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 HOW MANY FACTORS INFLUENCE THE MEANING OF

DENOMINAL AND DEADJECTIVAL VERBS? THE CASE OF

MODERN GREEK VERBS IN -(Ι)ΑΖΩ

ANGELIKI EFTHYMIOU

The aim of this paper is to examine the factors involved in Modern Greek verb

forming processes. My evidence comes from the Modern Greek causative suffix

-( ) [(i)ázo], which usually carries an evaluative connotation. After a presentation

of the suffix in section 1, section 2 discusses various issues concerning the

allomorphic variation of the suffix. Section 3 describes the principal meanings of

-( ) verbs. Section 4 deals with the role of the meaning of the base in the creation

of the meaning. Section 5 discusses the relation between the phonetic shape of the

suffix and its evaluative meaning. In section 6, I discuss how the role of the word

formation process and the rivalry with other suffixes influences the meaning and the

productivity of -( ) . The last section briefly summarizes the main findings of the

article.

1 INTRODUCTION

The suffix -( ) usually attaches to nominal and adjectival [−learned] bases and

derives [−learned] verbs which express a whole range of concepts1:

1
For the semantic description of the derived verbs I will use the labels and glosses
found in Plag (1999), namely causative/resultative ‘cause to become x/turn into x’,
ornative ‘make x go to/in/on something’, locative ‘make something go to/in/on x’,
inchoative ‘become x’, performative ‘do x/perform x’, similative ‘act or be like x’,
instrumental ‘use x’ and stative ‘be x’ (see also Lieber 2004). In order to account for
all Greek denominal verbs Ι need to add the following labels and glosses: stative-
1
causative/resultative ‘cause to become x’ (e.g. α [komatjázo], ‘to break/tear

into pieces’), ornative ‘provide with x’ (e.g. π [dropjázo], ‘to disgrace’),

locative ‘put into x’ (e.g. α [tsuvaljázo], ‘to bundle into a sack’),

instrumental ‘use x’ (e.g. [nixjázo], ‘to scratch with one’s nails’), inchoative

‘be provided with many and usually unwanted x’ (e.g. [ritidjázo], ‘to

wrinkle, become wizened’) (cf. Efthymiou 2011a).

Given that the most robust semantic pattern of -( ) derivatives is the

inchoative meaning ‘be provided with many and usually unwanted endogenous

entities’ (cf. Efthymiou 2011a), I address the following four questions:

1. What is the role of the meaning of the base? Is the evaluative (or cumulative)

meaning assigned by the base of the derivative or by the suffix? For example, in the

case of [ritidjázo] (‘to wrinkle, become wizened’) the negative meaning is

already expressed in the base noun α [ritída] (‘wrinkle’).

2. What is the role of the word formation process in which -( ) participates in the

creation of the meaning? How can we distinguish the meaning of these verbs from the

meaning of other Modern Greek verb forming suffixes (cf. α π [laspóno], ‘to

cover with mud’ vs. α π [laspjázo], ‘to become mash’, both from π [láspi],

‘mud’)? How can we distinguish the evaluative connotation of -( ) verbs from

their underlying causative/resultative semantic structure?

3. Is the phonetic shape of the suffix related to its evaluative and cumulative

meaning? Is it a coincidence that the sequence [glide (j) +á] is found also in other

Modern Greek suffixes like - [iá] and - [iáris], which form [−learned]

derivatives that express pejorative or collective meanings (e.g. α

essive ‘carry out the official activities of x’ and inchoative-ornative ‘be

saturated/covered by many unwanted x’.
2
[kokaljáris], ‘skinny person’, α [zitjanjá], ‘beggarhood, typical behavior of a

beggar’) (cf. Anastassiadis-Symeonidis 1997, Efthymiou 1999)?

4. Does the evaluative/expressive meaning of the suffix and the [−learned] register of

its derivatives affect its productivity? Does the rivalry with other suffixes influence

the meaning or the productivity of -( ) (cf. for example [ritidjázo], ‘to

wrinkle’ (intransitive) [−learned] vs. [ritidóno] ‘to wrinkle’ (transitive and

intransitive) [+/−learned])? How does this correlate with the fact that -( ) seems to

be the prevailing default verb forming suffix in Modern Greek for the interpretation

‘become provided with many unwanted x’ in εodern ύreek (cf. Efthymiou 2011a)?

Elaborating on these questions I show that the computation of the meaning of a word

formation process is rather complex, since it is influenced by various factors.

In order to give answers to the questions raised above, I take as a starting point

the analysis of 313 verbs in Efthymiou (2011a). My data were extracted from

Anastassiadis-Symeonidis (2002) Reverse Dictionary of Modern Greek (RDMG).

From the resulting list of 2260 verbs the following forms were removed: a) those that

did not feature the suffix -( ) and b) those that were derived by prefixation,

composition or parasynthesis. For the analysis of the data, I used the theory of lexical

conceptual semantics developed by Jackendoff (1983, 1990) and the semantic

categories established by Plag (1999).

