The zero suffix in English and Italian deverbal nouns
In this paper we bring evidence from English and Italian deverbal zero nominals (to climb > the climb-Ø N) that zero is a possible spell-out of a nominalizer otherwise overtly instantiated in suffixed nominals (examin-ation ). We argue in favor of a Distributed Morphology approach, a separationis...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | deu |
| Published: |
De Gruyter
2023-06-01
|
| Series: | Zeitschrift für Sprachwissenschaft |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1515/zfs-2022-2014 |
| _version_ | 1797806225175347200 |
|---|---|
| author | Iordăchioaia Gianina Melloni Chiara |
| author_facet | Iordăchioaia Gianina Melloni Chiara |
| author_sort | Iordăchioaia Gianina |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this paper we bring evidence from English and Italian deverbal zero nominals (to climb > the climb-Ø
N) that zero is a possible spell-out of a nominalizer otherwise overtly instantiated in suffixed nominals (examin-ation
). We argue in favor of a Distributed Morphology approach, a separationist theory that recognizes and easily implements zero morphology with underlying syntax-semantics. Abstracting away from other theoretical trends and their foundational reasons to refrain from using zero suffixes, we address three properties that have been argued to fundamentally distinguish zero nominals from overtly suffixed nominals, with the implication that they instantiate a different word formation process: i) realization of verbal argument structure, ii) possibility of embedding verbalizing suffixes, and iii) semantic transparency in relation to the verb. By means of corpus data and two manually collected datasets of 561 English and 174 Italian zero nominals based on lexicographic information, we bring solid evidence against these claims, by arguing that: i) a great proportion of zero nominals do realize verbal argument structure, ii) the zero affix may embed verbalizing affixes within the limits of the selectional restrictions it independently imposes on its base, and iii) zero nominals present the same patterns of polysemy that suffixed nominals display. However, we show that zero nominals also present some idiosyncrasies to the extent that not all of them express compositional event readings with argument structure, a matter that deserves further research within the frame of their competition with suffixed nominals. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T06:04:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-44eca5c7ba434c948f66867463a28ba2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0721-9067 1613-3706 |
| language | deu |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T06:04:03Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | De Gruyter |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Zeitschrift für Sprachwissenschaft |
| spelling | doaj.art-44eca5c7ba434c948f66867463a28ba22023-06-12T06:32:02ZdeuDe GruyterZeitschrift für Sprachwissenschaft0721-90671613-37062023-06-0142110913210.1515/zfs-2022-2014The zero suffix in English and Italian deverbal nounsIordăchioaia Gianina0Melloni Chiara1Department of English and American Studies, Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, GermanyDepartment of Cultures and Civilizations, University of Verona, Verona, ItalyIn this paper we bring evidence from English and Italian deverbal zero nominals (to climb > the climb-Ø N) that zero is a possible spell-out of a nominalizer otherwise overtly instantiated in suffixed nominals (examin-ation ). We argue in favor of a Distributed Morphology approach, a separationist theory that recognizes and easily implements zero morphology with underlying syntax-semantics. Abstracting away from other theoretical trends and their foundational reasons to refrain from using zero suffixes, we address three properties that have been argued to fundamentally distinguish zero nominals from overtly suffixed nominals, with the implication that they instantiate a different word formation process: i) realization of verbal argument structure, ii) possibility of embedding verbalizing suffixes, and iii) semantic transparency in relation to the verb. By means of corpus data and two manually collected datasets of 561 English and 174 Italian zero nominals based on lexicographic information, we bring solid evidence against these claims, by arguing that: i) a great proportion of zero nominals do realize verbal argument structure, ii) the zero affix may embed verbalizing affixes within the limits of the selectional restrictions it independently imposes on its base, and iii) zero nominals present the same patterns of polysemy that suffixed nominals display. However, we show that zero nominals also present some idiosyncrasies to the extent that not all of them express compositional event readings with argument structure, a matter that deserves further research within the frame of their competition with suffixed nominals.https://doi.org/10.1515/zfs-2022-2014zero suffixdeverbal nominalsovert suffixesdistributed morphologyenglishitalian |
| spellingShingle | Iordăchioaia Gianina Melloni Chiara The zero suffix in English and Italian deverbal nouns Zeitschrift für Sprachwissenschaft zero suffix deverbal nominals overt suffixes distributed morphology english italian |
| title | The zero suffix in English and Italian deverbal nouns |
| title_full | The zero suffix in English and Italian deverbal nouns |
| title_fullStr | The zero suffix in English and Italian deverbal nouns |
| title_full_unstemmed | The zero suffix in English and Italian deverbal nouns |
| title_short | The zero suffix in English and Italian deverbal nouns |
| title_sort | zero suffix in english and italian deverbal nouns |
| topic | zero suffix deverbal nominals overt suffixes distributed morphology english italian |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1515/zfs-2022-2014 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT iordachioaiagianina thezerosuffixinenglishanditaliandeverbalnouns AT mellonichiara thezerosuffixinenglishanditaliandeverbalnouns AT iordachioaiagianina zerosuffixinenglishanditaliandeverbalnouns AT mellonichiara zerosuffixinenglishanditaliandeverbalnouns |