Simultaneous dual derivation in word formation

Abstract

This article explores the nature of morphological categories by examining two of the most ubiquitous denominal adjective types, the possessionat (bearded) and similitudinal ( friendly) adjectives. Sometimes these adjectives are morphologically distinct, sometimes not; compare icy road and icy hand . This suggests that they are related yet not related. Language provides two means of generating these adjectives: TRANSPOSITION, which alters the lexical category of the base but not its grammatical features, and FUNCTIONAL DERIVATION, which alters the latter but not the former. This article shows how both adjectives may be derived simultaneously by both means. In order to understand fully the semantic effect of transposition on the base, it is necessary to clarify the distinction between the morphological and semantic categories involved and to demonstrate the impossibility of reducing either set of categories to the other.

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