2 -(Ι)ΑΖΩ : ONE OR TWO SUFFIXES? ETYMOLOGY AND ALLOMORPHY

Before analysing the semantic behavior of the -( ) verbs, let me first present the

etymology and the form of the suffix. In Modern Greek grammars and dictionaries the

relationship of - to - has traditionally been regarded as unclear. In

Triandafyllidis’s ύrammar (1941) and Dictionary (1998) (INS), - and -

3
appear in allomorphic variation. According to INS (1998), the Modern Greek suffix

-( ) developed from the Ancient Greek suffixes - ή- and - ϖ. In most cases

- derived from reanalysis, i.e. from the attachment of the suffix - to stems

ending in - . Moreover, INS has two different homonymous lemmas, one for the form

[ázoήjázo], and another for the learned variant [ázoήiázo] (cf. also 2.2 for a discussion

of the term learned). In the first lemma, the suffix follows the so-called glide

formation (or synizesis) rule2 (i.e. [ia] is pronounced as one syllable, and the

consonant of the base or [i] is palatalized : e.g. [ritidjázo], from α

[ritída], π [tebeljázo] ‘to laze’, from π [tebélis] ‘lazy’), whereas in

the second lemma [ia] is pronounced as two syllables (e.g. π α [diplasiázo],

‘to double’). Before I accept any of these positions, I will examine some data about

the phonological properties of - and - verbs and their distribution in my

corpus.

2.1 Phonological remarks on -άαω and -δάαω forms

The form - usually appears with certain inflection classes as illustrated in (1).

(1) a. [jortázo] ( ) [jortí]

‘to celebrate’ ‘celebration, saint’s day’

b. [onomázo] η(α) [ónoma]

‘to denominate’ ‘name’

c. [orimázo] η( ) [órimos]

‘to mature’ ‘mature’

2
For the glide formation rule see, among others, Kazazis (1968), Setatos (1974),
Warburton (1976), Nyman (1981), Rytting (2005).
4
In (1) and further examples, nominal or adjectival inflection is presented in

parentheses. (1a) represents a feminine nominal base taking the inflectional suffix – ,

(1b) a nominal base with the inflectional suffix -α and (1c) an adjectival base taking

(in its masculine form) the inflectional suffix – . Furthermore, - attaches

primarily to consonant-final bases but avoids bases ending in consonant clusters that

do not contain liquids (i.e. l or r), cf. (1a).

On the other hand, - attaches primarily to consonant-final bases, to

nominal feminine bases taking the inflectional suffix -α, as in (2a), to neutral bases in

/á + consonant + i/, as in (2b), to feminine nouns in /iá/, as in (2c), and to

imparisyllabic masculine nouns, as in (2d).

(2) a. [ritidjázo] (α) [ritída]

‘to wrinkle’ ‘wrinkle’

b. α [komatjázo] ( ) [komati]

‘to brake/tear into pieces’ ‘piece’

c. α α [angaljázo] α α ( ) [angaljá]

‘to embrace’ ‘arms’

d. α α [dalkadjázo] α ( ) [dalkás]

/ α NOM.PL

‘to desire, crave’ ‘desire, heart-ache’

When the base is imparisyllabic (and exhibits stem allomorphy), - always

selects the extended (i.e. the plural) stem, cf. (2d). Secondly, when the vowel of the

preceding syllable is /a/ then, the suffix always has the form - . On the basis of

these observations, one could propose that, since - seems to be prohibited when

the vowel of the preceding syllable is /a/ then, then - and - can be analysed

as variants of the same suffix. Before accepting this position, I will examine in the
5
 next section how -( ) verbs are distributed in my corpus according to their

register status.

2.2 The distribution of -άαω and -δάαω in my corpus and in Printed

School Modern Greek

In this section I will investigate the distribution of - and - forms in my corpus

and in Printed School Modern Greek, i.e. a small corpus based on Efthymiou, Havou

and Gavanozi (2010). The material of Printed School Modern Greek was collected

from the corpus of 3rd grade Primary School Textbooks and contains 7773 tokens and

1705 types of Modern Greek suffixed words3 (see also section 6.1. for more details).4

Before addressing the distribution of -( ) verbs, I will provide a brief

explanation of the terms (or features) [+learned], [+/– learned] and [–learned], which

will be used in this section. Following Anastassiadis-Symeonidis & Fliatouras (2003),

I use the feature [+learned] in order to characterize words that a) come from Ancient

Greek, b) constitute artificial formations of ‘katharevousa’ (i.e. an artificial, ancient-

looking form of Greek developed by a group of literary people in the 19th century) or

c) are used only in refined or written speech. On the other hand, words characterized

as [–learned] are words that either do not originate from Ancient Greek or are used in

informal or spoken (or colloquial or vulgar) speech. Finally, the feature [+/– learned]

serves to characterize all words that are unmarked in use or origin (i.e. they are

neither learned nor non-learned).

3
Note that the affixoid –π [pió], which appears to be a moderately productive
verb-forming element in Modern Greek (cf. Efthymiou, Fragaki & Markos in press),
was not included in this study.
4
The subjects of the textbooks included in the study were: language and literature,
history, mathematics, religion, and environmental education.
6
 In figure 1, -( ) verbs are presented according to their allomorphic

variation (i.e. - or - ), whereas in figure 2 -( ) verbs are presented

according to their register variation.

42

105

-άζω - learned
-ιάζω +/- learned
208

271

Figure 1. The distribution of -άαω Figure 2. The distribution of [+/–

and -δάαω verbs in RDMG learned] and [–learned] -(δ)άαω verbs

in RDMG

As indicated in figures 1 and 2, the proportion of - forms is very small and most -

() forms are [–learned]. All - forms can be characterized as [+learned] or

[+/−learned]. I also notice that in 63 of the [+/– learned] forms, [i] is actually part of

the base, e.g. π α [diplasiázo] ‘to double’ ( π [diplásios] ‘double’).

