Semantic and Syntactic Aspects of English Affixation: An Overview of Lieber's Process of Word-formation: Derivation

      This paper is an overview of one of Lieber's processes of wordformation; namely, the derivation process. In Handbook of Word-Formation (2005), he presents three techniques of word-formation: compounding, derivation, and conversion. The current research sheds light on the process of derivation encapsulating both prefixation and suffixation in an attempt to elicit some semantic and syntactic interrelations in the light of the construction grammar which considers morphemes as constructions of form and function.
(Goldberg, 2006, p. 5, cited in Rӧmer, 2009, p.147). The interface of structure and meaning is manifested in such constructions; namely morphemes. As suggested by Lieber (2005), for instance, prefixes convey different messages depending on the part of speech they are attached to. For example, some prefixes express a negative meaning when affixed to nouns or adjectives; however when attached to verbs they reflect a reversative sense as it will be shown below. Some assumptions are approved while others are denied. Finally, the results assert the fact that there is a solid association between lexis and grammar.