Abstract
This article explores the manner in which deverbal nominals derived from verbs related to bodily processes manifest themselves within the Generative Lexicon paradigm. The paramount idea is that, the devices found in the lexical semantic structure are more than adequate in explaining the different interpretations of the deverbal nominals, as they are found in different noun classifications. This is illustrated in the article, firstly, by utilising the semantics of noun classes in Proto-Bantu. Secondly, I briefly looked at the typology of deverbal nominals derived from Setswana and isiXhosa to determine any differences in terms of their derivation. Thirdly, I analysed the deverbal nominals using de-compositional lexical semantics.
Highlights
Verbal nominalisation has been the subject of many incisive linguistic enquiries over the years
The analyses presented here is situated in pustejovsky’s (1996) Generative Lexicon theory, the analysis on the semantics of nominals
I have advanced the notion that lexical semantics present devices that can be utilised to explain the interpretation of deverbal nominals derived from bodily process verbs
Summary
Verbal nominalisation has been the subject of many incisive linguistic enquiries over the years. The results of such studies have led to dichotomous scales with binary structures. One structure comprises of derived nominals with verbal characteristics and the other with nominal characteristics. The structural model advances the idea that some nouns contain VPs and/or verbal functional layers. The other paradigm, advances the notion that the verbal properties of deverbal nouns result from the event structure and argument structure of the DPs that they head. Though reference made in regards to the lexical semantic structure of deverbal nominals, emphasis will be on derived nouns with a bias for nominal characteristics. The morpho-syntactic features of nominalisations have been studied since the 1970s (Chomsky 1970; Jackendoff 1975) and others. Chomsky (1970) distinguished two types of nominalisation, lexical and syntactic nominalisation. The pertinent question is, what is nominalisation? The morpho-syntactic features of nominalisations have been studied since the 1970s (Chomsky 1970; Jackendoff 1975) and others. Chomsky (1970) distinguished two types of nominalisation, lexical and syntactic nominalisation. Anyanwu and Omega (2015: 2) describe lexical nominalisation as one of the derivational processes that derive a noun from some other lexical category, typically a verb or adjective
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