| Derivation (linguistics) |
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Information AboutDerivation (linguistics) |
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In Linguistics , derivation is the process of creating new Lexeme s from other lexemes, for example, by adding a derivational Affix . It is a kind of Word Formation . A derivational Suffix usually applies to Word s of one Syntactic Category and changes them into words of another Syntactic Category . For example, the English derivational Suffix ''-ly'' changes Adjective s into Adverb s (''slow'' → ''slowly''). Some examples of English derivational suffixes:
Although derivational affixes do not necessarily modify the Syntactic Category , they modify the meaning of the base. In many cases, derivational affixes change both the syntactic category and the meaning: ''modern'' → ''modernize'' ("to make modern"). The modification of meaning is sometimes predictable: ''Adjective + ness'' → ''the state of being (Adjective)''; (''stupid''→ ''stupidness''). A Prefix (''write'' → '' re-write''; ''lord'' → ''over-lord'') will rarely change syntactic category in English. The derivational Prefix ''un-'' applies to adjectives (''healthy'' → ''unhealthy''), some verbs (''do'' → ''undo''), but rarely nouns. A few exceptions are the prefixes en- and be-. En- (em- before labials) is usually used as a transitive marker on verbs, but can also be applied to adjectives and nouns to form transitive verb: ''circle'' (verb) → ''encircle'' (verb); but ''rich'' (adj) → ''enrich'' (verb), ''large'' (adj) → ''enlarge'' (verb), ''rapture'' (noun) → ''enrapture'' (verb), ''slave'' (noun) → ''enslave''(verb). The prefix be-, though not as productive as it once was in English, can function in a similar way to en- to mark transitivity, but can also be attached to nouns, often in a causative or privative sense: ''siege'' (noun) → ''besiege'' (verb), ''jewel'' (noun) → ''bejewel'' (verb), ''head'' (noun) → ''behead'' (verb). Note that derivational affixes are Bound Morpheme s. In that, derivation differs from Compounding , by which ''free'' morphemes are combined (''lawsuit'', ''Latin professor''). It also differs from Inflection in that inflection does not change a word's syntactic category and creates not new lexemes but new Word Form s (''table'' → ''tables''; ''open'' → ''opened''). Derivation may occur without any change of form, for example ''telephone'' (noun) and ''to telephone''. This is known as Conversion . Some linguists consider that when a word's syntactic category is changed without any change of form, a Null Morpheme is being affixed. SEE ALSO |
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