English Nouns since 1150

Book excerpt: Morphological typology is usually limited to the realm of grammar. Accordingly, English is considered an analytic language due to its poor grammatical morphology – but what about the lexicon? Taking a twofold approach, this study investigates the typological development of English nouns since 1150. First, the focus is on the means used to extend the lexicon: Correlating the central noun formation processes as well as borrowing reveals, for the first time, their quantitative importance – with some surprising results. Second, the structure of the lexicon takes center stage: The morphological analysis of all nouns uncovers diachronic shifts – and striking parallels between grammar and lexicon.