12 Word-formation and analogy
-
Sabine Arndt-Lappe
Abstract
The article discusses the much-debated status of analogy in contemporary theories of synchronic word-formation. It provides an overview of the key assumptions made in pertinent theoretical camps as well as of the major phenomena that have featured prominently as evidence in the debate. Theories can broadly be classified into those which assume that analogy is active only as a complementary mechanism, and those which assume that analogy is the central mechanism of productive word-formation. Among the latter, we can distinguish between general theoretical and computational analogical models. Based on a detailed definition and discussion of the analogical equation, different usages of analogy in the literature are shown to be closely tied to theory-dependent conceptualisations of productivity, predictability, and (ir-)regularity.
Abstract
The article discusses the much-debated status of analogy in contemporary theories of synchronic word-formation. It provides an overview of the key assumptions made in pertinent theoretical camps as well as of the major phenomena that have featured prominently as evidence in the debate. Theories can broadly be classified into those which assume that analogy is active only as a complementary mechanism, and those which assume that analogy is the central mechanism of productive word-formation. Among the latter, we can distinguish between general theoretical and computational analogical models. Based on a detailed definition and discussion of the analogical equation, different usages of analogy in the literature are shown to be closely tied to theory-dependent conceptualisations of productivity, predictability, and (ir-)regularity.
Chapters in this book
- 1 Parasynthesis in Romance 1
- 2 Affix pleonasm 17
- 3 Interfixes in Romance 33
- 4 Linking elements in Germanic 55
- 5 Synthetic compounds in German 71
- 6 Particle verbs in Germanic 85
- 7 Noun-noun compounds in French 103
- 8 Verb-noun compounds in Romance 121
- 9 Co-compounds 145
- 10 Compounds and multi-word expressions in Slavic 171
- 11 Rules, patterns and schemata in word-formation 199
- 12 Word-formation and analogy 223
- 13 Productivity 247
- 14 Restrictions in word-formation 267
- 15 Argument-structural restrictions on word-formation patterns 287
- 16 Phonological restrictions on English word-formation 307
- 17 Morphological restrictions on English word-formation 337
- 18 Semantic restrictions on word-formation: the English suffix -ee 353
- 19 Dissimilatory phenomena in French word-formation 369
- 20 Closing suffixes 385
Chapters in this book
- 1 Parasynthesis in Romance 1
- 2 Affix pleonasm 17
- 3 Interfixes in Romance 33
- 4 Linking elements in Germanic 55
- 5 Synthetic compounds in German 71
- 6 Particle verbs in Germanic 85
- 7 Noun-noun compounds in French 103
- 8 Verb-noun compounds in Romance 121
- 9 Co-compounds 145
- 10 Compounds and multi-word expressions in Slavic 171
- 11 Rules, patterns and schemata in word-formation 199
- 12 Word-formation and analogy 223
- 13 Productivity 247
- 14 Restrictions in word-formation 267
- 15 Argument-structural restrictions on word-formation patterns 287
- 16 Phonological restrictions on English word-formation 307
- 17 Morphological restrictions on English word-formation 337
- 18 Semantic restrictions on word-formation: the English suffix -ee 353
- 19 Dissimilatory phenomena in French word-formation 369
- 20 Closing suffixes 385
