Abstract
A distinction is drawn between two classes of denominal verbs, and four experiments examine the effects of this distinction on the production and comprehension of denominalizations.Rule-derived (RD) denominals are formed from nouns belonging to semantic categories whose members share the same meaning when they are used as verbs. For instance, denominal verbs formed from vehicles generally mean “to travel/convey byx,” wherex represents the specific vehicle. In contrast,idiosyncratically derived (ID) denominals are drawn from categories whose members possess diverse meanings when they are used as verbs. Thus,to fish means “to try to catch fish,” whereasto dog means “to chase tirelessly.” Because the verb meanings of rule-derived terms are relatively predictable, they might be more easily produced and understood. Experiments 1 and 2 show that speakers are more likely to select RD terms for denominalization and are faster at creating denominal uses for RD terms. Experiments 3 and 4 show that RD denominals are rated as easier to understand than ID denominals, and that they are interpreted more uniformly across readers. The Discussion considers pragmatic accounts of the results, the theoretical basis for the distinction between RD and ID terms, and the more general point that experimental methods can be used to study creative uses of language.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Battig, W. F., &Montague, W. E. (1969). Category norms for verbal items in 56 categories: A replication of the Connecticut category norms.Journal of Experimental Psychology,80, (3, Pt. 2).
Bauer, L. (1983).English word-formation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Clark, E. V. (1982). The young word maker: A case study of innovation in the child’s lexicon. In E. Wanner & L. Gleitman (Eds.),Language acquisition: The state of the art (pp. 390–425). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Clark, E. V. (1983). Meanings and concepts. In P. Mussen (Ed.),Manual of child psychology (Vol. 3, pp. 787–840). New York: Wiley.
Clark, E. V., &Clark, H. H. (1979). When nouns surface as verbs.Language,55, 767–811.
Fowler, C. A., &Housum, J. (1987). Talkers signaling of “new” and “old” words in speech and listeners’ perception and use of the distinction.Journal of Memory & Language,26, 489–504.
Francis, W. N., &Kučera, H. (1982).Frequency analysis of English usage: Lexicon and grammar. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin.
Grice, H. P. (1975). Logic and conversation. In P. Cole & J. L. Morgan (Eds.),Syntax and semantics: Vol. 3. Speech acts (pp. 41–58). New York: Academic Press.
Kelly, M. H. (1988). Phonological biases in grammatical category shifts.Journal of Memory & Language,27, 343–358.
Kelly, M. H. (1992). Using sound to solve syntactic problems: The role of phonology in grammatical category assignments.Psychological Review,99, 349–364.
Levelt, W. J. M. (1989).Speaking: From intention to articulation. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Mervis, C. B., Catlin, J., &Rosch, E. (1976). Relationships among goodness-of-example, category norms, and word frequency.Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society,7, 283–284.
Sherman, D. (1975). Noun-verb stress alternation: An example of lexical diffusion of sound change.Linguistics,159, 43–71.
Smith, E. E., &Medin, D. L. (1981).Categories and concepts. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Tourangeau, R., &Sternberg, R. J. (1981). Aptness in metaphor.Cognitive Psychology,13, 27–55.
Tourangeau, R., &Sternberg, R. J. (1982). Understanding and appreciating metaphors.Cognition,11, 203–244.
Webster’s ninth new collegiate dictionary. (1986). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This research was supported by NIH Grant 1 R29 HD23385, awarded to the author.
—Accepted by previous editor, Geoffrey R. Loftus
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kelly, M.H. Rule- and idiosyncratically derived denominal verbs: Effects on language production and comprehension. Mem Cogn 26, 369–381 (1998). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03201147
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03201147