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ABSTRACT
This paper explores different regression models for predicting the type valency of Persian suffixes within a usage-based approach. Usage-based models treat the type frequency of a suffix as a key predictor for its type valency revealing that an increase in the type frequency leads to a greater combining power between a construction’s paradigmatic elements. However, this effect is limited to a certain degree by the potential productivity of a suffix, as inferred from the statistically distinguishable negative correlation between the type valency and the potential productivity, as well as from the statistical significance of the variable of the number of hapaxes and the potential productivity in the regression models of conditional inference trees. Moreover, polyvalency as a distinct feature of Persian derivation implies a number of other characteristics, namely greater morphological diversity of patterns, parsability, semantic transparency and larger conversion power of morphemes. This is contrasted with English whose morphemes are predominantly type-monovalent.
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Dr Lise Fontaine for her helpful comments on earlier versions of this paper.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1. In this article, the notion ‘valency’ is used with the same connotation as in chemistry meaning the combining power of an element.
2. The view that the lexicon is structured paradigmatically – in the sense that ‘items which are in paradigmatic relationship can substitute for each other […] and that such substitution leads to a contrast on the relevant linguistic level’ (Bauer, Citation2019, p. 153) – is well established in derivation morphology in the last few decades (Bauer, Citation1997, Citation2019; Becker, Citation1993; Bonami & Strnadove, Citation2018; Booij, Citation1997, Citation2010; Ponder, Citation2000; van Marle, Citation1984).
3. The fact that Persian has a specific prosodic structure is known from the phenomenon of the Persian classical poetry.
4. For example, the English suffix -ize attaches to both adjectives (legalize) and nouns (unionize) to form verbs (Lieber, Citation2009, p. 179).
5. It might be that, due to a weaker expression of the type valency, there are fewer morphological patterns in English with relatively the same size of the lexicon as in Persian (if not larger). As a result, an average type frequency of morphological patterns, as well as repetitive combinations of phonemes, are higher and, maybe, exactly the right amount needed for a morphological fusion to occur. Nevertheless, the nature of these observations is hypothetical, and further research is needed to explore the problem.