Re: THEORY: derivation question

   Date:         Wed, 24 Mar 1999 20:15:41 -0500
   From: Nik Taylor <fortytwo@...>

                              Notice how the simple root _nation_ has given
   long words like _denationalization_.

And natio is a derived noun in Latin, from nasci "to be born".

                                                                    And you
   can't say *coloral, even tho -al is a legitimate suffix.  Frequently,
   origin has to do with it.  -al is a Latin ending, and color is not
   Latin.  But, these are rarely completely consistent.

Unfortunate example. Color is in fact a Latin word, and I don't think
a Roman would have hesitated to use coloralis as an adjective, if they
felt like it. It might even be attested. (Ray?) The same derivation is
certainly found for other words in that declination (e.g., floralis).

But it does show that constraints on a borrowed derivational morpheme
may be different than in the source language.

Lars Mathiesen (U of Copenhagen CS Dep) <thorinn@...> (Humour NOT marked)