Directionality in cross-categorial derivations

Abstract

What exactly is the relationship between the verb hammer and the noun hammer? Is one derived from the other, are both derived from a common source, and how can we tell? This article provides an overview of recent generative approaches to derivational directionality and reviews the different kinds of answers given to such questions, considering the diachrony and synchrony of deverbal nouns, deadjectival and denominal verbs, and similar forms. We critically survey the main empirical points argued for in different languages and evaluate the different analyses that have been proposed. We highlight where progress has been made and what open questions still remain, proposing that formal accounts can be seen as implementing one of two concrete processes, which we term Affix Imposition and Root Augmentation.