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According to a widely held opinion, agent-instrument polysemy in derivational morphology is the result of semantic extension from agent to instrument meaning. In the present paper we set out to explore the cross-linguistic distribution of patterns of polysemy along the agent-instrument axis. It turns out that about forty percent in a sample of 82 languages expressing both agent and instrument meaning by derivational morphology have markers that are polysemous for the categories in question. A closer look at the data reveals, however, that many of these prima-facie cases of agent-instrument polysemy have arisen not by semantic extension from agent to instrument meaning, but in a number of different ways.

The semantic relationship between derived agent and instrument nouns patterns in significantly diverse ways across human languages. Thus, for instance, in Germanic and Romance languages a correlation is commonly found between the semantic and formal affinity of agent and instrument nouns and processes of semantic extension which result in syncretism or polysemy. In contrast, some languages not only tend to constrain formal identity among derived nouns but also disallow processes of semantic extension. This is the case with the Bantu languages, in which derived agent and instrument nouns are formed in different noun classes whose classificatory function, together with the semantic content of noun prefixes, severely constrains the processes of semantic extension. We suggest that such semantic content, inseparable from the classificatory function of Bantu noun classes, accounts for this peculiarity. The lack of such content in Germanic and Romance derivational suffixes and inflectional endings explains, at least in part, their inability to constrain the semantics of verb bases with similar effects.

Zande and Chamba-Daka are Adamawa-Ubangi (Niger-Congo) languages. The Zande agent noun is identical with the completive verb. Some agent nouns are instrumental or designate the process itself. The Chamba-Daka agent noun is a compound postposing the “infinitive” to the noun meaning ‘person’. It refers only to the subject argument of the source verb. Both languages have a semantically related compound: the “artist” noun meaning ‘owner, skillful user of (a material object)’ or ‘individual (with intrinsic attribute)’. The semantic range of the artist noun in both languages is similar. The artist noun may be formed with the “infinitive”; it then contrasts modally with the agent noun.

Kambaata has a morpheme ­ aan with which agent nominals can be derived from verbs and nouns. The present article discusses, firstly, the morphological and syntactic characteristics of ­aan nominals and the specific problem of which word class they should be assigned to. Secondly, it is shown that the - aan morpheme is multifunctional. Apart from agent nominals, it is used to derive instrument, place and patient nominals.