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Published 2010. Postulated word-formation rules often exclude formations that can nevertheless be found in actual usage. This book presents an in-depth
investigation of a highly heterogeneous word-formation pattern ...
Published 2010. Postulated word-formation rules often exclude formations that can nevertheless be found in actual usage. This book presents an in-depth
investigation of a highly heterogeneous word-formation pattern in English: the formation of nouns by suffixation with -ee.
Rather than relying on a single semantic or syntactic framework for analysis, the study combines diachronic, cognitive and language-contact perspectives in
order to explain the diversity in the formation and establishment of -ee words. It also seeks to challenge previous measurements of productivity and
proposes a new way to investigate the relationship between actual and possible words.
By making use of the largest and most up-to-date electronic corpus - the World Wide Web - as a data source, this research adds substantially to the number
of attested -ee words. It furthermore analyses this word-formation pattern in different varieties of English (British vs. American English; Australian
English). Due to the multiplicity of approaches and analyses it offers, the study is suitable for courses in English word-formation, lexicology, corpus
linguistics and historical linguistics.Hardback
