Closing suffixes in Old English: A study based on recursive affixation
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Date
2013
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Adam Mickiewicz University
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Abstract
This paper takes issue with the lexicon of Old English and, more specifically, with the existence
of closing suffixes in word-formation. Closing suffixes are defined as base suffixes that prevent
further suffixation by word-forming suffixes (Aronoff & Furhop 2002: 455). This is tantamount
to saying that this is a study in recursivity, or the formation of derivatives from derived bases, as
in anti-establish-ment, which requires the attachment of the prefix anti- to the derived input
establish-ment.
The present analysis comprises all major lexical categories, that is, nouns, adjectives, verbs
and adverbs and concentrates on suffixes because they represent the newest and the most
productive process in Old English word-formation (Kastovsky 1992, 2006), as well as the set
of morphemes that has survived into Present-day English without undergoing radical changes.
Given this aim, the data retrieved from the lexical database of Old English Nerthus
(www.nerthusproject.com) comprise 6,073 affixed (prefixed and suffixed) derivatives, including
3,008 nouns, 1,961 adjectives, 974 adverbs and 130 verbs. All of them have been analysed in
order to isolate recursive formations.
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This research has been funded through the Project FFI2011-29532.
Keywords
Old English, morphology, noun derivation, recursive suffixation, closing suffixes
Citation
Studia Anglica Posnaniensia, vol. 48.2-3 (2013), pp. 27-54