Abstract
The expression of ad hoc categories ranges from discourse-level to syntactic and morphological strategies. Considering derivation in particular, it has been observed that also collective suffixes can be used for the identification of context-dependent sets. The aim of this paper is to investigate the relation between collectives and ad hoc categories by focusing on the Italian suffix -aglia and by discussing its diachronic relation with the Latin neuter nouns ending in -ālia. The discussion concerning the notion of collective will take into account a recent proposal that distinguishes between collective nouns, aggregate nouns, and superordinates. As will be shown, aggregate nouns are of particular interest for interpreting some Latin pluralia tantum in -ālia that denote sets of heterogeneous entities with similar properties. The same possibility to derive aggregate nouns characterizes the suffix -aglia that, when attached to proper nouns, can also convey associative meanings, or denote categories including persons and situations that share the named exemplar as a common denominator. As the analysis will show, the development of these functions correlates with the mechanisms of (inter)subjectification.
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Linguistic strategies for ad hoc categorization: theoretical assessment and cross-linguistic variation
- The role of exemplification in the construction of categories: the case of Japanese
- Categorization via exemplification: evidence from Italian
- Ad hoc categorization in Russian and multifunctional general extenders
- Alternative Relations and Higher-Level Categories
- From ad hoc category to ad hoc categorization: The proceduralization of Argentinian Spanish tipo
- Exemplification and ad hoc categorization: The genre-construction in French
- Collective suffixes and ad hoc categories: from Latin -ālia to Italian -aglia
- The encoding of ad hoc categories in Sanskrit: A synchronic and diachronic analysis of “compounds” with ādi-
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Linguistic strategies for ad hoc categorization: theoretical assessment and cross-linguistic variation
- The role of exemplification in the construction of categories: the case of Japanese
- Categorization via exemplification: evidence from Italian
- Ad hoc categorization in Russian and multifunctional general extenders
- Alternative Relations and Higher-Level Categories
- From ad hoc category to ad hoc categorization: The proceduralization of Argentinian Spanish tipo
- Exemplification and ad hoc categorization: The genre-construction in French
- Collective suffixes and ad hoc categories: from Latin -ālia to Italian -aglia
- The encoding of ad hoc categories in Sanskrit: A synchronic and diachronic analysis of “compounds” with ādi-