ANALISI LINGUISTICA - ESAME LINGUISTICA INGLESE, Guide, Progetti e Ricerche di Linguistica Inglese

Scarica ANALISI LINGUISTICA - ESAME LINGUISTICA INGLESE e più Guide, Progetti e Ricerche in PDF di Linguistica Inglese solo su Docsity!  Where and when you came across them and the sentence in which you found them; • what you thought they meant and what they actually mean; • the means of lexeme formation used to create them. Please be as accurate as possible, in particular if dealing with compounding; UNEARTHLY  Date: February 6th.  Where I came across it: I read it in Robert Frost’s poetry; in the poem “Acquainted With The Night”.  Utterance: Line 11 (12-13): “And further still at an unearthly height. One luminary clock against the sky Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right”.  What I thought it meant: unnatural; not terrestrial.  Definition: Based on Oxford English Dictionary (OED): 1. out of the ordinary; seeming not to belong to this earth or world (Collins Dictionary). 2. Very strange, unnatural, and frightening (Oxford dictionary). (Definition in American English, since the author of the poem is from USA).  Analysis:  ADJECTIVE  The word "unearthly" is derived through the process of affixation, where both prefixation and suffixation are involved. The root of this word is earth, which is a noun, and which serves as the core lexical unit. The two affixes are “un-” and “-ly” (bound morphemes) (while earth is a free/lexical morpheme): the suffix –ly of this word is an adjectival suffix and it is utilized to form an adjective (earthly) from a noun denoting “the quality of it” or, in this case, with the meaning of "appropriate to, fitting, suited to". Whereas the prefix un- is a negative affix and it is used to add the meaning “not” or “absence of a quality” to its base). This prefix adds the meaning of negation, implying something that is not related to or characteristic of the earth. The word undergoes the word formation processes of DERIVATION, so both affixes are derivational: the suffix "-ly" is added to the root "earth" to form the derived word "earthly". This process is derivation as it creates a new word with a different meaning and a different grammatical category (from a N to an ADJ). The prefix un- is also derivational since the result is a new word/lexeme with a different meaning of its base (/semantic change). The process occurred in this word is firstly the suffix –ly adding to the root for turning it into an adjective, then is followed by the prefix un- to give negative meaning. (un + earthly)  Earth is the FREE ROOT to the derivational affix -ly and earthly is the BASE to the derivational affix un-. (tree*).  Earth, earthly and unearthly  they are lexemes of the same word family or derivational paradigm, since they all are part of the set of related lexemes. WRETCHEDNESS Date: February 14th. Where I came across it: Soren Kierkegaard (1959); “Either/ Or”) Utterance: "Knowledge of the truth I may perhaps have attained to; happiness certainly not. What shall I do? Accomplish something in the world, men tell me. Shall I then publish my grief to the world, contribute one more proof for the wretchedness and misery of existence, perhaps discover a new flaw in human life, hitherto unnoticed? I might then reap the rare reward of becoming famous, like the man who discovered the spots on Jupiter. I prefer, however, to keep silent." (Soren Kierkegaard (1959); “Either/ Or”) What I thought it meant: torment and agony. Definition: Based on Cambridge Dictionary: 1. The state of being unpleasant or of low quality. 2. The feeling of being ill or very unhappy. Analysis:  Uncountable NOUN  The word wretchedness consists of three morphemes, namely wretch as free morpheme and –ed and - ness as bound morphemes. The root of this word is wretch, a noun that serves as the core lexical unit, meaning “an unfortunate, despicable, pitied person” (Collins Dictionary). The word is derived through the process of affixation (in the modality of suffixation) by adding two suffixes to the base: the first suffix that attaches to the root is -ed, which works as adjectival suffix since it is added to a noun to form the adjective wretched, denoting “someone or something as having that particular feature”. The word formation process described is DERIVATIONAL, as it creates a new word and as it is class- changing. The second suffix that attaches to the base is -ness, and affix from Old English -nes(s)), included on the semantic category of abstract affixes, that usually denotes action, quality, or state and, in this case, it indicates “the state of being wretched”. This second process is a derivational one as well: the suffix is attached to an adjective to form an abstract noun and the result is a totally new lexeme. We can therefore say that wretch is the FREE ROOT to the derivational affix -ed and wretched is the BASE to the derivational affix -ness. (tree*). Here we can also notice that the specimen undergoes derivational processes, but the grammatical category of the root and the derived word remains the same N N. Analysis: The word hippogriff is formed through the major lexeme formation process of compounding as it is a lexical unit consisting of more than one base and functioning both grammatically and semantically as a single word. Therefore, the specimen is a compound word formed by combining the two independent roots hippo- and -griff. The (bound) root hippo- is derived from the Greek word hippos meaning “horse” while the root -griff stands for the English word griffin which is derived from the Latin word gryphus, meaning “the mythological creature of a hybrid between an eagle head and a lion”. From a morphological perspective, it is a nominal compound, as it belongs to the category of nouns, and it is formed by noun + noun . It is a primary compound since it is made up of two roots in which there are neither derived verbs nor their arguments. From a semantic point of view, it can be classified as an endocentric coordinative compound: it is coordinative since there is no modification, but the two roots have equal semantic weight. And it is endocentric since the referent of the compound is the same as the referent of its head.  *combination of two free forms, or words that have an otherwise independent existence!!  Due note sulle basi: Griff would therefore be a short of griffin (clipping), and then compounded with the borrowed word hippo. This illustrates the difficulties when analyzing a word formation process; they can contain several processes in one. Even though it has features from loan, clipping and neoclassical compounds, Hippogriff is categorized as a compound since this is its final process.  Compounding (but also: ABB.CLIPPING + BORROWING + BLENDING)  Neoclassical compound: compounds made up of bound roots, usually derived from Greek and Latin. (These forms are not free forms, i.e. they cannot occur in an independent form)// One initial element cannot stand on its own but together with a final combining form it makes a new word. It is an example of initial combining form as the hippo- occurs in initial position. Hippo-  a combining form appearing in loanwords from Greek, where it meant “horse”  Orthographic Realization: SOLID SPELLING  no separation = And its orthographic realization solid spelling since there is neither separation or hyphenation.  *nota: parola inventata da Ariosto  * vertical  no hypo hyper but same // 5. SALESMANSHIP SALE-S-MAN: The word salesman is formed through the major lexeme formation process of compounding as it is a lexical unit consisting of two bases and functioning both grammatically and semantically as a single word. Therefore, the word is a compound formed by combining the two independent roots sale and man. Where the meaning of sale is “the activity or process of selling” and man refers to “an adult human male”. These words create a new lexeme which meaning is --. Note: there is another process within the one of compounding.  The word sale undergoes a process of affixation as the bound morpheme -s is added to the free stem sale to indicate the plural form of the word. This is an inflectional process as the result (sales) is a different word-form of the same lexeme: it adds grammatical meaning without varying the meaning of the base. From a morphological perspective, the word salesman is a nominal compound, as it belongs to the category of nouns and it is, in turn, formed by two nouns (N+N). Moreover, it is a primary compound since it is made up of two roots in which there are neither derived verbs nor their arguments. And its orthographic realization is solid spelling since there is neither separation nor hyphenation. The head of the compound is man, whereas the word sales is the modifier of the head. Therefore, the compound is right-headed since it is the second base the element that determines the grammatical and semantic category of the compound as a whole. Moreover, from a semantic point of view, it can be classified as an endocentric attributive compound. It is attributive because the non-head sales modifies and describes the head man in terms of its attributes or characteristics: it denotes his occupation or role indicating that the man is involved in sales-related activities. And it is endocentric because the referent of the compound is the same as the referent of its head and the compound word is a hyponym/subtype of the head (in fact man is the hypernym of salesman). 6. EX-BEATBOXERS Definition: Based on Cambridge dictionary a beatboxer is defined as: 1. “a person who uses his or her mouth and voice to make sounds like a drum machine (= an electronic machine that produces drum sounds)”. 2. “someone who beatboxes”. So, an ex-beatboxer is a person that is no longer a beatboxer, meaning it does not perform as professional anymore. Analysis:  Beatbox  base (compounding) + -er (derivational) + ex- (derivational) + -s (inflectional) The word ex-beatboxers is created through several lexeme formation processes, which are compounding, affixation (derivational and inflectional), conversion. We can start stating that the word is a noun formed by the three bound morphemes ex-, -er and -s plus its base beatbox, which is a compound word made up of the two roots beat and box. So the first major word formation process involved is compounding. According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, the first know use of this compound is in the form of noun and with the meaning of “electronic device that adds a backbeat, manipulates sounds, and mimics musical instruments”. So, if we analyze the word as a noun and in terms of compounding: it is a nominal compound formed by two nouns, it is a primary compound, and its orthographic realization is solid spelling. The head is box whereas beat is the modifier of the head. Therefore, the compound is right-headed since it is the second base the element that determines the grammatical and semantic category of the compound as a whole. From a semantic point of view, it can be classified as an exocentric attributive compound. It is exocentric because the referent of the compound is not the same as the one of the head box. It denotes “an electronic machine that produces drum sound” while the head denotes a “container”. Moreover, a beatbox is not exactly a hyponymy of box. Though we analysed the compound as a noun, the base of our specimen is in the form of verb, namely, the intransitive verb to beatbox denoting the action of “vocally imitating percussion sounds and of performing beatboxing”. Here we have an example of the wfp of conversion or functional shift from noun to verb (N  V): the noun beatbox shifts to the grammatical category of verb. The meaning of the new lexeme is not that predictable, though it can be expressed, in this case, as “the act of imitating the sound created by N”. Furthermore, note that also the base beat is an example of conversion/ zero derivation: in this case the V was transformed into a N, and the meaning of the new word