Ô³ëîëîã³÷í³ íàóêè/3. Òåîðåòè÷í³ òà ìåòîäîëîã³÷í³ ïðîáëåìè äîñë³äæåííÿ ìîâè.
Ëîïàòíþê
Íàä³ÿ Âàñèë³âíà.
×åðí³âåöüêèé íàö³îíàëüíèé óí³âåðñèòåò, Óêðà¿íà
Semantic
and quantitative characteristics of agentive suffix
in fictional discourse
During
the recent years increased the interest to the discourse study and everything connected with it.
This
article focuses on the investigation of the agentive suffixes in fictional
discourse. The subject of the research is 913 words formed by means of
suffixation, which were selected from the book “Short stories” by o’Henry. It
was found out that almost 20% of those words are the nouns formed by means of
the agentive suffixes.
An agentive
ending in the English language is the use of the suffix -er, -or,
-ist, or some
other suffix at the end of a word in order to create a noun meaning
"someone/something that does the action expressed by the root word”.
Besides, it may also have a meaning “someone/something that is connected in
some way with the meaning expressed by the root word." Examples include driver
(from drive), elevator (from elevate), correspondent (from correspond) and theorist
(from theory).
In the
course of the research, we have investigated all the semantic meanings of the
suffixes, and their percent correlation in fictional discourse.
The
results of the investigation are given in the table billow.
Table 1. Semantic function of
agentive suffix in fictional discourse
|
Agentive suffix |
Word-forming meaning |
Examples |
General number |
Number of new words |
% |
|
-er |
One that performs a specified action |
Lover, writer, bartender |
65 |
19 |
35.71 |
|
One associated with/involved in |
Counter, customer |
19 |
5 |
10.43 |
|
|
One that is |
Stranger |
1 |
1 |
0.55 |
|
|
-man
|
One, esp. masculine one, who
performs some function |
Policeman, gentleman |
29 |
8 |
15.93 |
|
-ess |
One that is feminine |
Heiress, goddess |
17 |
3 |
9.34 |
|
-or |
One that performs a specified
action |
Conductor,
elevator |
10 |
4 |
5.49 |
|
-ette |
Diminutive;
small |
Cigarette, statuette |
9 |
6 |
4.95 |
|
-ism |
Action,
process |
Journalism |
1 |
1 |
0.55 |
|
Characteristic
quality |
Pessimism, vernalism |
3 |
3 |
1.65 |
|
|
Doctrine,
system of principles |
Diabolism |
1 |
1 |
0.55 |
|
|
Distinctive/ characteristic
trait |
Vulgarism |
1 |
1 |
0.55 |
|
|
-ian/ician |
One
relating to, resembling of |
Pompeian,
Italian |
5 |
5 |
2.75 |
|
One who practices; specialist |
Politician |
1 |
1 |
0.55 |
|
|
-ee |
One that
benefits or receives from a specified action |
Devotee |
1 |
1 |
0.55 |
|
One that
performs some action |
Repartee,
entree |
3 |
2 |
1.65 |
|
|
-ist |
One that
produces, plays, or is connected with a specified thing |
Druggist,
pugilist |
3 |
2 |
1.65 |
|
A specialist in a specified skill |
Automobilist
|
1 |
1 |
0.55 |
|
|
An adherent of a specified theory |
Theorist |
1 |
1 |
0.55 |
|
|
One that is characterized by a
specific trait or quality |
Pessimist |
2 |
1 |
1.1 |
|
|
-ant |
Performing or causing a specified
action |
Descendant,
occupant |
3 |
2 |
1.65 |
|
-ent |
One that performs, promotes a specified
action |
Precedent,
correspondent |
2
|
2 |
1.1 |
|
-ine |
One that is feminine |
Heroine |
2 |
1 |
1.1 |
|
-ter |
Performing a specific action |
Laughter |
1 |
1 |
0.55 |
|
-eer |
One associated with or concerned
with |
Engineer |
1 |
1 |
0.55 |
|
182 |
73 |
100 |
It is possible to see that not all the varieties of
agentive suffix are used in this type of discourse. Among all of them the
suffix –er is the most productive. This suffix is also the most
productive of all the known English agentive suffixes. The agentive suffixes –ist
and –ism have more semantic functions than the other ones.
Summarizing this investigation, we can draw the
following conclusions:
a) not all the agentive suffixes may be used in one
type of discourse;
b) agentive suffix –er is far more productive
that the other agentive suffixes in English;
c) the productiveness of the suffix does not influence
its semantic functions in the discourse;
d) the correlation between the general number of the
words formed by means of the agentive suffixes
and the number of only the new words formed the same way is 2.5:1.
Literature:
1. Âðàáåëü Ò.Ò.
Ôóíêö³îíóâàííÿ ñóô³êñàëüíèõ ³ëîêóòèâ³â ó ìîâëåííºâèõ àêòàõ ð³çíèõ ïðàãìàòè÷íèõ
òèï³â/ Ïðîáëåìè ðîìàíî-ãåðìàíñüêî¿ ô³ëîëî㳿. Çá³ðíèê íàóêîâèõ ïðàöü. –
Óæãîðîä: Ïàòåíò, 2003. – Ñ. 46-59.
2. Ëÿøèíà À.Ò. Äåÿê³
êâàíòèòàòèâí³ õàðàêòåðèñòèêè ôóíêö³îíóâàííÿ ñóô³êñàö³¿ â ñó÷àñí³é àíãë³éñüê³é
ìîâ³/Ïðîáëåìè ðîìàíî-ãåðìàíñüêî¿ ô³ëîëî㳿. Çá³ðíèê íàóêîâèõ ïðàöü. – Óæãîðîä:
˳ðà, 2004. – Ñ. 78-85.
Data base:
1. http://dictionary.reference.com/
2. http://www.allwords.com/