DERIVATIVES OF THE VERB ‘TOURNER’ IN A PRAGMATIC CONNOTATION

Abstract

The rigor with which constraints of suffixation are applied in evaluative derivatives and the fact that a given stem readily welcomes suffixes rejected by others tends to show that evaluative endings compete with each other. This quasi-complementary distribution leaves the field open to semantic differentiation. Experience shows that speakers do tend to establish differences in meaning between different endings. But these differences do not appear to be marked and are perhaps not based on the arbitrary association of semantic instructions with these endings.