The Competition Between Overt Suffixation and Zero-Affixation in Present-Day English Nominalisation

Table Of Contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Typographical conventions
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Acknowledgements
• List of Abbreviations
• Abstract
• Resumen
• 1. Introduction
• 1.1. Introduction
• 1.2. Justification
• 1.3. Aims and research questions
• 1.4. Methodological background
• 1.5. Structure and contents
• 2. Research on competition in morphology
• 2.1. Introduction
• 2.2. Competition in inflection (overabundance)
• 2.3. Competition in word formation
• 2.3.1. The emergence of competition in derivation
• 2.3.2. Definition
• 2.3.3. The resolution of competition
• 2.3.3.1. Phonological factors
• 2.3.3.2. The profile of the base
• 2.3.3.2.1. The origin of the base
• 2.3.3.2.2. The word class of the base
• 2.3.3.2.3. The morphological structure of the base
• 2.3.3.2.4. The semantics of the base
• 2.3.3.3. Frequency and productivity
• 2.3.3.3.1. Availability
• 2.3.3.3.2. Profitability
• 2.3.3.4. Register distribution
• 2.3.3.5. Non-structural factors
• 2.3.3.6. Blocking: type and token
• 2.3.3.7. Analogy
• 2.3.4. Research on competition in English affixation
• 2.3.4.1. Competing patterns in nominalisation
• 2.3.4.1.1. Class-changing: -ity/-ness
• 2.3.4.1.2. Class-maintaining: -ship/-dom/-hood
• 2.4. Summary
• 3. Method
• 3.1. Introduction
• 3.2. Data source selection: corpus and dictionary data
• 3.2.1. Corpus selection
• 3.2.2. Dictionary selection
• 3.3. Samples
• 3.3.1. Sample1: the frequency list
• 3.3.1.1. Sample extraction
• 3.3.1.2. The analysis of Sample1
• 3.3.1.3. Methodological decisions
• 3.3.1.4. An illustration of data analysis of Sample1
• 3.3.1.5. The selection of competing patterns
• 3.3.2. Sample2
• 3.3.2.1. Sample extraction
• 3.3.2.2. The analysis of Sample2
• 3.3.2.2.1. Semantic concordance analysis
• 3.3.2.2.1.1. Manual semantic annotation: action
• 3.3.2.2.1.2. Manual semantic annotation: agentive
• 3.3.2.2.1.3. Manual semantic annotation: instrument
• 3.3.2.2.1.4. Manual semantic annotation: state
• 3.3.2.2.1.5. Automatic semantic annotation: a test
• 3.3.2.2.2. Profile of the affixes: constraints and Naturalness
• 3.3.2.2.2.1. -ation
• 3.3.2.2.2.2. -er
• 3.3.2.2.2.3. -ness
• 3.3.2.2.2.4. Zero-affixation
• 3.3.2.2.3. Productivity: the Referenced Index of Competition
• 3.3.2.2.4. Register distribution
• 3.3.2.2.5. Cooccurrences
• 3.4. Summary
• 4. The competition between overt affixation and zero-affixation
• 4.1. Introduction
• 4.2. Overview: competing patterns in PDE
• 4.3. Historical tendencies
• 4.3.1. Introduction
• 4.3.2. -ation vs. zero-affixation: action
• 4.3.3. -er vs. zero-affixation: agentive
• 4.3.4. -er vs. zero-affixation: instrument
• 4.3.5. -ness vs. zero-affixation: state
• 4.3.6. Discussion
• 4.4. Resolution of competition in PDE
• 4.4.1. Introduction
• 4.4.2. -ation vs. zero-affixation: action
• 4.4.3. -er vs. zero-affixation agentive
• 4.4.4. -er vs. zero-affixation: instrument
• 4.4.5. -ness vs. zero-affixation: state
• 4.4.6. Discussion
• 4.5. Competition by competitor
• 4.5.1. Introduction
• 4.5.2. -ation vs. zero-affixation: action
• 4.5.3. -er vs. zero-affixation: agentive
• 4.5.4. -er vs. zero-affixation: instrument
• 4.5.5. -ness vs. zero-affixation: state
• 4.5.6. Discussion
• 4.6. The clash between two models
• 4.7. Methodological aspects
• 4.7.1. Versions of the OED
• 4.7.2. Discrepancies between dictionary and corpus data
• 4.7.3. Corpus frequencies
• 4.7.4. Restriction to doublets
• 4.8. Summary
• 5. Conclusions
• 5.1. Introduction
• 5.2. Conclusions
• 5.2.1. Methodological
• 5.2.2. Descriptive
• 5.3. Limitations and future research
• Appendices
• Appendix 1: Data of -ation/zero-affixation action
• Appendix 2: Data of -er/zero-affixation agentive
• Appendix 3: Data of -er/zero-affixation instrument
• References
• Subject index

