-1I) Laurie Bauer: Lexical Change in Watching English Change (1994)
THE SUFFIX -EE (THE DEVELOPMENT of ITS USE)
LEXICAL CHANGE IN THE 20th CENTURY (in general):
Functions of -ee:
*the problem of methodology: Lexical change is, by its very nature,
unsystematic = difficult to grasp, identify, analyse, classify. However,
lexical change and innovation is a widespread phenomenon. How to find
generalities and reproducible results?
*direct object (appointee)
*indirect/prepositional object (payee)
*subject (absentee)
*none of these
*the experiment: every 5th word taken from The Supplement of the Oxford
English Dictionary (1972 – 86). The words were only chosen among those
that fulfilled the following conditions:
a)not being an addition to the entry in the first edition of the Oxford
English Dictionary
b)not being spelled in exactly the same way as a word already listed in
OED 1
→ a list of 2078 words which were divided into 3 groups established on
political grounds:
1880 – 1913; 1914 – 1938; 1939 – 1982: the 3 samples compared with
regards to 2 different dimensions:
1) English resources versus borrowings
2) types of formation in new words coined from English resources
see table 2.3 + table 2.5 + compare the data:
1) see table 2.1
*increase in the number of words created from English resources
*decrease in loans (especially from French and Latin – the main donors of
the past seem to be rejected in the course of the 20th century)
They overnighted in Budapest instead of They stayed overnight in Budapest.
2) see table 2.2
*increase in abbreviations and blends
*decrease in suffixation and neo-classical compounds (the fall of
suffixation is the most obvious in absolute numbers, however, it still
remains the most productive type)
*decrease in object of a preposition -ee words
*increase in subject –ee words
*the use of –ee words for denoting inanimate entities = a late 20th century
phenomenon (beginning in 1970s)
II) Raymond Hickey: Tracking lexical change in present-day English
A paper concerned with CONVERSION/ZERO DERIVATION
+
above all UNIVERBATION = structures consisting of several words are
reduced to one (f. ex. a verbal phrase is reduced to one word):
In Hickey´s paper, UNIVERBATION also denotes a more general
structural shift/tendency in the language by which phrases are reduced to
single words (verbs, nouns or adjectives).
Hickey uses the term UNIVERBATION as a term for DIRECT SWITCH
from verbal phrase to single word (otherwise, the term is sometimes used
to denote the phenomenon of words gradually losing their semantic profile
+ their phonetic form being gradually reduced → their finally turning into
bound morphemes, such as OE dóm = individual word meaning decree,
judgement → PdE: suffix indicating status or quality)
-2UNIVERBATION, as defined above = a part of a long-term typological
shift in English (a follow-up to the shift from synthetic to analytic).
The data used in Hickey´s analysis are oral + from the media in general
sense (news reports, talk-shows, political commentaries and the like) +
concerns British English, Irish English and American English
Distinction between:
*premeditated speech (univerbation is, to a certain extent, part of
professional jargon – the journalese) versus spontaneous speech (important
as it points to the unconscious linguistic behaviour of speakers)
Types of UNIVERBATION:
1) verbal phrase → verb
How about detailing the measures you would take?
How about giving details about the measures you would take?
2) noun → verb / classical conversion
We interface with the students on a number of levels.
interface (n.)
3) verbal phrase → noun
A get-out clause.
You can still get out of the contract.
Cases where the noun has the shape of a deverbal formation but there is no source verbal
phrase:
The run-up to the election.
They ran up to the election. (non-existent)
+ Cases where one might reconstruct a hypothetical source verbal phrase which, however,
would have a different meaning than the “resulting” noun: a run- out is not necessarily
derived from to run out
4) verbal or prepositional phrase → adjective
The better suburbs constitute a gated community.
The better suburbs constitute a community which lives behind the gates.
This type of UNIVERBATION often leads to the creation of compound
adjectives (such as in: The vehicle is wheelchair- accessible.). Generally, the
tendency is not to use a compound adjective where the elements of the
source phrase are clear: buying public and not goods-buying public
It is not rare that an adjective resulting from a reduction of a verbal phrase
appears in predicative position:
Most of the kids are unstructured during the summer holidays.
Most of the kids have no structure to their lives during the summer holidays.
*semantic extension:
1) They lead unstructured lives. (attributive adj + noun)
2) Their lives are unstructured. (noun + predicative adj)
3) They are unstructured. (predicative adj only)
Semantic extension can lead to overburdening of certain converted
adjectives → contextualisation necessary:
A Saturday special. (offer, party, disco, meal, etc.)
Can you give me your empties? (bottles, paper cups, etc.)
Such reductions seem to survive and become fixed expressions only when
the contextualisation is unambiguous, i.e., the context in which the
expression normally occurs does not give rise to misunderstanding: royals the members of the royal family; wrinklie – an old person; wheelie – wheelie bin
Certain adjectives show 2 contexts + the context varies even across
Anglophone countries:
primary (school in UK) versus primary (election in the US)
Motivations for UNIVERBATION:
*adjective + noun → adjective (ellipsis): the clarity of the context (the
noun is unnecessary)
*verbal phrase → verb
-31) achieving directness, conciseness (especially relevant with regards to
such jargons as journalese + a feature of colloquial/informal style) as an
opposition to circumlocution (also a frequent and useful strategy in
communication)
2) increasing subjective perspective
There is a general tendency of structures to show an increase in
subjectification over time: “while” used to have a purely temporal
reference (OE whilum = at times), later it acquired the concessive meaning
(While she is interested in teaching, she wants to become a doctor.)
*example from a TV talk-show:
Oprah:
Dorothy:
Oprah:
Dorothy:
So you had a light-bulb experience for yourself too.
Yeah, yeah, I did.
Really, you light-bulbed yourself?
Sure, I light-bulbed suddenly in the car on the way to work...
Hickney´s conclusion = The types and cases of univerbation are not
simply irrelevant temporary accidental formations and should not be
dismissed as such. They are established by speakers of English and thus in
accordance with the typological possibilities of English – they fit “the
genius of the language”, that is, they fit well into the analytical character of
English (flexibility in word-class shift).
My conclusion:-) = a resuming list of the basic tendencies of 20th century
English as suggested in the two papers:
*decrease in loanwords + increase in English sources coining
*decrease in suffixation
*increase in abbreviations + blends
*the rise of univerbation + subjective perspective