Noun Derivations in Kigiryama Using Aronoff’s Word Formation Theory

Abstract

Within the broad field of word formation not only in English but also in other languages, derivation has been observed to be a regular and productive morphological process. Common examples of English derivational patterns and suffixes include –ness which when added to an adjective (slow) changes to a noun (slowness). Derivation that occurs in a noun may be called nominalization and it may involve the use of affixes which include common English examples such as employ employee. However, not much study in derivation has been done in this field particularly in the language in question; Kigiryama.This paper aimed at analyzing Noun derivation in Kigiryama using Aronoff’s Word formation theory and the Extended Level Ordering Hypothesis. Despite the general popularity in current morphological research, it is still an issue of lively debate whether the word is the sole locus of word formation. Shibatani and Kageyama (1988) argue that a new type of noun –verb compound formation is attested in Japanese which involves a sentential structure as its input and presumably takes place in the phonological component. This post syntactic compounding serves to elucidate problems surrounding the delicate and controversial issue of where word formation processes take place. This paper aims at contributing to that debate of whether word formation is word based or morpheme based. This paper while discussing noun derivation within the framework of Aronoff's Word Formation Theory and the Extended level Ordering hypothesis, it also tests the extent to which Aronoff's Word Formation theory (a word based theory) can explain the morphological word formation processes in Kigiryama. This paper was set to address the following objectives:- To identify and describe the noun derivational processes in Kigiryama To formulate the rules governing these processes To assess the extent to which Aronoff’s Word formation Theory and the Extended Level Ordering Hypothesis can account for the noun derivation processes in Kigiryama. The study employed the use of focus group discussions and open ended questions. The focus group discussions (FGDs) comprised of Agiryama males and females aged 18 to 35 years. Data from the FGDs was analyzed transcribed, reviewed and coded to bring meaning and to write the rules of the word formation processes that are stipulated in the objectives of the study. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the application of the theory. The findings of this study show that affixation process in Kigiryama can to a large extent be accounted for within the Word Formation Theory, while compounding can be accounted for within the Extended Level Ordering Hypothesis, and contrary to predictions of Aronoff that word formation rules operate solely over words this is not the case in Kigiryama, that they can operate over morphemes and groups of words like phrases.(e.g the Kigiryama adjective morpheme –ii-) which means ‘wicked’ can be used to formulate the abstract noun uwi which means ‘wickedness’and the compound word mutumui which means ‘a wicked person’.