Most of these verbs are derived from numerals. Finally, if we compare these findings

to those in table 1, analysed in Efthymiou, Gavanozi and Havou (2010), we arrive at

the following remarks (see also section 6.2).

-ίζω -(ι)άζω -ε ω - νω -άζω -ιάζω

9.5 % 6.3 % 5.6 % 5.6 % 3.9 % 2.5 %

Table 1. Verb-forming suffixes: token frequency in printed school Modern Greek

7
If we focus on what the figures in table 1 can reveal about suffixes, it can be

suggested that the form - is neither productive nor very frequent in Modern

Greek. On the other hand, table 1 supports the hypothesis as to the [–learned]

character of - forms: - hardly appears in the written register. This lack of

preference is also supported by the findings of linguistic experiments (cf. Rytting

2005), which suggest that Greek speakers have an awareness of the connection

between glide- formation (i.e. palatalization) and informality. Thus, based only on

morphophonological criteria, one could get the impression that - and - appear

in (almost) allomorphic variation, i.e. that they can be analysed as variants of the

same suffix. On the other hand, taking into account stylistic and pragmatic criteria as

well, one would opt for an analysis that views Modern Greek as having two different

homonymous suffixes, one available in informal speech, viz. the [−learned] form

[jázo], the other frequent in written Greek, viz. the [+/−learned] form [ázoήiázo].

Therefore, I accept the INS analysis, but I also believe that the learned suffix should

be lemmatized as - , and that further research is needed in order to explain the

distribution of these forms. In the rest of the paper I will focus on the [−learned]

forms.

3 PRINCIPAL MEANINGS OF THE -ΙΑΖΩ VERBS

In this section, I will examine the meanings expressed by - verbs. As already

noted in Efthymiou (2011a), these verbs show a wide range of polysemy. Often, verbs

formed with - mean ‘cause to become x’ (causative/resultative). Such examples

are given in (3).

8
(3) a. α

komatjázo komáti

‘to break/tear into pieces’ ‘piece’

b.

kureljázo kuréli

‘to cut into shreds’ ‘rag’

Interestingly, the vast majority of the - verbs refer to events of modification of

the state of an entity, whereas the base noun identifies the final state of the process

which affects the entity projected to the direct object or subject position, cf. also (4)

and (6) below.

In most cases, - verbs mean ‘be saturated by x/ be covered by many

unwanted x’ (inchoative-ornative)5. Such examples are given in (4).

(4) a.

skurjázo skurjá

‘to rust’ ‘rust’

b. α

riti jázo rití a

‘to wrinkle’ ‘wrinkle’

As the glosses of the examples in (4) indicate, verbs tend to denote internally caused

states, i.e. the cause of the change of state event is linked to properties inherent to the

argument undergoing change (for the meaning of this term, cf. also Alexiadou,

Anagnostopoulou & Schäfer 200θ). In all these cases, like in (3), the verbs appear to

denote the modification of the state of an entity. Moreover, the majority of these verbs

5
In this paper I will not discuss the alternations in which the derived verbs
participate. For discussion of Modern Greek data, cf. Alexiadou and
Anagnostopoulou (2004), Charitonidis (2005).
9
are intransitive, and their most representative meaning of - derivatives is ‘be

provided with usually unwanted endogenous x’, i.e. they also display

negative/evaluative and cumulative meanings.

In other cases, - verbs mean ‘provide with x’ (ornative). An example of this

meaning is given in (5).

(5)

lecjázo lecés

‘to stain’ ‘stain’

Furthermore, - derivatives can also express the meaning ‘put into x’ (locative).

Such examples are given in (6).

(6) a. α

tsuvaljázo tsuváli

‘to bundle into a sack’ ‘sack’

b. π π

budrumjázo budrúmi

‘to put into a dungeon’ ‘dungeon’

As illustrated in (3-6), the vast majority of the - verbs refer to events of

modification of the state of an entity. The base noun identifies the final state of the

process which affects the entity projected to the direct object or subject position. In

most cases, - verbs denote internally caused states and display negative semantics

or pejorative and cumulative meanings. Moreover, the majority of these verbs are

intransitive, and the most representative meaning of - derivatives is ‘be provided

with usually unwanted endogenous x or become x’. In these cases the base nouns

10
denote the end states or the final positions in the causative act6 (in what regards the

pejorative meaning of - derivatives cf. also Efthymiou 2010 and Charitonidis

2011).

It is worth pointing out, however, that in my data I found only a small number

of verbs expressing other meanings, such as instrumental, performative and

similative. Such examples are given in (7-9).

(7)

nixjázo níxi

‘to scratch with one’s nails’ ‘nail’

(8) α

kuvendjázo kuvénda

‘to chat, discuss’ ‘chat’

(9)

jerontokorjázo jerontokóri

‘to do things in a way ‘spinster, old-maid’

that is typical of a spinster/become a spinster’

As most of the derivatives of the types illustrated in (7-9) also allow causative

readings and convey a pejorative meaning, I would like to propose that - verbs

6
Sometimes, these verbs accept more than one interpretation (e.g.
[muxljázo], 1. inchoative ‘be tainted with mildew’ ‘mildew, mould’, 2. ornative ‘taint
with mildew’ ( α [múxla] ‘mildew)). In such cases the base noun is also
interpreted as something transferred by the action (i.e. a theme). Furthermore, in
certain cases (e.g. α [melajázo] ‘bruise, become bruised’), it would be
arbitrary to decide whether the - verb is derived from the nominal (i.e. α
[melaɲá] ‘bruise, bruising’) or from the adjectival base (i.e. α [melanós]
‘inky’).
11
expressing instrumental, performative or similative meanings are marginal cases, and

cannot be considered central for determining the role of the suffix within the system.

