29. Suffixation. Productivity of suffixes. Classifications of suffixes.

In Modern English suffixation is mostly characteristic of noun and adjective formation, while prefixation is mostly typical of verb formation.

The main function of suffixes: to form one part of speech from another (to work – a worker), to change the lexical meaning of the same part of speech (to educate, educatee).

Suffixes may be classified according to:

1) the part of speech formed:

a) noun-forming suffixes (-er, -dom, -ation, etc.) (teacher, Londoner, freedom, justification, etc.);

b) adjective-forming suffixes (-able, -less, -ful, -ic, -ous, etc.) (agreeable, careless, doubtful, poetic, courageous, etc.);

c) verb-forming suffixes (-en, -fy, -ize) (darken, satisfy, harmonize, etc.);

d) adverb-forming suffixes (-ly, -ward) (quickly, eastward, etc.);

e) numeral-forming suffixes (-teen, -ty ) (sixteen, seventy).

Suffixes may be classified according to:

2) lexico-grammatical character of the base the affix is usually added to:

deverbal (those added to the verbal base), e.g. -er, -ing, -ment, -able, etc. (speaker, reading, agreement, suitable, etc.);

denominal (those added to the noun base), e.g. -less, -ish, -ful, -ist, -some, etc. (handless, childish, mouthful, violinist, troublesome, etc.);

deadjectival (those affixed to the adjective base), e.g. -en, -ly, -ish, -ness, etc. (blacken, slowly, reddish, brightness, etc.).

Suffixes may be classified according to:

3) meaning. For instance, noun-suffixes fall into those denoting:

a) the agent of an action, e.g. -er, -ant (baker, dancer, defendant, etc.);

b) nationality, e.g. -an, -ian, -ese, etc. (Arabian, Elizabethan, Russian, Chinese, etc.);

c) collectivity, e.g. -dom, -ry, -ship, etc. (moviedom, readership, peasantry, etc.);

d) diminutiveness, e.g. -ie, -let, -ling, etc. (birdie, piglet, wolfling, etc.)

e) quality, e.g. -ness, -ity (helplessness, answerability).

Suffixes may be classified according to:

4) the origin of suffixes:

a) native (Germanic), such as -er, -ful, -less, -ly;

b) Romanic, such as : -tion, -ment, -able, -eer;

c) Greek, such as : -ist, -ism, -ize;

d) Russian, such as -nik.

5) productivity:

a) productive, such as -er, -ize, -ly, -ness;

b) semi-productive, such as -eer, -ette, -ward;

c) non-productive, such as -ard (drunkard), -th (length).

Disputable cases: whether we have a suffix or a root morpheme in the structure of a word. In such cases we call such morphemes semi-suffixes.

30.Conversion as a way of word formation. Typical semantic relations. Productivity of conversion.

The term conversion was first mentioned by H. Sweet in 1891.

Conversion: a morphological way of forming words when one part of speech is formed from another part of speech by changing its paradigm

The morphological paradigms of the word eye as a noun: eye - eyes as a verb: to eye, eyes, eyed, will eye

The clearest cases of conversion are observed between verbs and nouns, and this term is now mostly used in this narrow sense.

Conversion is very active both in nouns for verb formation: doctor to doctor, shop to shop

in verbs to form nouns: to smile a smite, to offer an offer).

Typical semantic relations (verbs converted from nouns):

a) names of parts of a human body and tools, instruments – verbs have instrumental meaning (to hammer, to rifle, to nail),

b) verbs denote an action characteristic of the living being denoted by the noun from which they have been converted (to crowd, to wolf, to ape),

c) verbs denote acquisition, addition or deprivation if they are formed from nouns denoting an object (to fish, to dust, to peel, to paper),

d) the name of a place – verbs denote the process of occupying the place or of putting smth./smb. in it (to room, to house, to place, to table, to cage),

e) the time denoted by the noun – verbs denote an action performed at the time (to winter, to week-end),

f) the name of a profession or occupation – verbs denote an activity typical of it (to nurse, to cook, to maid, to groom),

g) the name of a container – verbs denote the act of putting smth. within the container (to can, to bottle, to pocket).

h) the name of a meal – verbs denote the process of taking it (to lunch, to supper).

Nouns converted from verbs can denote:

a) instant of an action, e.g. a jump, a move,

b) process or state, e.g. sleep, walk,

c) agent of the action expressed by the verb from which the noun has been converted, e.g. a help, a flirt, a scold,

d) object or result of the action expressed by the verb from which the noun has been converted, e.g. a burn, a find, a purchase,

e) place of the action, e.g. a drive, a stop, a walk.

The main reason that conversion pairs are so widely spread in present-day English is the limited number of morphological elements serving as classifying signals of a certain part of speech (i.e. a limited number of inflexions). Hence word-formation based on changing the paradigm is very economical and productive.