A pilot study on the derivational transparency of borrowed denominal personal nouns in contemporary Lithuanian

Over the last decade, there has been an increasing interest in the relationship between word formation and borrowing (cf. ten Hacken, Panocová 2020; Panocová 2015). This pilot study aims to investigate borrowed denominal personal nouns in contemporary Lithuanian from the perspective of derivational morphology. The following two research questions are posed: 1) What is the distribution of suffixes in borrowed denominal personal nouns? 2) How derivationally transparent are borrowed denominal personal nouns in contemporary Lithuanian? Denominal personal nouns have been chosen because they represent one of the major categories in derivational morphology, naming people according to their roles, professions, affiliations or characteristics, e.g., satyrikas, -ė ‘satirist’ ⇠ satyra ‘satire’. 

This study adopts a synchronic approach to the derivational relationships between borrowed denominal personal nouns (cf. Urbutis ⁴2005, 1965). The transparency of these relationships depends on how easily the meaning and structure of the suffixed borrowing can be analysed in relation to its base word. The analysis is based on data from the Electronic Dictionary of Internationalisms Interleksis (EDI). Approximately 300 borrowed denominal personal nouns are planned for analysis, with eight suffix pairs such as -istas, -ė, -ikas, -ė, -(i)antas, -ė, -(i)atas, -ė, -(ion)ierius, -ė, -orius, -ė, -aras, -ė and -eris, -ė.

The preliminary results addressing the first research question indicate that, in the distribution of borrowed denominal personal nouns, those suffixed with -istas, -ė constitute the largest category compared to borrowed nouns with other suffixes. In response to the second research question, I propose a tripartite classification of derivational transparency in borrowed denominal personal nouns:

1. Derivationally transparent. The derivational relationship between the borrowed personal noun and its base word is fully transparent, both structurally and semantically, e.g., skandalistas, -ė ‘scandalist’ ⇠ skandalas ‘scandal’.
2. Derivationally semi-transparent. The derivational relationship is only partially transparent: the base word becomes recognizable only when it appears with another suffix, e.g., altruistas, -ė ‘altruist’, altruizmas ‘altruism’.
3. Derivationally opaque. The derivational relationship is non-transparent, as neither a simplex base word nor a related borrowing with another suffix can be identified in Lithuanian, e.g., okulistas, -ė ‘ophthalmologist’ lacks a recognisable base word (okulizmas does not exist). The stem derives from Latin oculus ‘eye’, but the suffix -istas, -ė appears in other borrowed nouns.

Acknowledgements: This project has received funding from the Research Council of Lithuania (LMTLT), agreement No S-PD-24-170.