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This paper contributes to the study of evaluative morphology by investigating an emerging morphological construction in Italian within the framework of Construction Morphology. The schema in question, which contains the string simil- (related to the adjective simile 'similar') plus a nominal or adjectival base, is analyzed as a newly-created construction that conveys a number of closely-related senses (i.e., fakeness, imitation, resemblance, vagueness, and kin-categorization) revolving around the functional domain of approximation, which has received much less attention than other domains within evaluative morphology. Beside discussing the formal, semantic and usage properties of simil- expressions on the basis of corpus data, we propose a constructional network that accounts for their behavior. Finally, we discuss the nature of simil- as an affixoid and explore its relationship with other competing (morphological and, more marginally, analytic) strategies in Italian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studying relational adjectives cross-linguistically, Bisetto (2010) raises the important issue of whether this type of derivation is possible across languages. In this paper, we will attempt to show that there is at least one language, Japanese, that does not possess derivational affixes for relational adjectives. All the living adjectivalizing suffixes in Japanese, -teki, -rasi(i), -ppo(i), and -chikku, derive qualitative adjectives. More significantly, we will also show that this dearth of derivational morphology is compensated for by the systematic use of genitive forms in Japanese. The set of functions mapped to specific derivational affixes in many European languages is systematically mapped to two types of modifiers, the genitive form [Noun + no] and the genitive form expanded by a marker reminiscent of combining forms [Noun + Marker + no]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rivalry in lexeme formation refers to a situation where multiple, rival lexeme formation processes may be used to fill a gap in a morphological family. In this paper we study one such situation, the rivalry between the suffixes -iser and -ifier in French to derive verbs from nouns and/or adjectives. We propose a statistical approach to the problem, and use multivariate logistic regression applied to a large dataset derived from existing ressources to establish that phonological, morphological, and semantic properties of the morphological family all contribute independently to predicting preference for one or the other suffix. One main result of this study is that rivalry can not be studied in terms of the relationship of a single base and a derived lexeme, as multiple members of the morphological family play a role in jointly predicting the choice of a suffix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an overview of possible cases of conversion in Turkish. I argue that apparent cases of conversion between nouns and adjectives are cases of syntactic transposition, and apparent cases of conversion between nouns/adjectives and verbs are end products of phonological changes in the history of the language, which resulted in pairs of lexemes that are formally identical synchronically, but not historically. This does not mean that no cases of morphological conversion can be traced in the language. I will present two cases of secondary word-class conversion from derived, inflected and uninflected words to toponyms which might be taken as instances of morphological conversion or derivation by zero-affixation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has long been argued that the environments in which adjectives and adverbs occur are mutually exclusive. This claim is based on a superficial observation that adjectives modify nouns, while adverbs modify other categories. In this paper, we argue that there are a substantial number of environments in English where complementarity, thus defined, does not hold. One interesting such environment is the function of modifier of nouns, and in one section of this paper we present a detailed analysis of a rarely observed construction in which adverbs, like adjectives, have this function. Complementarity between adjectives and adverbs is often used in support of a further claim, periodically espoused by a variety of linguists from Kuryłowicz (1936) to Baker (2003), that adjectives and adverbs are effectively inflectional variants of a single major category. In the final sections of this paper, we argue not only that complementarity as defined does not hold, but that distribution per se is irrelevant to the issue of whether adverbs are inflectionally or derivationally related to adjectives. A review of the arguments points towards adverbs in English in fact standing on the derivational side of the boundary, and forming a distinct (though in some respects atypical) major category. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In contrasting newly coined lexical and phrasal adjective-noun combinations as e.g. Blautee (‘blue_tea’) versus blauer Tee (‘blue tea’), the present paper argues in favour of a different semantic make-up of phrasal versus lexical modification in German. Whereas the former triggers direct modification along the lines of ordinary predicate modification, the latter involves a mediating free variable to be instantiated at the conceptual level. The analysis accounts for interpretational differences between phrasal and lexical adjectival modification in the cases of incompatible attribution and negation. Furthermore, the proposal made here supports the assumption of a particular naming function of lexical units. Additional evidence will be drawn from the observation that non-predicative adjectives and comparatives are ruled out in adjective-noun compounds and that adjectives projected word-internally contribute atemporal properties. Finally, it is shown that despite the particular naming function of lexical units a straightforward identification of lexical adjective-noun structures with kind-referring expressions is too strong a conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is devoted to the rivalry between suffixes in the derivation of denominal adjectives in Russian. In particular, it proposes a large-scale quantitative analysis based on the Russian National Corpus. Its main goal is to contribute to identifying the properties that determine the choice of the suffix in these derivatives. Denominal adjectival derivation in Russian makes use of a wide variety of exponents. Most of them are phonological variants (extensions) of three main suffixes, -n-, -sk- and -Ov-. These three, which can be considered as basic, constitute the focus of our analysis. Two datasets were built for this research, a general one containing one of the suffixes above, and a more specific one containing doublets, which is to say, adjectives constructed on the same base with different suffixes. Data from the two sets are analyzed by means of various statistical models. Our results globally provide a quantitatively robust confirmation of observations previously made in the literature. In particular, we show that -n- occupies a specific position in the derivational system of Russian, as it is less productive and its derivatives are tendentially less transparent and more prone to display lexicalized meanings that point towards the qualitative pole of the qualitative-relational semantic spectrum. Moreover, -sk- and -Ov- are more likely to form doublets (be attached to the same bases), a further argument in favor of a greater homogeneity between them as opposed to -n-. