Article
BASE AND SUFFIX PARADIGMS: QUALITATIVE EVIDENCE OF EMERGENT BORROWED SUFFIXES IN MULTIPLE LATE MIDDLE AND EARLY MODERN ENGLISH REGISTERS
INOZEMNA PHILOLOGIA
(2011)
Abstract
Even though many studies of historical morphology have described trends and changes in
the productivity of borrowed suffixes in English, such as -able, -age, -ance, -ity, -cion,
-ment and -ous, few studies have been able to illustrate how borrowed suffixes initially
came to be perceived by speakers as independent, productive units. This study aims to
identify and analyze two types of textual evidence – so-called base paradigms and suffix
paradigms – to demonstrate how and when English writers and readers might have
perceived the endings of borrowings as analyzable, detachable suffixes. Textual examples
are selected from a variety of fourteenth- through sixteenth-century registers, including
guild records, early English Biblical discourse, medical writing, and personal
correspondence.
Keywords
- derivational morphology,
- Middle English,
- Early Modern English,
- productivity,
- paradigm,
- borrowing,
- suffixes
Disciplines
Publication Date
2011
Citation Information
Chris C. Palmer. "BASE AND SUFFIX PARADIGMS: QUALITATIVE EVIDENCE OF EMERGENT BORROWED SUFFIXES IN MULTIPLE LATE MIDDLE AND EARLY MODERN ENGLISH REGISTERS" INOZEMNA PHILOLOGIA Iss. 116 (2011) p. 45 - 52 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/chris_c_palmer/8/