De-Nominal Nominalisers

Abstract

In this chapter, I discuss the semantics of de-nominal nominalisers. More specifically, I discuss the meanings of morphemes and how they combine to form nouns. During the investigation, I examine three tenets of Cognitive Semantics. To that end, I structure the chapter as follows. In section 4.1, I say what a de-nominal suffix is and enumerate the mechanisms that condition its integration with a root to form a noun. I section 4.2, I argue that a de-nominal suffix has a core sense which leads, through extension, to the creation of other peripheral senses. In section 4.3, I argue that the meaning of a de-nominal suffix crucially depends on its function in the domain in which it is embedded. In section 4.4, I argue that although the members of a noun pair are closely related, they do not necessarily have identical meanings. Each represents a different construal. To demonstrate non-synonymy, I resort to their distinctive collocates. This is done by examining actual data offered in the corpus. In section 4.5, I sum up the most important points of the chapter.