WORD FORMATION: CONVERSION • the process of forming new words of a different part of speech without adding any derivative element • zero derivation • original word – new word: exist alongside • further derivation, e.g. view (n) > view (v) → view-er/view-able CONVERSION • widespread development in present-day English • absence of formal signs marking the part of speech • caused by the loss of inflection (historical cause) • e.g. OE drinkan (v) and drinca (n) → ME drink (v, n) • primary vs. secondary CONVERSION - classification Primary word-class conversion • Verb → Noun e.g. desire, swim, answer, cover, lie, … • Adjective → Noun e.g. bitter, daily, regulars, marrieds, … • Noun → Verb e.g. bottle, coat, glue, pilot, ship, … • Adjective → Verb e.g. calm, dirty, dry, empty, yellow, … • Noun → Adjective (attributive and predicative) e.g. a brick garage ← The garage is brick. Worcester porcelain ← The porcelain is Worcester. Secondary word-class conversion • Nouns • Verbs • Adjectives Secondary word-class conversion: NOUNS • Mass nouns → count noun two coffees/cheeses, some paints, a fresh bread, a difficulty, a miserable failure, … • Count noun → mass noun an inch of pencil, a few square feet of floor, … • Proper noun → common noun a Rolls-Royse, He wore Wellingtons, triple axel, … • Stative predication → dynamic predication He is a fool. He is being a fool. He is a hero. He is being a hero. Secondary word-class conversion: VERBS • Intransitive verb → transitive verb run the business, march the prisoners, dive one‘s head into the water, fly, stop, turn, twist, She wrote a book. … • Transitive verb → intransitive verb The clock winds up at the back. Your book reads well. Have you washed yet? We have eaten already. … Secondary word-class conversion: ADJECTIVES • Non-gradable adj. → gradable adjectives He‘s more English than the English. • Pronunciation Lenis and fortis consonants (lengthening of preceding vowel in verbs and shortening in nouns) • Change in vowel (gradation) • Shift of stress (nouns, adjectives on the 1st syllable / verbs on the 2nd syllable) abstract, compound, compress, conduct, digest, discount, escort, export, extract, ferment, import, impress, insult, perfume, present, record, segment, survey, transfer, upset, … NOUN VERB NOUN VERB house house relief relieve advice advice belief believe use use mouth mouth shelf shelve teeth teethe vowel change noun verb e→i: breath breathe ɪ → aɪ emphasis emphasise ʌ → i: blood bleed u → i: food feed Occasional formations (nonce-words) • emotionally coloured • unique occasion • e.g. Don‘t darling me! Don‘t yes-mum me! Partial conversion • a kind of double process • 1. a noun is formed by conversion from a verbal stem 2. this noun is combined with verbs (e.g. give, make, have, take, …) to form a verbal phrase • e.g. to have a chat, to give a laugh Marginal Cases of Conversion • shift of stress (neither regular, nor productive) • e.g. verb → noun (abstract, import, refill, transfer, …) verb → adjective (frequent, moderate, perfect, …)