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On Morphological Realignments in Old English Root Nouns 1
Author(s) -
Adamczyk Elżbieta
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
transactions of the philological society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.333
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1467-968X
pISSN - 0079-1636
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-968x.2012.01319.x
Subject(s) - inflection , restructuring , noun , root (linguistics) , linguistics , fell , productivity , history , bandwagon effect , process (computing) , psychology , computer science , philosophy , biology , economics , political science , social psychology , law , macroeconomics , operating system , paleontology
The present paper addresses the issue of gradual reorganisation of the early English nominal inflection, effected by an interplay of phonological and morphological factors, which led to a complete overhaul of the system inherited from Proto‐Germanic. One of minor classes which fell victim to the process of analogical restructuring was a group of root nouns which tended to fluctuate between inherited and innovative paradigmatic patterns. The attested vacillation of forms testifies to the presence of disintegrative tendencies in their paradigms. The aim of the present study is to track the pattern behind the dissemination of these tendencies, as well as to explore the extent to which the inherited paradigm disintegrated, forsaking the original inflection to the benefit of the productive declensional types. The significance of factors such as frequency of occurrence, productivity of inflectional patterns, or gender affiliation is recognised, with a view to investigating the mechanism of the restructuring process and its theoretical implications. The findings of the investigation reveal that the paradigm of root nouns, albeit not free from the impact of the productive inflection, was to a large extent preserved intact, and, when compared to other minor declensional classes, can be considered relatively conservative.