Finally, based on all these findings and in line with Gottfurcht (2008), I would

like to suggest that - has developed a semantic category prototype related to the

frequency of the meanings expressed by the derivatives (cf. also Tribout 2010, who

suggests that, for each morphological process, some semantic types appear to be

licensed, privileged or prohibited). Therefore, the basic meanings of - verbs can

be ranked as follows: 1. inchoative-ornative (= more than two thirds in the total

number of types), 2. ornative or causative (= less than two thirds in the total number

of types), 3. instrumental, locative, performative or similative (= less than one third in

the total number of types). In addition, as mentioned above, all these verbs display

negative semantics or pejorative meanings. Thus, this ranking means that the

semantics of - is such that a typical representative of - verbs should express

both inchoative and pejorative meanings (‘inchoative-ornative’), cf. (4). Ornative and

resultative meanings are expressed by less prototypical verbs, and, finally,

instrumental, locative performative and similative meanings, which are the least

frequent of the corpus, are conveyed by non-prototypical - verbs.

4 THE MEANING OF THE BASE

At the beginning of this paper, I mentioned that the suffix - combines with

adjectival and nominal bases, but that the majority of the derivatives are derived from

nouns. Going through the list of bases, one gets the impression that - is quite

selective about the semantic categories of its base. It usually attaches to [−learned]

bases denoting something negative or unpleasant. For example, many bases refer to

an illness (10) or external imperfections on the body (11).

12
(10) α

psorjázo psóra

‘to become infected ‘scabies’

with scabies’

(11) π π

spirjázo spirí

‘to be covered with pimples’ ‘spot, pimple’

Furthermore, many bases denote unpleasant or dangerous things or substances, as in

(12).

(12) a.

skulicázo skulíci

‘to be wormy/wormeaten’ ‘worm’

b. α

muxljázo múxla

‘to be tainted ‘mildew, mould’

or to taint with mildew’

As illustrated in (10-12), nominal bases tend to denote either substances or small

entities usually encountered in quantities and seen as an amorphous and homogeneous

mass.

In some cases, the bases denote negative qualities or states, as in (13).

(13) a. π π

tembeljázo tembélis

‘to laze’ ‘lazy’

13
 b. α α α α / α α

karafljázo karaflós /karáfla

‘to become bald’ ‘bald’/ ‘baldness’

There are, however, some cases, in which the base does not express anything

negative. For example, in some cases the base denotes containers where things are

tied together so that they can be carried or stored, as in (14).

(14) a. α α α

kaseljázo kaséla

‘to put into a trunk/chest’ ‘trunk, chest’

b. α

tsuvaljázo tsuváli

‘to bundle into a sack’ ‘sack’

It is worth noting, however, that in these cases, the entities stored are seen as a mass,

i.e. they become spatially limited ‘stuffs’ composed of particles which are not seen as

significant enough for anybody to want to count them or to focus on them as

individual entities.

It is also worth pointing out that many [−learned] or [+/− learned] bases are of

Turkish or of Italian and Venetian origin.7 I suggest that, although not all native

speakers have etymological knowledge, in some of these cases, one could argue that

the choice of these bases is not only influenced by register factors but also by

phonological properties related to the etymology of the base. For example, native

speakers can recognize that the phonological properties of π ‘dungeon’ in

(6a), which is of Turkish origin, are different from those of α [filací] ‘jail’,

7
The bases α ‘desire’, ‘stain’, ‘sack’, π ‘dungeon’ in
(2-6) have Turkish origin. The base α α ‘trunk, chest’ in (6) is of Italian origin.
14
which originates from Ancient Greek and derives the unmarked quasi-synonymous

- verb α - ( ) [filacízo] ‘to jail’.

Interestingly, a closer look at the bases shows that most of them are related to

something (entity, substance, state, or behavior) perceived by the senses, i.e.

[+concrete]. In line with Efthymiou (1999), I suggest that this could be partially

attributed to the [−learned] character of the suffix. As suggested by Efthymiou (1999),

the fact that some [−learned] suffixes tend to prefer concrete meanings (and bases)

can be easily explained if we think that these suffixes reflect common people’s

everyday use and that most people focus on things that are easily perceived by human

senses and relevant to human interests (cf. also Wierzbicka 1985: 155).

As seen in (10-14), although bases with negative connotations seem to be the

default for - verbs, there are also some cases in which the base does not express

anything negative or unpleasant, as in (15a, c). (15b) is an example where the base is

ambiguous between a neutral and a negatively connotated meaning.

(15) a. α

komatjázo komáti

‘to shred, break to pieces’ ‘piece’

b. πα α πα α

paramithjázo paramíthi

‘to tell fairytales, cheat’ ‘fairytale, lie’

c.

thronjázo thrónos

‘to enthrone’ (ironically) ‘throne’

As the glosses in (15) indicate, the meanings of the base and the suffix match. The

suffix selects the meaning of the base that best matches the meaning of the derivation,
15
i.e. a negative side of the meaning of the base, and the base is sensitive to the meaning

of the suffix8. Since almost all [−learned] derivatives refer to something unpleasant, I

propose that the pejorative meaning of the - verbs is both selected and assigned

by the suffix. The suffix seems to add a connotation to the meaning of the derivative

and create a negative or an ironic effect. A typical example that shows the ironic

connotation of these derivatives is (15c), which is mostly used in the passive form

with the meaning ‘be enthroned, sit, stay longer than expected or wanted’, as in (1θ).

