Abstract
This paper, which falls into the field of derivational morphology, aims to analyse, from the logico-semantic viewpoint, the verbs derived with în– (îm–), excerpted from old Romanian texts. Starting from the assumption that, regardless of the stages of an idiom, there are sufficient means to render some aspects that have to do, in principle, with the internal lexical creativity of that particular language, it is interesting to emphasize the way in which ‘the change of state’ is reflected in old Romanian literary texts. The analysis grids include the semantic and morphological principles—adapted to our working material which consists of a corpus of religious and laic texts from the 16th–18th centuries. Our approach has focused on various possibilities of expressing the ‘transformation’ materialized in the evolutional-dynamic process, taking into account the categorial relations between în– and the bases to which it is attached, and the conceptual values imposed by the mentioned affix on the derived term.
Highlights
We propose a way of approaching în– prefixation that provides the framework for a pertinent analysis in terms of the functioning of word-building rules
According to the two features, three semantic verb classes stand out: 1) ‘state verbs’, characterized by the features of [– change], [– agentivity]: (a) dormi [to sleep], (a) plînge [to cry], învecina [to neighbour], etc.; 2) ‘eventive verbs’, involving the semes [+ change], [– agentivity]: (a) usca [to dry], (a) îmbătrîni [to age], (a) seca [to drain], (a) înflori [to bloom], (a) gazifica [to gasify], etc.; 3) ‘action verbs’, involving the features [+ change], [+ agentivity]: (a) citi [to read], (a) mînca [to eat], (a) alerga [to run], (a) fugi [to flee], etc. This first classification shows that verbs from classes (2) and (3) have the seme [+ change] in common; they differ in point of the semantic feature of agentivity, which characterizes only action verbs
These words derived with în– fall into the general class of parasynthetic denominal verbs
Summary
A detailed analysis of one aspect of prefixation provides important data on the internal organization of a fundamental method of word formation which, as a matter of fact, has proved to be as sinuous a field as fascinating. 5), leading to the establishment of certain categorial relations between affixes and roots and of semantic values influenced by linguistic operations, imposed by those particular rules of lexico-semantic configuration of words In this case, it is a matter of applying the associative-layered model[1] Noun → vb.: curaj [courage] → (a) încuraja [(to) encourage], dreptate [justification] → (a) îndreptăți [(to) justify], floare [flower] → (a) înflori [(to) bloom], frunte [forehead] → (a) înfrunta [(to) confront], etc These categorial relations describe two formation mechanisms of verbs belonging to the semantic class of eventives, namely: a) [prefix în– (îm–) + adjective + suffix –i/–a]: Result: în– + negru [black] + –i > (a) înnegri [(to) blacken]. Wordformation rules cause the reflexive-intransitive nature of verbs indicating the change of state: a înverzi [to green] intransitive reflexive verb ‘a deveni, a se face verde [to become/turn green]’; fig. ‘a deveni palid de frică, de furie [to become pale with anger, fury]’ (dex, s.v. înverzi)
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