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates French nouns and adjectives in -aire related to numerals. The original series was borrowed from Latin distributive numerals and its elements exhibited various meanings. Some of them still exist with their original meaning but have a vestigial use. Grammars and linguistic studies barely mention these forms and completely overlook the fact that new series of forms with a meaning referring to age or an anniversary have recently developed. The present article documents this development and the reasons behind it. It also addresses the issues tied to the variations of form and meaning that the patterns in question exhibit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from two empirical studies, the present article investigates whether German adjective-noun compounds are inherently more appropriate to function as naming units or kind terms than the corresponding phrases. In the first experiment, it was tested whether subjects prefer a non-lexicalized compound (e.g., Kurzcouch, short_couch) or the respective non-lexicalized phrasal counterpart (e.g., kurze Couch, short couch) in order to express a novel complex lexical concept (e.g., It is a very specific couch that is 1.30 meters short because it is designed only for children up to this size.). In the second test, subjects rated on a scale how well the compounds and phrases expressed the newly created concepts. The findings of the two studies support the idea that compounds are better naming candidates than phrases. It is claimed that the effect derives from the specific formal nature of compounds and has consequences for the processing and mental representation of the two construction types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article overviews the main questions that emerge from cross-linguistic analysis of morphologically complex adjectives. It is discussed that the problems arise from the fact that it is difficult to identify any positive properties of adjectives capable of singling them out with respect to other categories. Thus, what has been classified as a derived adjective frequently is a version of the base category that lacks some of the definitional properties of that category. This article examines the questions related to deverbal adjectives, participles and denominal adjectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes a fine-grained classification and analysis of French denominal adjectives based mainly on the semantic relationships that exist between the noun the adjective modifies (the head-noun) and the noun it is derived from. Capitalizing on previous works, it is argued that these relationships are intrinsic whenever they focus on a dimension proper to the referent of the head-noun, but they are extrinsic whenever this referent is conceived of as a participant in an event denoted either by the head or the modified noun. After a brief characterization of denominal adjectives in relation with other adjectives, the article lists the variety of meanings these adjectives exhibit in French and tries to shed light on the reasons why only some of them sound acceptable when occurring with a degree adverb or in a predicative structure. In the account sketched in the final section, denominal adjectives are dealt with in the same way as intersective adjectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many languages have morphological devices to turn a noun into an adjective. Often this morphology is genuinely derivational in that it adds semantic content such as 'similar-to-N' (similitudinal), 'located-on/in' (locational) and so on. In other cases the denominal adjective expresses no more than a pragmatically determined relationship, as in preposition-al phrase (see the synonymous preposition phrase), often called 'relational adjectives'. In many languages relational adjectives are noun-to-adjective transpositions, that is, adjectival forms ('representations') of nominals. In some languages and constructions they retain some of the noun-related properties of the base. For example, the base can be modified by an attribute as though it were still a syntactically represented noun, giving rise to what we will call 'syntagmatic category mixing'. We also find instances of 'paradigmatic category mixing' in which the derived adjectival form retains some of the inflectional morphology (case and/or number and/or possessive) of its base noun, as in a number of Uralic and Altaic languages. We address this kind of categorial mixing within the descriptive framework for lexical relatedness proposed in Spencer (2013). A true transposition has a complex 'semantic function' (sf) role, consisting of the semantic function role of the derived category overlaid over that of the base. We explain how the complex semantic structure role of noun-to-adjective transpositions maps onto c-structure nodes, using the syntactic framework of Lexical Functional Grammar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interpretation of an eventuality embedded in a deverbal adjective is typically non-episodic; specifically it is dispositional, habitual or modal. This article examines these readings based on a case study of three productive adjectivalizing suffixes in Spanish. It is proposed that the same structure can underlie these three non-episodic readings. Which is selected in each case is a function of different pieces of linguistic information, including the causal link between subject and eventuality, and the status of external circumstances relevant for the situation. This approach suggests an underspecification view of polysemy, makes it possible to account for the range of non-episodic readings without using designated null aspectual operators, and provides a natural explanation of the asymmetries between these readings with respect to adjective-to-noun conversion and combination with animate nouns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japanese has a fairly large set of complex adjectives formed by combining a noun with the adjective nai 'null, empty'. The complex negative adjectives have the remarkable property that they allow nominative case marking to appear inside them optionally. We argue that these complex negative adjectives can be classified into three classes, and that the differences in their syntactic behaviour can be accounted for by positing three distinct morphosyntactic configurations (ranging from a fully phrasal structure to a complex word involving morphological compounding). Some, though not all, complex negative adjectives with case marking show a behaviour which suggests that they constitute single lexical units, while at the same time their components are susceptible to syntactic operations that normally do not apply to the internal structure of words. The data on the Japanese complex adjectives illustrate that adjectives formed via quasi-noun incorporation do not constitute words in a strict morphological sense, in that the entire complexes behave as lexical units, while their components remain visible syntactically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adjective, noun, and verb fett/Fett/fett- ‘fat’ in German are polysemous in each word class. The zero-derivational relationships that hold between them are described. The theoretical points are made (i) that, in cases of polysemy, individual senses rather than lexical items as a whole are involved in zero-derivation, and (ii) that, in this particular case, the direction of derivation differs depending on which of the senses are implicated, going from noun to adjective ( to ) or from adjective to noun ( to ), and thereby precluding the designation of one lexical classification as basic tout court. The implication of such cases is that, with their individual semantic components so autonomous as to be alternately basic and derived in different morphological oppositions, ‘lexical entries’, categorised in terms of word class, cannot be the integral principal organising units of mental lexicons and dictionaries they are commonly taken to be. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]