Submorphemic iconicity in the lexicon: a diachronic approach to English ‘gn- words’
By applying a principle of submorphemic invariance to the word-initial segment gn- (phonologically /n/) in the heuristic class of English ‘gn- words’, I show that this segment functions as a ‘sublexical marker’ (), defined as a semiologically and notionally invariant submorphemic unit within the sub...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Université Jean Moulin - Lyon 3
2008-11-01
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| Series: | Lexis: Journal in English Lexicology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/lexis/728 |
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| Summary: | By applying a principle of submorphemic invariance to the word-initial segment gn- (phonologically /n/) in the heuristic class of English ‘gn- words’, I show that this segment functions as a ‘sublexical marker’ (), defined as a semiologically and notionally invariant submorphemic unit within the subset(s) of words of which it is a formative. I go on to claim, based on evidence provided by phononotional GN-/GVN(-) alternation, that although must be considered as structurally indivisible in Modern English, in may originally have functioned as a ‘core invariant’ and as a variable in the pre-history of English, specifically in Proto-Indo-European. Analysing gn- in most ‘gn- words’ of Anglo-Saxon origin and some of Greek origin as the surface trace of an underlying notional domain linked to jaw-related phenomena (sound articulation, mastication, manducation, etc.) suggests that there exists an extralinguistically motivated, causal relation between and this domain involving the concept of ‘submorphemic iconicity’. |
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| ISSN: | 1951-6215 |