Matching productivity indexes and diachronic evolution: The Old English affixesful-, -isc, -cund, and-ful

Abstract

AbstractThis article measures the productivity index of the Old English suffixes-cund, -ful,and-iscas well as the prefixful-and checks the results against the diachronic evolution of the affixes. The frameworks brought to the discussion includeType frequencymeasurement, as well as productivity indexes proposed by Baayen (1992, 1993, 2009) and Trips (2009). The sources are both textual(The Dictionary of Old English Corpus)and lexicographical (the lexical database of Old EnglishNerthus).The conclusion drawn is that Baayen's (1992, 1993, 2002) index ofGlobal Productivityprovides the most consistent results with the diachronic evolution of the affixes.