Abstract
To what extent can we formalize the pragmatic features of ‘ re-words’ in English? The present paper examines the reductionist claim that the acceptability or otherwise of ‘ re-words’ is due to some unique pragmatic property of the base verbs that enter into the word formation process. The paper points out the problems of such an approach. It is argued that many historical and synchronic factors have a bearing on the creation and use of ‘ re-words’. The method of reduction by formalization should therefore be used as a heuristic rather than as an end in itself. What emerges from the present study is a broad pragmatic landscape that resists semanticization. A certain inchoateness thus seems to be inevitable in the study of ‘ re-words’.
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