is “an instance of V”. From a morphological perspective, the word painstaking is a compound adjective, formed by a plural noun (pains) plus a verb in present participle (taking). As it contains a present participle form in -ing our specimen can be classified under the category of Participial compound adjectives: a specific formation where the right-hand constituent (the head) is an -ing form of a verb preceded by a noun as a left-hand constituent. (N + V-ing). Moreover, it is a synthetic compound, where the V taking is preceded by a left-hand constituent that fulfils the function of an argument of such verb, in our case, take is transitive verb and the left-hand constituent pains represent the direct object of the verb: “something or someone who takes pains” in the figurative meaning of “taking careful and attentive effort towards the accomplishment of something”. And its orthographic realization is solid spelling since there is neither separation nor hyphenation. Finally, from a semantic point of view, it can be classified as an exocentric subordinative compound. It is exocentric or headless compound as it is characterised by having no head constituent and, since no formal head can be identified, the lexical category of the compound is not determined by any of the constituents. However, it is important to underline that the head is not actually non-existing, but it is somehow recovered outside the compound. So, from a semantic point of view, the compound adjective painstaking specifies a property, or a characteristic possessed by an unexpressed head-noun that in our case/utterance it is the word “precision”: … a painstaking precision. 9.QUIXOTIC Date: Where I came across it: Daniel Wallace, The Kings and Queens of Roam Utterance: “He believed in himself, believed in his quixotic ambition, letting the failures of the previous day disappear as each new day dawned. Yesterday was not today. The past did not predict the future if he could learn from his mistakes.” What I thought it meant: adventure (at the beginning I did not notice that it was referring to Don Quixote, because it was without the capital letter and written with the English spelling and not as Quijote. Definition: MW: idealistic and utterly impractical; especially: marked by rash lofty romantic ideas or chivalrous action doomed to fail. *more definitions Collins. Analysis: The word quixotic is formed through the minor lexeme formation process of coinage, it is in fact created by inventing a totally new word. In our specimen, the word quixotic comes from the word Quixote, referring to Don Quixote, the hero of Miguel de Cervantes' 17th-century Spanish novel “El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha”. Don Quixote is known for his idealism and impractical pursuits, so the adjective based on his name is used for/came to be used to/ describe individuals or actions that are similarly idealistic, romantic, or impractical. The coinage quixotic can be classified as an eponym as it is a new invented word created by using the name of a person, typically a person who became well-known or famous for a particular characteristic, action, or creation, which is, in this case, the hero and main character of Cervantes’ novel. From a morphological point of view, the root of the adjective is Quixote whereas the bound morpheme -ic is used as derivational adjectival suffix. It is added to the nominal root to form an adjective denoting “the quality of the noun”. The process is class-changing and meaning-changing so it is derivational as a new lexeme is created. 10.SHEROES Date: Where I came across it: In Forbes’ article “What a 13-year-old taught me about being a shero” by Mary Ellen Dugan. Utterance: “I celebrate Women’s History Month this year with a renewed optimism for the future. I truly believe more sheroes will continue to emerge, and someday we might not even need the term at all. In the meantime, I personally pledge to thank the sheroes in my life, to mirror their character and actions, and to think of today as Day One of a new celebration”. What I thought it meant: no clue Definition: Based on MW “a woman regarded as a hero”. It is also recorded in the Urban Dictionary with the meaning of “a woman or man who supports women's rights and respects women's issues”. Analysis: She + hero = shero + -es Abbreviation, blending, affixation (inflection) The word shero is a noun in its plural form, and it is a colloquial term used to describe a female hero or a woman who is admired for her exceptional qualities, accomplishments, or acts of bravery. The word formation process involved in creating the lexeme shero is abbreviation, a general process that involves some type of reduction or shortening of the base of a word. In our case, the specific operation is blending as we have the formation of a word shero from a sequence of two bases, she and hero, with reduction of one or both at the boundary between them. The first part of the blend is the personal pronoun she, which refers to “a female person”, while the second part of the blend is the noun hero which refers to “someone who is admired for their courageous qualities, often associated with acts of bravery or heroism”. In our specimen there is a peculiarity: the two forms she and hero overlap as the central part is common in the first and second bases. So, we cannot say whether the clipping happens in the first base or in the second, but we can state that at least one constituent lacks some of its phonological material, in this case, - he-, therefore it is an instance of blending. We can also notice that blend-creation somehow implies the two processes of clipping and compounding. Finally, the word we considered sheroes undergoes a process of affixation: the bound morpheme -es is added as inflexional suffix to the free stem shero to form the plural. This is an inflectional process as the result is a different word-form of the same lexeme: it adds grammatical meaning (plural) without varying the meaning of the base.