Chapter 10
Analogy and contrast at the morphology-syntax interface
A case study of new Russian [N[N]] compounds
This chapter brings together the issues of analogy and contrast through a perspective of linguistic
borrowing. We analyze the integration of new [N[N]] compounds, borrowed from English into Russian (e.g.
top-igrok ‘top player’). By discussing two corpus studies and two small experiments, we show that
Russian new [N[N]] compounds reflect both “levelling” and “extension”. There are at least three factors that can block
“leveling”: statistical preemption, which is overridden by pragmatic factors; multiplicity of competing alternatives,
when several suffixes could be added to the stem to form a relational adjective; and semantics that leads to a split
between the two forms. Compound modifiers seem to represent terms and official titles, whereas adjective phrases
become qualitative, where possible, or pragmatic.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Analogy and contrast and adjacent linguistic processes
- 3.Analogy effects in Russian [N[N]] compounds
- 3.1“Levelling”: [N[N]] compounds vs. adjective phrases
- 3.2“Extension”: Contracted pattern in experimental data
- 4.Contrast effects in Russian [N[N]] compounds
- 4.1Contrast between [N[N]] compounds and appositions
- 4.2Contrast between [N[N]] compounds and adjective phrases
- 4.2.1Variation between [N[N]] compounds and adjective phrases in the internet corpus
- 4.2.2Variation between [N[N]] compounds and adjective phrases in a linguistic experiment
- 5.Conclusions
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Notes
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References
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Appendix