Berber

The aim of this chapter is to draw a concise sketch of Berber evaluative morphology. Within the studies on evaluative morphology, Berber deserves particular attention since ‘evaluative words’ are formed by means of two typologically unusual processes: a circumfix (t___t) and a process of subtractive morphology. Moreover, Berber evaluative constructions systematically interact with the categories of gender and number. Although this kind of interaction is not surprising when considering evaluative morphology, in the case of Berber there is a systematic relationship between feminine gender and diminutives on the one hand, and masculine gender and augmentatives on the other. This relationship also affects the input of these word-formation processes, constraining their domain of application.