Paradigmatic derivation

It is conventional to recognise two dimensions of paradigmatic organisation in a morphological system. The inflected forms of a lexeme L make up the inflectional paradigms of L. The new lexemes that can be defined from the root of L form what is often, by extension, termed the derivational paradigm of L. Implicit in many traditional descriptions is a third subsystem, comprising the ‘principal parts’ or ‘stems’ that provide bases for complex word forms. The inflectional stems (Matthews 1991) that underlie inflected forms constitute one familiar subclass. This class is complemented by a system of what might best be termed derivational stems. Like inflectional stems, derivational stems are forms of a basic lexeme. However, unlike inflected words or stems, they may feed derivational processes such as lexeme formation or compounding. Nonfinite verbs and comparative and superlative adjectives are canonical examples of derivational stems. Irregular noun stems may also exhibit similar properties. In English, as in Germanic generally, these stem types freely occur in compounds, such as slowest-moving, half-remembered or oxen-cart. The derived stems in these examples are very seldom treated as separate lexemes. Infinitives and participles are almost universally treated as forms of a basic lexeme, on a par with finite forms. Non-absolute comparative and superlative adjectives are likewise usually regarded as forms of a basic lexeme. It follows that these forms must be defined by lexeme-preserving rules or operations. Yet because these elements may occur in derivational formations, they do not fall neatly into the standard morphological classes defined, on the one hand, by lexeme-preserving inflectional rules and, on the other, by lexeme-creating derivation. This paper argues that this problem is a symptom of the failure to recognise lexeme-preserving derivation. In particular, the properties of nonfinite verbs and non-absolute adjectives present no difficulties if, following Austerlitz 1966, these elements are analysed as derivational forms: