Search

MODELLING OF THE FRAGMENT OF THE SEMANTIC FIELD, REPRESENTED BY ABSTRACT NOUNS IN OLD ICELANDIC // Tomsk State Pedagogical University Bulletin. 2021. Issue 4 (216). P. 75-82

Introduction. Over the last decade’s studies on semantics of derivational morphemes have primarily dealt with contemporary language data. The article focuses on a group of Old Icelandic masculine nouns that are formed by means of the derivational suffix -skapr-. The aim is to model a fragment of the semantic field that is represented by the Old Icelandic derivatives with an abstract semantics and marked by the suffix -skapr- . Materials and methods. The source of material for the study is etymological dictionaries of the Old Icelandic language. The corpus of empirical material includes 86 lexical units. The study of the linguistic material draws on the methods of comparison, component and word-formation analysis, methods of etymological analysis, interpretation. Results. The corpus of masculine nouns belonging to the masculine a-declension, derived from nominal stems with the help of the suffix -skapr-, includes 86 units. The conceptual areas, verbalized by derivatives with the suffix under consideration, include designations of personal qualities of a person, character or method of action and its results, designation of specific objects, goods in a collective sense, types of relationships, designation of concepts related to religion, paganism or witchcraft. The most numerous group of designations covers the names of traits or behavior of a person, both encouraged and condemned by the members of society. It has been revealed that the same quality of a person’s character can be verbalized by a series of synonymous derivatives with the suffix -skapr-. Besides, a number of derivatives with the suffix display their syncretic semantics, involving both abstract and concrete meanings. The suffix -skapr- present in the morphological structure of the analyzed derivatives is etymologically related to the independent word skap “species, state”, which goes back to the Proto-Indo-European root *(s)keH. A series of derivatives, built according to the same word-formation type, allows us to consider this type as a separate format for representing knowledge, a kind of mental construct objectified by the suffix. The suffix in this analytic construct functions as a format marker. It is argued that the suffix under analysis marks the format that can be defined as “an abstract entity called by the base, conceived as an independent object in an absolutized form, i.e. in isolation from the real owner of this characteristics”. Conclusion. Derivatives with the word-formation suffix -skapr- represent a whole range of concepts related to the characteristics of a person and his activities. The word-formation suffix functions as a marker of the semantic invariant in the semantic structure of derivatives, which can be viewed as a profile of this word-formation type. The semantic filed indicated by the suffix is of a compositional nature due to the semantics of the components of the suffix itself.

Keywords: Old Icelandic, word-formation, suffix, semantics, abstract nouns

OCCASIONAL WORD-FORMATION TYPES OF ABSTRACT NOUNS IN OLD NORSE // Tomsk State Pedagogical University Bulletin. 2022. Issue 4 (222). P. 15-25

Introduction. This article focuses on studying the functioning of the word-formation system and its components in Old Norse, one of the ancient Germanic languages, on studying the derivational potential of the Old Germanic languages for the production of abstract nouns. The purpose of the article is to describe a fragment of the field of the word-formation category, represented by occasional word-formation types of suffixed abstract nouns in Old Norse. Material and methods. The study draws on an analysis of Old Norse nouns with abstract meanings, marked by derivational suffixes -átta-, -andi-, -erni-, -eskja-, -osta-, -gi- and derived from nominal or verbal stems. The language data resulted from continuous sampling from etymological dictionaries of Old Norse. The analysis of the linguistic material involved using the methods of scientific description, generalization, and interpretation of results, the method of analyzing dictionary definitions, and the method of quantitative calculation. Results and discussion. The group of nouns marked by the Old Norse suffixes -átta-, -andi-, -erni-, -eskja-, -osta-, -gi- represents derivational types from the periphery of the derivational field of abstract nouns and refers to the declension types of feminine nouns in -ōn (derivatives with the suffixes -osta-, -átta-, -eskja-), of feminine nouns in -īn (derivatives with the suffixes -andi-, -gi-), of masculine nouns in -an (derivatives with the suffix -andi-), of neuter nouns in -ia (derivatives with the suffix -erni-). The proportion of lexemes with the analyzed suffixes, which are attested in Old Norse alone, is 2.4 % of the total number of abstract nouns corpus. These suffixes were formed on the basis of the Indo-European suffix morphemes, they were phonetically distinguishable in Old Norse and tended to join adjective or verbal stems to form abstract nouns. The limited number of Old Norse derivatives with these suffixes does not allow us to reveal the thematic profile of each suffix, however, the etymological links of the word-forming morphemes allow us to reveal some motivational features that might have contributed to the formation of the derivational types for the production of nouns with these formants. Conclusion. An analysis of the etymological connections of the Old Norse suffixes of abstract derivatives -átta-, -andi-, -erni-, -eskja-, -osta-, -gi- suggests that the word-formation types with them were included in the process of developing the word-formation category of abstract nouns and reflected results of their approbation.

Keywords: Old Norse, Old Germanic languages, abstract nouns, word-formation, suffix