Note that the ironic meaning is absent from the unmarked [learned] rival

parasynthetic verb - - [enγronízo] ‘enthrone’.

(16) Ο Γ α π α α α α

ύiánnis írthe giá dío méres sto spíti mas allá throniástike ke de thélei na fígei

‘He came to our house for two days, but he is_as_if_he_was_enthroned

(=stayed) and does nοt want to go’.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that some derivatives express both pejorative and

cumulative meanings (i.e. ‘become saturated by many unwanted entities’), as in (11)

and (12a). I assume that in these cases the cumulative reading is motivated by

pragmatic factors, but it also reveals the interplay between the meaning of the base,

the suffix and the intention of the speaker. When the nominal bases denote small

unwanted entities which naturally appear in homogeneous groups (i.e. they tend to co-

occur, like for example pimples on a face), the derivative always has the meaning

‘become covered by (a large number of) x’. εoreover, as mentioned in Efthymiou

(1999) and Ricca (2005), since the notion of collectivity implies low identifiability of

8
Nevertheless, this does not mean that the bases are commonly used with negative
connotation.
16
the individual, collective and pejorative meanings cannot always be treated as

independent. Note, however, that the exact meaning assigned to the derivative is also

related to the actual intentions or the emotive attitude of the individual speaker. For

example, whereas individual entities like wrinkles and pimples are in most cases too

insignificant for anyone to talk about if they do not appear in great quantities, I think

that one could still use π ‘be covered with pimples’ in order to refer to a

situation where someone has one or two pimples on his face. In this case, the suffix

seems to intensify pragmatic effects already expressed by the base or the derivational

process.

5 THE PHONETIC SHAPE OF THE SUFFIX

Interestingly, the [-learned] phonetic shape and the negative connotation of the suffix

- is found also in other Modern Greek [-learned] suffixes, such as – [iá] and

- [iáris] (cf. also Efthymiou forthcoming). The negative/pejorative meanings of

these suffixes, which prefer (also) attaching to bases denoting something negative,

unpleasant or undesirable, are illustrated in (17) (for the suffix - , cf.

Anastassiadis-Symeonidis 1997; for the suffix – , cf. Efthymiou 1999).

(17) a. α α

kokaljáris kókalo

‘skinny person’ ‘bone’

b. α

zitjanjá zitjános

‘beggarhood/ ‘beggar’

typical behavior of a beggar’

c. α α

17
 γaj urjá γaj úri

‘typical action of a donkey’ ‘donkey’

Given the [-learned] phonetic shape and the negative connotation of – ,– and

- , as well as the fact that the speakers are aware of their special stylistic status

(see also 2.2), it can be suggested that the distribution of the [j + a] sequence is not

accidental, and that the negative connotation of the suffixes is related to their

[−learned] phonetic shape (for a more detailed discussion, cf. Efthymiou

forthcoming).

Moreover, it seems that the ‘sound iconicity’ of the - verbs is part of a

rich paradigm which includes expressive suffixes of many languages and involves

palatalisation (cf. Dressler and Merlini-Barbaresi 1994). Native speakers are sensitive

to the fact that the phonetic make-up of this suffix differs from the phonetic shape of

[+learned] or [+/−learned] suffixes and use it in order to denote expressive or negative

meanings.

It is also worth noticing that the [−learned] negative connotation of the suffix

does not only appear in the verbs of my corpus but also in Modern Greek

parasynthetic verbs of removal (cf. Efthymiou 2001, 2002, 2011b),9 as in (18).

(18) [−learned] [kse ondjázo] ‘to take one’s teeth out’10

( - [kse] ‘privative prefix’ + [dóndi] ‘tooth’ + - )11

As the example in (18) shows, Modern Greek parasynthetic verbs in - appear to

provide additional evidence for the claim that native speakers are sensitive to the
9
Following Corbin’s (198ι) model, in Efthymiou (2001, 2002) I characterize the
segment - in such cases as a categorical marker serving to indicate verbal
category.
10
The verb is not used in formal speech (or in cases where the teeth are decayed and
painful).
11
Neither * nor * is available as a base word for the prefixation of -
or the suffixation with - .
18
[−learned] and pejoratively connoted phonetic make-up of - . Interestingly, in

these verbs, the suffix - combines only with the [–learned] negative-privative

prefix -.

6 THE ROLE OF THE WORD FORMATION PROCESS

In this section, I will discuss the role of the word formation process in which -

participates in the creation of the meaning. I will suggest that although Modern Greek

verb-forming suffixes seem to share the same underlying conceptual structure, each

suffix seems to develop its own semantic category prototype. I will also show that the

[−learned] feature of the suffix - affects its frequency and its productivity.

6.1 The meanings of -ίαω, -υθω, -ετω, -αίθω, -άλω derivatives and

-ποδυ formations

Apart from the suffix -( ) , Modern Greek has six verb-forming suffixes and one

main semi-suffix, namely the element -π [pió]. These are listed and illustrated in

(19).

(19) a. - [ízo] : [vurtsízo] ‘to brush’

b. - [óno] : [vutiróno] ‘to butter’

c. - [évo] : π [proedrévo] ‘to chair, preside’

d. -α [éno] : α [xondréno] ‘to get/grow fat, thicken’

e. - [áro] : [stresáro] ‘to stress’

f. -π [pió] : α α π [γramatikopió] ‘to grammaticalize’.

