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Article published In:
Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada/Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 33:1 (2020) ► pp.202–226

Productivity and graduality in the Layered Structure of the Word

Opaque word-formation in Old English

| Universidad de La Rioja
| Universidad de La Rioja

This article deals with two theoretical aspects of lexical derivation, productivity and graduality. After a discussion of transparency and opaqueness in Old English word-formation, it focuses on lexical productivity and puts forward a typology of recursive phenomena. On the basis of this typology, the morphological template of the Layered Structure of the Word is revised. The main conclusion is that a more diachronically oriented analysis is likely to opt for a decompositional template, whereas a more synchronically directed study which seeks typological validity will probably favour the template with one functional slot. If the focus is on diachronic linguistics, a template based on minimal constituent analysis can guarantee a detailed description of the derivational steps of the word, including non-affixal derivation and semantically opaque affixes.

Keywords: derivational morphology, Old English, Layered Structure of the Word, recursivity, productivity, graduality
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Transparency vs. opaqueness in the derivations of Old English
  • 3.Productivity in lexical derivation
  • 4.Lexical graduality
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
  • Dictionaries and lexical databases
Published online: 21 August 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/resla.17058.urr
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