The English privative prefixes near-, pseudo- and quasi-: Approximation and 'disproximation'
The English prefixes near-, pseudo- and quasi- are privative, in that whatever essential property their morphological base expresses is not strictly possessed by an entity characterized as near-/pseudo-/quasi-X. However, we claim this meaning is not precise enough and hypothesize that near- and quas...
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Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Zeitschrift für Wortbildung |
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| author | Bert Cappelle Robert Daugs Stefan Hartmann |
| author_facet | Bert Cappelle Robert Daugs Stefan Hartmann |
| author_sort | Bert Cappelle |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The English prefixes near-, pseudo- and quasi- are privative, in that whatever essential property their morphological base expresses is not strictly possessed by an entity characterized as near-/pseudo-/quasi-X. However, we claim this meaning is not precise enough and hypothesize that near- and quasi- are approximative in meaning, whereas pseudo- is ‘disproximative’, expressing the idea of ‘falling short’ of a standard. Distributional-semantic findings partially support this, as near- shares more bases with quasi- than it does with pseudo-. Near- is most productive, presenting a default choice, while pseudo- is least productive. We also observe a specific tendency of near- to select bases with negative semantic prosody (near-deadly, near-fatal), of quasi- to combine, without any evaluative meaning, with legal-administrative bases (quasi-diplomatic, quasi-governmental), and of pseudo- with terms from the scientific domain. Further qualitative observations about these prefixes are made. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-5b2962bac0ee4a7aac8bf757d17fb214 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2367-3877 |
| language | deu |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt am Main |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Zeitschrift für Wortbildung |
| spelling | doaj-art-5b2962bac0ee4a7aac8bf757d17fb2142025-08-20T03:45:28ZdeuUniversitätsbibliothek Frankfurt am MainZeitschrift für Wortbildung2367-38772023-04-01715275https://doi.org/10.21248/zwjw.2023.1.35The English privative prefixes near-, pseudo- and quasi-: Approximation and 'disproximation'Bert Cappelle0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4779-6259Robert Daugs1Stefan Hartmann2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1186-7182Université de LilleChristian Albrechts Universität zu KielHeinrich Heine Universität DüsseldorfThe English prefixes near-, pseudo- and quasi- are privative, in that whatever essential property their morphological base expresses is not strictly possessed by an entity characterized as near-/pseudo-/quasi-X. However, we claim this meaning is not precise enough and hypothesize that near- and quasi- are approximative in meaning, whereas pseudo- is ‘disproximative’, expressing the idea of ‘falling short’ of a standard. Distributional-semantic findings partially support this, as near- shares more bases with quasi- than it does with pseudo-. Near- is most productive, presenting a default choice, while pseudo- is least productive. We also observe a specific tendency of near- to select bases with negative semantic prosody (near-deadly, near-fatal), of quasi- to combine, without any evaluative meaning, with legal-administrative bases (quasi-diplomatic, quasi-governmental), and of pseudo- with terms from the scientific domain. Further qualitative observations about these prefixes are made.approximationdisproximationdistributional semanticsprefixprivativityproductivitysemantic prosody |
| spellingShingle | Bert Cappelle Robert Daugs Stefan Hartmann The English privative prefixes near-, pseudo- and quasi-: Approximation and 'disproximation' Zeitschrift für Wortbildung approximation disproximation distributional semantics prefix privativity productivity semantic prosody |
| title | The English privative prefixes near-, pseudo- and quasi-: Approximation and 'disproximation' |
| title_full | The English privative prefixes near-, pseudo- and quasi-: Approximation and 'disproximation' |
| title_fullStr | The English privative prefixes near-, pseudo- and quasi-: Approximation and 'disproximation' |
| title_full_unstemmed | The English privative prefixes near-, pseudo- and quasi-: Approximation and 'disproximation' |
| title_short | The English privative prefixes near-, pseudo- and quasi-: Approximation and 'disproximation' |
| title_sort | english privative prefixes near pseudo and quasi approximation and disproximation |
| topic | approximation disproximation distributional semantics prefix privativity productivity semantic prosody |
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