Meaning predictability and conversion

Abstract

The article examines the role of conceptual fields and semantic relations in predicting the meaning of novel context-free converted words. To this end, it addresses three basic questions: first, whether there are prediction-related regularities between objects falling within a particular conceptual field (and the corresponding names for these objects) and the general semantic relations between converting and converted naming units; second, whether there are prediction-related associations between a particular conceptual field and the Predictability Rate (PR) and the Objectified Predictability Rate (OPR) of most predictable readings of novel conversions; third, whether there is any association between the semantic fields and the PR and OPR values within selected conceptual fields. A sample of six conceptual fields is considered, looking at lexicographic evidence and speaker competence (native and non-native). The findings suggest that some conceptual fields show semantic relation regularities in actual conversions while others do not, and that the semantic regularities of potential conversions tend to match those of actual conversions.