Tekstynais grindžiamas kuopinių šiuolaikinės lietuvių kalbos daiktavardžių tyrimas

Abstract

In modern Lithuanian, word formation, especially suffixation, is one of the most important methods to include new words in dictionaries. Yet, not every word formation category is as abundant and relevant as the others. One of the most controversial ones is nouns with collective meaning. In Lithuanian, they are characterized by modification formation; also, they compete with the plural form of nouns; therefore, they are sometimes considered redundant and unnecessary. However, it has been noticed that neologisms with this meaning still appear. In order to find out the actual usage of collective nouns, the online Lithuanian corpus “Lithuanian Web 2014 (ltTenTen2014)” has been analysed; 130 nouns with collective meaning have been selected for the study. They are divided into collective names for live objects and non-live objects, and the latter are divided even further. The analysis has shown that although the formation of collective names is not very intensive, it is still active, and this is confirmed by neologisms that have not been found in dictionaries. A rather large part of derivatives are derived from suffixed or compound root words, some are of mixed origins, and in some cases, the root word is not used in the standard language. The semantic study of collective names has revealed that these derivatives are characterised by lexical diversity; the most abundant group is the one designating an uncountable and indivisible entirety of persons. Competition with the plural form of nouns may be based on the fact that collective names are often formed in an informal discourse and with a purpose to create a stylistic tone and convey emotional assessment, which is often critical, ironic, or sarcastic if not altogether negative.