Word-Building Type as a Functional Unit of the Lexical System of the Russian Language in the Aspect of Quantitative Derivatology

Abstract

The author chose to look for explanatory functional models of word formation not outside, but inside the language system, i.e., in its lexical and syntactic subsystems. The research used Runet search engines to identify the quantitative patterns of the Russian word-formation system, namely the word-formation type as its central unit. The quantitative characteristics of the word reflect its speech use and thus can serve as research method. The word-formation type appeared to combine derived lexical units with different quantitative potentials, i.e., unequal frequency. This phenomenon is a factor of the functional stratification of the word-formation type. The study revealed the patterns of this stratification. The quantitative study of Russian substantive derivatives and their use in speech proved the effectiveness of the applied approach in identifying the functional and semantic variability within the corresponding word-formation types. Internet statistics made it possible to give a quantitative description of the lexical implementation of word-formation types, as well as word nests and paradigms, and to project their potential into their internal characteristics.