As shown by Efthymiou (2011a), these derivatives show a wide variety of meanings,

such as causative, resultative, inchoative, ornative, locative, instrumental,

performative, similative, etc. In Efthymiou (2011a), following Plag (1999), Lieber

19
(2004) and Gottfurcht (2008), I use the theory of lexical conceptual semantics

developed by Jackendoff (1983, 1990) in order to suggest that all Modern Greek verb

forming processes share the same underlying semantic structure, given in (20).

(20) CAUSE [x BE y LOC z].12

I also suggest (cf. Efthymiou 2011a) that the semantic interpretation of a given verb

depends upon two factors, first the extent to which the Lexical Conceptual Structure

(LCS) is fully expressed and second which argument is filled by the noun base. Thus,

for a resultative interpretation, the y argument in (20) is filled by the noun base. An

example is given in (21).

(21) απ π [aplopió] ‘to simplify’ (cause to become απ [aplós] ‘simple’)

Inchoative and similative/stative-essive interpretations are achieved when the noun

base is the y argument in (20) and the CAUSE x portion is not realized. Examples for

inchoative and similative-stative interpretations are given in (22).

(22) a. α [xondréno] ‘to get/grow fat, thicken’

(‘become [xondrós] ‘fat’)

b. π [proedrévo] ‘to preside’

(be/ behave like π [próedros] ‘president’ for a certain period’)

c. α [aristotelízo] ‘to imitate Aristotle’

(be/ behave like Aristotle)

12
Following Gottfurcht (2008), I assume that in this structure the verb has three
arguments (x, y, z) and makes use of the semantic primitives CAUSE, BE, LOC. LOC
indicates an underspecified location between two arguments. Note that this formalism
differs from the one used by Jackendoff (1983, 1990) although it uses some of the
same labels.
20
For a performative interpretation, the noun base is the only internal argument and the

BE portion in (20) is not realized. Note that for the formalization of this semantic

interpretation, I have followed ύottfurcht’s (2008) proposal. For ύottfurcht,

performative is the mirror image of similative. This is illustrated in (23).

(23) α [taksidévo] ‘to travel’ (make a α [taksídi] ‘trip’)

Ornative interpretations result from the full expression of the structure. In this case,

the base noun is the x argument co-indexed with the y argument in (20). An example

is given in (24).

(24) α [ladóno] ‘to oil, bribe’ (provide with [ládi] ‘oil’)

For a locative interpretation, the base noun is the z argument in (20). An example is

given in (25).

(25) α [filacízo] ‘to jail’ (to put in α [filací] ‘jail’)

Finally, for the instrumental interpretation I follow ύottfurcht’s (2008) proposal of an

additional WITH predicate. This predicate follows [LOC z] in (20) and has the noun

base as its argument. An example is given in (26).

(26) α [karfóno] ‘to nail’ (use α [karfí] nail)

It is worth mentioning, however, that the hypothesis that all denominal verb formation

processes share the same underlying structure is not accepted by all morphologists (cf.

for example Tribout 2010). Furthermore, I suggest that the LCS proposed in (20)

needs to be further improved in order to account more satisfactorily for some

problematic issues, like for example the difference between similative, essive or

stative meanings. In what follows, I will present the principal meanings related to

21
each Modern Greek word formation process. It will be shown that although these

derivatives show a wide variety of meanings, they all express at least a causative

meaning. It will also become clear that for each morphological process, some

semantic types appear to be privileged or prohibited.

In particular, the principal meanings of - derivatives can be described as

‘(cause) to become x’, ‘imitate x’, ‘put in (to) x’, ‘perform/do/make x’, ‘provide with

x’, and ‘use x’. Note, however, that the most frequent meanings in these derivatives

seem to be the similative, instrumental, performative and resultative meanings (cf.

Efthymiou 2011a). Examples for - derivatives are given in (27).13

(27) a. α [mavrízo] ‘to blacken’ α [mávros] ‘black’

b. π [pithicízo] ‘to imitate π [píthikos] ‘ape’

ape’s behaviour’

c. α [filacízo] ‘to jail’ α [filací] ‘jail’

d. α [sfugarízo] ‘to sponge/ [sfugári] ‘sponge’

to mop’

The meanings of - derivatives can be described as ‘provide with x’, ‘(cause to)

become x’, ‘use x’, and ‘put into x’. As shown by Efthymiou (2011a), the ornative

meaning seems to be one of the most frequent meanings for these derivatives. Note

also that no similative or performative meanings are attested for these verbs. Examples

of - derivatives are given in (28).

(28) a. α [ladóno] ‘to oil, bribe’ [ládi] ‘oil’

b. α α [malakóno] ‘to soften’ α α [malakós] ‘soft’

c. α [karfóno] ‘to nail’ α [karfí] ‘nail’

13
For the semantics of - derivatives see also Charitonidis (2005).
22
Derivatives in - mean ‘carry out the official activities of x’, ‘become x’, ‘do x’,

provide with x’, ‘put into x’, and ‘use x’. ώowever, it is worth pointing out that the

stative-essive ‘carry out the official activities of x’ and the inchoative meanings seem

to be the most frequent meanings for these derivatives. Examples of these meanings

are given in (29).

