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Onomatopoeia has not been paid much attention in theoretical linguistics, which may be related to its iconic‐symbolic nature. Moreover, the concept of onomatopoeia and its classification seem to vary in different linguistic traditions. Therefore, a new theoretical conception of onomatopoeia is proposed that makes it possible to examine onomatopoeia from a comparative perspective. This paper pursues the primary objective of clarifying the position of onomatopoeia in the system of language, in particular, whether or not onomatopoeia is an idiosyncratic group of words in the lexicon. This objective is implemented by evaluating the characteristics of onomatopoeia in English and Slovak from the semiotic and phonic points of view.

A pioneering book establishing the foundations for research into word-formation typology and tendencies. It fills a gap in cross-linguistic research by being the first systematic survey of the word-formation of the world's languages. Drawing on over 1500 examples from fifty-five languages, it provides a wider global representation than any other volume. This data, from twenty-eight language families and forty-five language genera, reveals associations between word-formation processes in genetically and geographically distinct languages. Data presentation from two complementary perspectives, semasiological and onomasiological, shows both the basic functions of individual word-formation processes and the ways of expressing selected cognitive categories. Language data was gathered by way of detailed questionnaires completed by over eighty leading experts on the languages discussed. The book is aimed at academic researchers and graduate students in language typology, linguistic fieldwork and morphology.

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This article presents the results of a large-scale interdisciplinary project aimed at a corroboration of the role of creativity in the way university undergraduates (N = 309) coin new complex words. Specifically, the tendency towards economy of expression, preferred by a speaker, and the tendency towards semantic transparency, preferred by a listener, were examined in the broader context of the creative potential of an individual, understood as divergent thinking abilities captured by the Torrance test of creative thinking (TTCT). The results indicate that divergent thinking abilities, as operationalized by the TTCT scores, negatively correlate with the general tendency to coin new complex words in a more economical fashion. More specifically, the general tendency towards economy of expression correlates negatively with Elaboration, Creative Strengths, and potentially with Creativity. A more detailed analysis indicates that this is especially the case for the word-formation task, where open-ended responses were analyzed and a drawing served as stimulus material for word formation. These results are not only novel but also encouraging for future research into the role of psychological factors in the psycholinguistic process of word formation conceived as a creative act of a language user.

The main goal of the paper is to analyze and evaluate the nature and the role of word-formation systems in a sample of 73 European languages. The basis for the comparison is 100 word-formation features representing 12 word-formation processes. The data is used to examine (a) the structural richness of word-formation systems at the level of individual languages, language genera, families and the linguistic area of Europe, and (b) the parameter of Maximum Feature Occurrence that identifies those word-formation features that are present in all languages under consideration, i.e., in all languages of a genus, a family or a linguistic area of Europe. In the latter case, it identifies the so-called Euroversals. From the diachronic perspective, the paper evaluates the degree of diversification of languages belonging to the same language genus and language family.

A A C Cr ro os ss s--L Li in ng gu ui is st ti ic c R Re es se ea ar rc ch h i in nt to o P Ph ho on ne et ti ic c I Ic co on ni ic ci it ty ythis phenomenon is of areal rather than universal nature; (b) there are substantial differences between languages within individual genetic families, (c) front high vowels are typical of augmentatives rather than diminutives; diminutive affixes are acoustically realized by central vowels The paper presents the results of cross-linguistic research into a balanced sample of 60 languages of the world. The focus is this time on the verification of the hypothesis in question by comparing languages of various genetic, geographical and morphological types. Special attention is paid to (a) checking the postulated front-back opposition in languages with both morphological diminutives and augmentatives, (b) the relevance of phonetic iconicity in terms of geographical, genetic, and morphological classifications of the sample languages; comparison of the data obtained with the results arrived at in the previous stages of our research which dealt with 35 European languages. The discussion is supported by numerous examples.