Semantic granularity in derivation
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Richard Huyghe
and
Rossella Varvara
Abstract
This paper investigates the degree of semantic precision in derivational processes, a crucial yet underexplored aspect of word-formation semantics that influences our understanding of compositionality, competition, and polysemy in derivation. The study focuses on the case of verb-to-noun derivation in French, using both manual analysis and computational techniques to determine the level of semantic granularity that best captures the semantic properties of derivational processes. A sample of 2,190 derived nouns formed with 30 deverbal processes is manually analyzed, distinguishing between ontological and relational semantic types, with three levels of granularity applied to each. The various combinations of semantic types and granularities are tested against computational representations of derivational processes generated from distributional semantic models. The results indicate that not only relational but also ontological types participate in the semantics of derivational processes, and that derivation operates at a fine level of semantic granularity. More broadly, the study illustrates how expert analysis of large datasets can be fruitfully associated with computational methods to address key research questions in theoretical linguistics. It also advocates for a close integration of lexical semantics and derivational morphology in the study of complex words.
Funding source: Schweizerischer Nationalfonds
Award Identifier / Grant number: 100012_188782
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation under grant 100012_188782 (“The semantics of deverbal nouns in French”). We are grateful to two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on an earlier version of the paper. We also thank the colleagues who participated in the creation of the SONDE database, from which we derived the sample of verb-noun pairs examined in this study: Lucie Barque, Pauline Haas, Alizée Lombard, Mathieu Monney, Justine Salvadori, Delphine Tribout, and Marine Wauquier.
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Research funding: This research was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation under grant 100012_188,782 (“The semantics of deverbal nouns in French”).
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