(29) a. π [proedrévo] ‘to chair, preside’ π [próedros] ‘president’

b. α [agriévo] ‘to make/become fierce/ [ágrios] ‘fierce, wild’

roughen’

c. α [taksidévo] ‘to travel’ α [taksídi] ‘trip, journey’

d. πα [pajidévo] ‘to trap’ πα α [pajída] ‘trap’

The meaning of the suffix -α is quite restricted. Derivatives in -α mean ‘cause

to become x’ and ‘provide with x’, as illustrated in (30).

(30) a. α [xondréno] ‘to get/grow fat [xondrós] ‘fat, thick’

thicken’

b. πα [lipéno] ‘to lubricate, fertilize’ π [lípos] ‘fat, oil’

On the other hand, the meanings of - derivatives can be described as ‘provide

with x’, ‘do x’, ‘put into x’, ‘use x’, and ‘act as/be x’. Such examples are given in

(31).

(31) a. π [pudráro] ‘to powder’ π α [púdra] ‘powder’

b. [zumáro] ‘to zoom’ [zum] ‘zoom, a zooming

camera shot’

c. πα [pacetáro] ‘to put into πα [pacéto] ‘packet’

packet, pack’

d. [frenáro] ‘to brake’ [fréno] ‘brake’

23
Finally, -π verbs mean ‘cause to become x’, ‘put into x’, and ‘provide with x’.

Examples of these meanings are given in (32). As observed by Efthymiou (2011a), no

similative or performative meanings are attested for -π formations. Furthermore,

Mela-Athanasopoulou (2007) observes that inchoative meanings are only possible

with the passive voice of -π verbs.

(32) a. απ π [aplopió] ‘to simplify’ απ [aplós] ‘simple’

b. π π [perithoriopió] ‘to marginalize’

π [perithório] ‘margin’

c. π [morfopió] ‘to form’ [morfí] ‘form’

Elaborating on Efthymiou (2011a), I propose that the meanings of these Modern

Greek verb-forming processes can be summarized in table 2.

–ίζω –(δ)άζω –υνω – τω –αίνω –άρω –ποδυ

cause to become x       
become x/be provided with x       passive
be provided with many unwanted x 
make x go to/in/on something       
make something go to/in/on x      
do x    
do /act like x  
use x     
carry out the official activities of x 

Table 2. The meanings of -ίαω, -(δ)άαω, -υθω, -ετω, -αίθω, -άλω derivatives and

-ποδυ formations

In Table 2, question marks mean that these meanings are attested for very few verb

types, which need to be re-examined. ‘Passive’ means that this meaning appears only

in passive voice. As far as the types of base selected by these verbs are concerned, it

seems that Modern Greek suffixes do not behave in the same way. For example, -

is the only suffix among the suffixes of my corpus that attaches to onomatopoetic

24
words. Moreover, - is the only suffix that attaches to stage-level nouns denoting

offices of persons,14 that is nouns that denote temporary characteristics of their

referents, in order to derive verbs with the meaning ‘carry out the official activities of

x for a certain period’ (cf. also Efthymiou 2011a).

To sum up, based on all these findings, I suggest in line with Gottfurcht

(2008) that, although Modern Greek verb-forming suffixes seem to share the same

underlying structure (20), each suffix seems to develop a semantic category prototype

related to the frequency of the meanings expressed by the derivatives. Therefore, the

realization of the underlying structure depends on the preferences, the restrictions and

the diachrony of each suffix.

6.2 Frequency, productivity and suffixal rivalry

In spite of the relevance of frequency and productivity to assess the status of word

formation patterns (see Baayen 2008, Bauer 2001, Plag 1999), there are no systematic

investigations into the frequency and productivity of Modern Greek suffixes. Because

of the absence of reliable data for Modern Greek, two kinds of empirical data have

been investigated for this study, namely on one hand the existing - , -( ) ,- ,

- , -α ,- and -π verbs listed in RDMG (cf. Efthymiou 2011a), on the

other - , -( ) ,- ,- , -α and - verbs which are present in Printed

School Modern Greek (as investigated in Efthymiou et al. 2010).

It is not hard to think of reasons why the choice of the Reverse Dictionary of

Modern Greek and Printed school Modern Greek as text sources is not fully justified

from a methodological point of view. First, dictionaries are not accurate ways of

estimating productivity. Second, Printed School Modern Greek contains material from

14
For the distinction between stage-level and individual-level predicates see Carlson
(1977), Aronoff and Cho (2001), Trips (2009).
25
textbooks, and is therefore not balanced for text types or speech registers (see Plag

1999, Gaeta and Ricca 2003, Lieber 2010). However, although my data cannot give a

comprehensive picture of Modern Greek verb derivation from a quantitative point of

view, they seem to yield some interesting preliminary results. We can see the number

of - , -( ) ,- ,- , -α ,- and -π verbs as attested in the RDMG in

Table 3.

verbs in Raw data Scrutinized data

- 3507 650

-( ) 2260 313

- 2106 508

- 1207 325

- 547 150

-π 252 200

-α 687 113

Table 3: Verb forming processes (Data extracted from RDMG)

In the scrutinized data as counted in Table 3, I removed the following forms: a) those

that did not feature the suffix - ,- , etc. (such as borrowings), b) those that were

derived by prefixation, composition or parasynthesis, c) all deponent verbs, d) those

that are -α formations via the aorist of verbs in - (cf.

/ α [konserváro/ konservarízo] ‘to can, tin’). This explains why the

proportion of scrutinized data as compared to the raw data is particularly low for

-( ) έ In addition, Table 3 shows that - is more productive (or frequent) than

- ,- and -( ) .

