Pejorative Suffixes And Combining Forms In English

The book is a research monograph that reviews and revises the concept of linguistic pejoration, and explores the role of 15 suffixes and combining forms, such as -ie, -o, -ard, -holic, -rrhea, -itis, -porn, -ish, in the formation of English pejoratives. The examination of the inner structure of the resulting derivatives is based on an innovative methodology that encompasses the theories and approaches of Construction Morphology, Componential Analysis, and Morphopragmatics. Following the principles of this methodology, pejorative words collected from dictionaries and corpora (a total of approximately 950 words) are abstracted into generalizations (or constructional schemas) where structural and functional similarities are used to cognitively trace the ways in which negative (or derisive) meaning is connected with a specific form. Through this multifaceted methodology, my analysis showcases the fact that the universal properties of ‘diminution’, ‘excess’, ‘resemblance’, and ‘metonymization’ are what underlie the making of pejorative meaning. These generalizations, along with the schematic representations of formatives, can help linguists, or linguistics enthusiasts in general, to understand the conventions and intricacy of lexical pejoration.

This Handbook brings together philosophical work on how language shapes, and is shaped by, social and political factors. Its 24 chapters were written exclusively for this volume by an international team of leading researchers, and together they provide a broad expert introduction to the major issues currently under discussion in this area. The volume is divided into four parts: Part I: Methodological and Foundational Issues Part II: Non-ideal Semantics and Pragmatics Part III: Linguistic Harms Part IV: Applications The parts, and chapters in each part, are introduced in the volume’s General Introduction. A list of Works Cited concludes each chapter, pointing readers to further areas of study. The Handbook is the first major, multi-authored reference work in this growing area and essential reading for anyone interested in the nature of language and its relationship to social and political reality.

Values Across Cultures and Times is a collection of sixteen articles examining the concept of values understood in its broadest sense as the need of the modern man to examine, redefine, and reconstruct previous theories, histories, moralities, social relationships, forms of language and language use. In times of great change, preserving traditional values seems to be particularly difficult, and the authors of these essays respond to the challenge, and approach the notion of changing values from the perspectives of literary studies and linguistics. The book opens with an introductory overview, followed by sixteen articles divided into three sections. The book is aimed at a broad academic audience, while the popular style of the articles also makes the volume appealing to a wider audience interested in different aspects of values. The authors of the articles come from Serbia, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania, and the United States.

This handbook comprises an in-depth presentation of the state of the art in word-formation. The five volumes contain 207 articles written by leading international scholars. The XVI chapters of the handbook provide the reader, in both general articles and individual studies, with a wide variety of perspectives: word-formation as a linguistic discipline (history of science, theoretical concepts), units and processes in word-formation, rules and restrictions, semantics and pragmatics, foreign word-formation, language planning and purism, historical word-formation, word-formation in language acquisition and aphasia, word-formation and language use, tools in word-formation research. The final chapter comprises 74 portraits of word-formation in the individual languages of Europe and offers an innovative perspective. These portraits afford the first overview of this kind and will prove useful for future typological research. This handbook will provide an essential reference for both advanced students and researchers in word-formation and related fields within linguistics.

This book, first published in 1992, is a unique repository of language use from 1941-91.

AFFIX A letter or group of letters added to the beginning or end of a word to get a new word with a changed meaning. Examples – im- in impossible; ntier- in international -able in agreeable; -er in learner English Affixes could be divided into two groups: Prefixes and Suffixes PREFIX A letter or group of letters added to the beginning of a word to get a new word with a changed meaning. Examples – im- in impossible; inter- in international; un- in unaffected SUFFIX A letter or group of letters added to the end of a word to get a new word with a changed meaning. Examples – -able in agreeable; -er in learner; -ness in quickness Sample This: ENGLISH PREFIXES – A a- Used to form: adjectives, adverbs and nouns General meaning: not, without Examples: acellular / amoral / apolitical / atheism / atheist / atypical ****** ad- Used to form: nouns and verbs General meaning: addition, tendency Examples: adjoin / adjudge / admixture ****** ambi- Used to form: adjectives, adverbs and nouns General meaning: both of two Examples: ambidexterity / ambidextrous / ambivalence / ambivalent ****** ante- Used to form: adjectives, nouns and verbs General meaning: prior to; in front of Examples: antedate / antenatal / anterior / ante-room ****** anti- Used to form: adjectives and nouns General meaning: against; the opposite of; preventing Examples: anti-aircraft / anti-bacterial / antibiotic / antibody / anti-choice / anticlerical / anticlimax / anticlockwise / anticoagulant / anti-competitive / anti-copying / anti-corruption / anticyclone / antidepressant / anti-drug / anti-encroachment / anti-extremism / antifreeze / anti-globalization / anti-graft / antigravity / anti-hate / anti-hero / anti-inflammatory / anti-liquor / anti-lock / anti-malarial / anti-national / antioxidant / antiparticle / anti-people / anti-personnel / antiperspirant / anti-poaching / antipyretic / antiretroviral / anti-rowdy / anti-sabotage / antiseptic / antisocial / anti-stalking / antitank / anti-terror / anti-terrorism / anti-theft / antitrust / antiviral / antivirus ****** ENGLISH SUFFIXES – A -able Used to form: adjectives, adverbs and nouns General meaning: that can, should or must be done; having the characteristic of Examples: adaptable / agreeable / amenable / amicable / appreciable / approachable / assessable / avertable / avoidable / believable / breakable / calculable / changeable / chargeable / comfortable / companionable / computable / conceivable / controllable / curable / decipherable / declarable / desirable / detectable / detestable / doable / enjoyable / escapable / excitable / explainable / explicable / exploitable / fashionable / foreseeable / graspable / honorable / imaginable / imperturbable / indubitable / inevitable / justifiable / manageable / moveable / noticeable / observable / payable / pleasurable / portable / preventable / punishable / quantifiable / questionable / ratable / reachable / readable / reasonable / reckonable / recognizable / reliable / reputable / respectable / serviceable / sociable / stoppable / taxable / traceable / transferable / translatable / transportable / understandable / usable / utilizable / variable / washable / wearable / workable ****** -ability Used to form: nouns General meaning: a level of skill, intelligence, etc. Example: capability / curability / excitability / inescapability / inevitability / playability / preventability / serviceability / unavoidability / usability / workability ****** -ably Used to form: adverbs General meaning: skillful and well; in a particular manner Examples: affably / capably / charitably / comfortably / demonstrably / indisputably / inevitably / irritably / notably / noticeably / presumably / probably / reasonably / remarkably ****** -acy Used to form: nouns General meaning: the position, quality, state or status of Examples: accuracy / adequacy / delicacy / democracy / intimacy / primacy / privacy / supremacy ******