Book contents
- Reflections on English Word-Formation
- Reflections on English Word-Formation
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Conventions and Abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Basic Questions
- 2 Reflections on the Background to the Study of Word-Formation
- 3 Reflections on Why We Need Word-Formation
- 4 Reflections on the Recognition of Novelty in Words
- 5 Reflections on Blocking and Competition
- 6 Reflections on Potential and Norm
- 7 Reflections on Definition by Stipulation and on Word-Classes
- 8 Reflections on Analogical Word-Formation
- 9 Reflections on the Nature of the Lexeme
- Part II Semantic Questions
- Part III Syntactic Questions
- Part IV Interfaces
- Part V Patterns of Word-Formation in English
- Part VI Historical Questions
- Part VII Questions Involving Inflection
- Index of Topics
- Index of English Word-Forming Elements
- References
6 - Reflections on Potential and Norm
from Part I - Basic Questions
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 October 2025
Book contents
- Reflections on English Word-Formation
- Reflections on English Word-Formation
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Conventions and Abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Basic Questions
- 2 Reflections on the Background to the Study of Word-Formation
- 3 Reflections on Why We Need Word-Formation
- 4 Reflections on the Recognition of Novelty in Words
- 5 Reflections on Blocking and Competition
- 6 Reflections on Potential and Norm
- 7 Reflections on Definition by Stipulation and on Word-Classes
- 8 Reflections on Analogical Word-Formation
- 9 Reflections on the Nature of the Lexeme
- Part II Semantic Questions
- Part III Syntactic Questions
- Part IV Interfaces
- Part V Patterns of Word-Formation in English
- Part VI Historical Questions
- Part VII Questions Involving Inflection
- Index of Topics
- Index of English Word-Forming Elements
- References
Summary
Some words which might seem to be possible words are not used, because sometimes such words never become part of the norm. On the other hand, some words which do not appear to be possible words are used. Just how a possible word is to be defined is not clear, but the norm does appear to be a factor affecting the productivity of morphological processes.
Keywords
Information
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Reflections on English Word-Formation , pp. 50 - 55Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
References
Adams, Valerie. (1973). An Introduction to Modern English Word-Formation. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Aronoff, Mark. (1976). Word Formation in Generative Grammar. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Barnhart, Robert K., Steinmetz, Sol & Barnhart, Clarence L.. (1990). Third Barnhart Dictionary of New English. New York: H.W. Wilson.Google Scholar
Bauer, Laurie. (2003). Introducing Linguistic Morphology. 2nd ed. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bauer, Laurie. (2022). What you must say, what you can say and what you do not say. In Andreea, S. Calude & Bauer, Laurie (eds.), Mysteries of English Grammar. New York: Routledge, 11–20.Google Scholar
Bauer, Laurie, Lieber, Rochelle & Ingo, Plag. (2013). The Oxford Reference Guide to English Morphology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coseriu, Eugenio. (1952). Sistema, norm y habla. Montevideo: Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias, Instituto de Filología, Departamento de Lingüistica.Google Scholar
Pawley, Andrew & Hodgetts Syder, Frances. (1983). Two puzzles for linguistic theory: Nativelike selection and nativelike fluency. In Jack, C. Richards & Richard, W. Schmidt (eds.), Language and Communication. London: Routledge, 191–225.Google Scholar
Rainer, Franz. (2012). Morphological metaphysics: Virtual, potential, and actual words. Word Structure 5, 165–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Accessibility standard: Unknown
Accessibility compliance for the PDF of this book is currently unknown
and may be updated in the future.