The Old English adjectival affixes ful- and -ful: A text-based account on productivity

  1. Mendaza, R.M. 1
  1. 1 Universidad de La Rioja
    info

    Universidad de La Rioja

    Logroño, España

    ROR https://ror.org/0553yr311

Revue:
NOWELE. North Western European Language Evolution

ISSN: 0108-8416

Année de publication: 2014

Volumen: 67

Número: 1

Pages: 77-94

Type: Article

DOI: 10.1075/NOWELE.67.1.04MEN SCOPUS: 2-s2.0-84897666114 GOOGLE SCHOLAR

D'autres publications dans: NOWELE. North Western European Language Evolution

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Résumé

The aim of this article is to measure the indexes of productivity of the prefix ful- and the suffix -ful in Old English adjective formation. This analysis is based on Baayen's framework, which comprises different measures on productivity. The major sources of the analysis are The Dictionary of Old English Corpus and the lexical database of Old English Nerthus. This study of productivity allows for a diachronic perspective on the evolution of these affixes from the Old English period to the present. The main conclusion drawn from this analysis is that the suffix -ful is more productive than its prefixal counterpart, which implies that more productive patterns are still maintained in Present-day English in contradistinction to the less productive ones. © 2014 John Benjamins Publishing Company.