Slavic Nominal Word-formation

Book excerpt: This is the first comprehensive monograph on Slavic nominal word-formation in English. It is a diachronic study of word-formation patterns in Proto-Slavic and their derivation from Proto-Indo-European. All conclusions about the origin of individual nominal suffixes, prefixes and compounding patterns are drawn from the reconstructed Proto-Slavic nominal lexicon. In this way, those word-formation patterns that can be attributed to Proto-Slavic can be distinguished from those that became productive independently in individual Slavic languages. The book contains a discussion of the meaning of Proto-Slavic nominal suffixes and prefixes, their origin and possible Proto-Indo-European sources, as well as an analysis of the accentual patterns associated with them. It also discusses in general outlines the productivity and development of individual nominal suffixes and prefixes in later stages of Slavic, including the major modern languages.