morphology 153
- 8 Diminutives and number: Theoretical predictions and empirical evidence from German in Austria 179
- 9 Diminutive verbs in the Austrian language area: Morphological and semantic challenges 205
- 10 Challenges in analyzing Polish diminutives 231
- 11 Diminutives among other -k(a) words in colloquial Russian: Frequency and suffix variation 253
-
Part III: Sociolinguistic, pragmatic and acquisitional studies
- 12 Borrowed or inspired? Komi diminutive under Russian influence 277
- 13 Acquisition of diminutives in Russian and Estonian from a typological perspective 305
- 14 Morphological richness and priority of pragmatics over semantics in Italian, Arabic, German and English diminutives 335
- 15 Diminutive variation in Austrian Standard German: A corpuslinguistic study 363
- 16 Gender discrepancies and evaluative gender shift: A cross-linguistic study within Distributed Morphology 387
- Index 415
