Chapter 10
Nominalizations in Early Modern English
A cross-register perspective
This chapter explores word-based nominalizations in Early Modern English, a crucial period in the
expansion of the English vocabulary. Nine Romance and native suffixes are traced in eighteen registers, thus covering a wide
variety of registers along the formal-informal and speech-written continua. Findings demonstrate that there is a strong
correlation between informal, speech-related registers and a low frequency of nominalizations, although the communicative
purpose of particular registers can also have an effect here. Suffix productivity is also addressed, with results showing
that, the frequency of nominalizations in terms of types and tokens increases over time across registers, except trial
proceedings. However, Romance suffixes are seen chiefly responsible for this, whereas most native suffixes lose productivity
during the period.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Sources and methodology
- 3.Results
- 3.1Overall distribution of nominalization across registers
- 3.2Diachronic distribution of nominalizations across registers
- 3.3Suffix productivity diachronically
- 4.Conclusion
-
Acknowledgements
-
Notes
-
References
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