Speaker: Lina In?iurait?-Noreikien? (Vilnius University)
Title: Derivational Transparency and Opacity in Borrowed Nouns
Time: Thursday, October 8th, 5pm – 6pm
Location: 32-D769
Abstract: Derivational relations in borrowed nouns have long attracted attention in Lithuanian
word-formation studies. However, relatively little research has systematically classified borrowed nouns according to their degree of derivational transparency. I examine borrowed nouns in contemporary Lithuanian from the perspective of derivational morphology. They can be divided
into two major categories: derivationally transparent and derivationally opaque. Derivationally
transparent nouns participate in a derivational opposition with independently attested base words and exhibit clear formal and semantic relations. By contrast, derivationally opaque nouns lack synchronically identifiable base words in Lithuanian and therefore do not participate in a
derivational opposition. Derivationally opaque nouns comprise two distinct subtypes: nouns with
bound stems that occur only in paired formations and nouns containing foreign formants that occur in isolation without corresponding pairs. Finally, I examine the semantic categorization of derivationally transparent and derivationally opaque borrowed nouns.