Cristina Lara-Clares

The Competition Between
Overt Suffixation and
Zero-Affixation in Present-Day
English Nominalisation

Berlin · Bruxelles · Chennai · Lausanne · New York · Oxford

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress: LCCN : 2025003365

Bibliographic Information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek

The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available in the internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.

This publication is supported by the project PID2020-119851GB-I00, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and the State Research Agency, MICIU/AEI /10.13039/501100011033.

ISSN 0941-4134

ISBN 978-3-631-93063-2 (Print)

ISBN 978-3-631-93064-9 (E-PDF)

ISBN 978-3-631-93065-6 (E-PUB)

DOI 10.3726/b22566

© 2025 Peter Lang Group AG, Lausanne (Switzerland)

Published by Peter Lang GmbH, Berlin (Germany)

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All rights reserved.

All parts of this publication are protected by copyright. Any utilization outside the strict limits of the copyright law, without the permission of the publisher, is forbidden and liable to prosecution. This applies in particular to reproductions, translations, microfilming, and storage and processing in electronic retrieval systems.

This publication has been peer reviewed.

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Contents

Typographical conventions

List of Figures

List of Tables

Acknowledgements

List of Abbreviations

Abstract

Resumen

1. Introduction

1.1. Introduction

1.2. Justification

1.3. Aims and research questions

1.4. Methodological background

1.5. Structure and contents

2. Research on competition in morphology

2.1. Introduction

2.2. Competition in inflection (overabundance)

2.3. Competition in word formation

2.3.1. The emergence of competition in derivation

2.3.2. Definition

2.3.3. The resolution of competition

2.3.3.1. Phonological factors

2.3.3.2. The profile of the base

2.3.3.2.1. The origin of the base

2.3.3.2.2. The word class of the base

2.3.3.2.3. The morphological structure of the base

2.3.3.2.4. The semantics of the base

2.3.3.3. Frequency and productivity

2.3.3.3.1. Availability

2.3.3.3.2. Profitability

2.3.3.4. Register distribution

2.3.3.5. Non-structural factors

2.3.3.6. Blocking: type and token

2.3.3.7. Analogy

2.3.4. Research on competition in English affixation

2.3.4.1. Competing patterns in nominalisation

2.3.4.1.1. Class-changing: -ity/-ness

2.3.4.1.2. Class-maintaining: -ship/-dom/-hood

2.4. Summary

3. Method

3.1. Introduction

3.2. Data source selection: corpus and dictionary data

3.2.1. Corpus selection

3.2.2. Dictionary selection

3.3. Samples

3.3.1. Sample1: the frequency list

3.3.1.1. Sample extraction

3.3.1.2. The analysis of Sample1

3.3.1.3. Methodological decisions

3.3.1.4. An illustration of data analysis of Sample1

3.3.1.5. The selection of competing patterns

3.3.2. Sample2

3.3.2.1. Sample extraction

3.3.2.2. The analysis of Sample2

3.3.2.2.1. Semantic concordance analysis

3.3.2.2.1.1. Manual semantic annotation: ACTION

3.3.2.2.1.2. Manual semantic annotation: AGENTIVE

3.3.2.2.1.3. Manual semantic annotation: INSTRUMENT

3.3.2.2.1.4. Manual semantic annotation: STATE

3.3.2.2.1.5. Automatic semantic annotation: a test

3.3.2.2.2. Profile of the affixes: constraints and Naturalness

3.3.2.2.2.1. -ation

3.3.2.2.2.2. -er

3.3.2.2.2.3. -ness

3.3.2.2.2.4. Zero-affixation

3.3.2.2.3. Productivity: the Referenced Index of Competition

3.3.2.2.4. Register distribution

3.3.2.2.5. Cooccurrences

3.4. Summary

4. The competition between overt affixation and zero-affixation

4.1. Introduction

4.2. Overview: competing patterns in PDE