26
 The second corpus is based on Efthymiou et al. (2010). In this study 54

Modern Greek suffixes were investigated. As mentioned in section 3, the material

collected from the corpus of 3rd grade Primary School Textbooks contains 7773

tokens and 1705 types of Modern Greek suffixed words. Note, however, that the

semi-affix -π is not included in this study. Moreover, - and - were

analysed as variants of the same suffix. Consequently, the - category also

includes [+/−learned] forms, where /i/ is actually part of the base.15 My data from

printed school Modern Greek are presented in tables 4 and 5.

-δεσμ - β -ία -ίαω -α -υθω -ετω -ηα -άαω -δάαω

(adj.) (n.) (n.) (v.) (adv.) (v.) (v.) (n.) (v.) (v.)

12% 11.1% 9.6% 9.5% 8% 5.6% 5.6% 4.9% 3.9% 2.5%

Table 4. Token frequency in printed school MG

-δεσμ -α - β -ία -ηα -ίαω -υθω -ετω -άαω -δάαω

(adj.) (adv.) (n.) (n.) (n.) (v.) (v.) (v.) (v.) (v.)

13.1% 11.3% 10.6% 8.4% 6.6% 5.9% 5% 3.8% 1.3% 1.3%

Table 5. Type frequency in printed school MG

These tables present the ten most frequent suffixes in printed school Modern Greek.

As already mentioned above, I do not claim that my data provides a faithful picture of

the ideal competence of a Modern Greek educated speaker16. Nevertheless, although

the results in tables 4 and 5 do not assure us that the frequency data obtained could be
15
This implies that at, closer inspection, the actual number of [−learned] - verbs
in this corpus would be even smaller.
16
Interestingly, the suffix - has proven to be quite unproductive in Efthymiou,
Fragaki & Markos (2012), i.e. a corpus study of 4,143,583 words.
27
generalized to any kind of textual typology, a number of observations can be made

here. Firstly, as expected according to the literature on productivity, Modern Greek

suffixes seem to differ considerably in their type and token frequency. Secondly, as

discussed by Efthymiou et al. (2010), it seems that a handful of derivatives covers a

large percentage of the overall token frequency of a given suffix. Thirdly, the

differences in token and type frequency confirm the assumption about the [–learned]

character of - forms: - hardly appears in the written register. As expected (cf.

for example Lieber, 2010), the [−learned] (non-cultivated) pragmatic effect of the

- verbs has obvious consequences on its frequency and its productivity.17 It

seems that Greek native speakers associate the meaning and the form of the suffix

- with something negative or [pejorative], and thus, they choose - verbs in

order to express something unpleasant. Therefore, [−learned] - verbs are absent

from, for instance, scientific terminology or highly refined usage of language (cf.

Efthymiou, Fragaki & Markos 2012 for similar remarks).

6.3 Doublets

I will finally turn to some doublets, which reveal that some verb-forming suffixes are

in competition in some semantic domains. As mentioned in the literature (Plag 1999,

Gottfurcht 2008), a doublet occurs when two rival suffixes are semantically and

phonologically licensed. This is illustrated in (33-34)

(33) a. α π π

laspóno láspi

‘to cover with mud/ become mash’ ‘mud’

17
The influence of register on productivity has been repeatedly mentioned in the
literature. Cf. for example Plag et al. (1999).
28
 b. α π π

laspjázo láspi

‘to become mash’ ‘mud’

(34) a. α

ritidjázo ritída

‘to wrinkle’ ‘wrinkle’

b. α

ritidóno ritída

‘to wrinkle’ ‘wrinkle’

As the glosses indicate, there is some competition between - and - v mostly in

the ornative and inchoative domains, but - verbs always select the [−learned],

derogatory and intransitive reading. While α π in (33a) has both causative and

ornative meanings, α π in (33b) appears to accept only an inchoative reading.

Moreover, , in (34a) appears to be [–learned] and intransitive, whereas

in (34b) is [+/–learned] and can have both transitive and intransitive

readings. The glosses of the doublets reveal the prototypical and most frequent

meaning for each suffix, and thus, the suffixes are not similar enough to exhibit true

rivalry.

7 CONCLUSION

To sum up, I have shown that the computation of the meaning of - verbs is

influenced by various factors, such as the semantic and structural properties of the

base, the evaluative connotation of the suffix and its derivatives and the productivity

of the word formation process. The results of my study also reveal the major role of

pragmatic factors in word formation. In particular, I suggested that Greek native

29
 speakers are sensitive to the [−learned] phonological make-up of the suffix - and

associate its meaning and form with something negative or [pejorative]. I also

proposed that - has developed a semantic category prototype related to the

frequency of the meanings expressed by the derivatives and that a typical

representative of - verbs should express both inchoative and pejorative meanings.

It was also shown that the meanings of the base and the suffix match and that the

suffix seems to intensify pragmatic effects already expressed by the base or the

derivational process. The suffix selects the meaning of the base that best matches the

meaning of the derivation, i.e. a negative side of the meaning of the base, and the base

is sensitive to the meaning of the suffix. Moreover, it was shown that - hardly

appears in the written register and that the [−learned] (non-cultivated) pragmatic

effect of the - verbs has obvious consequences for its frequency and its

productivity. Finally, I suggested that, although there is some competition between

- and its rival suffixes in some semantic domains, - verbs always select the

[-learned], derogatory and intransitive reading. Furthermore, it was shown that the

glosses of the existing doublets reveal that the rival suffixes are not similar enough to

exhibit true rivalry.

30

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