An Introduction to Modern English Word-Formation

Adams, Valerie

doi:10.4324/9781315504254

Cited by 122 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…In particular, we ask whether children can exploit lexical flexibility: The systematic use of words to encode multiple, related meanings (Barner & Bale, 2002;Copestake & Briscoe, 1995;Pustejovsky, 1995). For example, many of the same English root morphemes can be used to label instruments, as nouns, and activities involving those instruments, as verbs (e.g., shovel, hammer, mix/mixer, wash/washer;Adams, 1973;Clark & Clark, 1979;Jespersen, 1942;Marchand, 1969; see Table 1 for other examples of lexical flexibility). The present studies explore young children's use of semantic generalizations about lexical flexibility to bypass observational learning: Upon learning one meaning of a new word via observation (e.g., that dax labels an activity), can children spontaneously infer another possible meaning of the word that follows a generalization (e.g., that dax can label the instrument itself)?…”

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Learning language from within: Children use semantic generalizations to infer word meanings

et al. 2017

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One reason that word learning presents a challenge for children is because pairings between word forms and meanings are arbitrary conventions that children must learn via observation - e.g., the fact that "shovel" labels shovels. The present studies explore cases in which children might bypass observational learning and spontaneously infer new word meanings: By exploiting the fact that many words are flexible and systematically encode multiple, related meanings. For example, words like shovel and hammer are nouns for instruments, and verbs for activities involving those instruments. The present studies explored whether 3- to 5-year-old children possess semantic generalizations about lexical flexibility, and can use these generalizations to infer new word meanings: Upon learning that dax labels an activity involving an instrument, do children spontaneously infer that dax can also label the instrument itself? Across four studies, we show that at least by age four, children spontaneously generalize instrument-activity flexibility to new words. Together, our findings point to a powerful way in which children may build their vocabulary, by leveraging the fact that words are linked to multiple meanings in systematic ways.

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Learning language from within: Children use semantic generalizations to infer word meanings

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“…However, irregular plurals may require the voicing of a final consonant, for example, before the addition of -s or -es (e.g., knife/knives). Phonologically, the -S plural morpheme is realised as /s/, /z/ or /iz/ depending on whether the base-form noun ends with a voiceless non-sibilant, voiced non-sibilant or vowel, or sibilant respectively (Adams, 1973;Christophersen & Sandved, 1969;Strang, 1969;Quirk et al, 1985).…”

Section: Descriptive Facts About the -S Plural Morphemementioning

confidence: 99%

The Acquisition and Use of the -S Plural Morpheme by Third-Year Students of English in a Nigerian University

Adejare¹

2019

OJML

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This study examined the acquisition and use of the-S plural morpheme by third-year English undergraduates neglected in previous studies involving advanced L2 learners. It aimed at identifying all accurate and inaccurate instantiations of the form, determining their frequency of occurrence, specifying the context of occurrence of each plural bearing or non-bearing common noun, accounting for errors, and suggesting ways of improving L2 learners' acquisition and use of the English-S plural morpheme. The data comprised 1219 common nouns generated from essays written by 15 volunteer English Education students at the Lagos State University, Nigeria. The Combined CA-EA-IL theory which argues that neither CA nor EA nor IL is sufficiently powerful on its own to account for L2 acquisition guided the study, while syntactic and textual parameters aided the analysis. Findings showed that 93 percent (1132) of the data represent correct usage and 7.14 percent (87) represent incorrect usage. Non-suppliance of the-S plural morpheme in nonobligatory contexts accounted for 74.2 percent (905), while its suppliance in obligatory contexts, non-suppliance in obligatory contexts, and suppliance in non-obligatory contexts respectively represent 18.6 (227), 6.1 (73) and 1.1 (14) percent of the data. Precisely 40 percent of the participants committed 74 percent of the errors, with 43 percent of the non-suppliance-in-obligatorycontexts errors occurring among clausal elements semantically indicating plurality. This implies that successful learning still eluded some learners despite the high level of exposure they got. Evidence of poor learning, ignorance of rules, over-generalisation, and inconsistency abound but only one incontestably L1-influenced error occurred.

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“…It is important to note that the society needs the mass nomination at this stage of social development [1]. That is why semantic derivation, borrowings and abbreviations together with the traditional methods of word formationderivation and composition, are playing the important role in the vocabulary enrichment.…”

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“…Restrictions on their usage are connected with the head word denotative meaning. Thus, the units RAM (random -access memory), ROM The usage of newly created constructions is quite popular among the brand names in sports, fashion [1]. For example, the well-known brand Adidas is the result of the fi rst and last name connection -Adi Dassler, who is the company founder.…”

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The Phenomenon of Abbreviations and Apocopes Through Their Formation Perspective

Zaika¹

2015

GISAP:PS

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Evolution of the society infl uences the language development not only by nomination extension, but also through signifi cant change of speech conditions. There appeared a new communication rule-the more important the message is, the greater its redundancy is. Sometimes it is necessary to drop some language elements and the way it will result in the general message quality. Abbreviations and apocopes are the units helping to avoid the speech redundancy in different ways.

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An Introduction to Modern English Word-Formation

Cited by 122 publications

References 3 publications

Learning language from within: Children use semantic generalizations to infer word meanings

Learning language from within: Children use semantic generalizations to infer word meanings

The Acquisition and Use of the -S Plural Morpheme by Third-Year Students of English in a Nigerian University

The Phenomenon of Abbreviations and Apocopes Through Their Formation Perspective

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