The processing of lexemes with multiple affixal combination in European Portuguese

Abstract

This work aims to understand the limits to the syntagmatic extension of multiple derivational affixation which deals with affixes that operate in productive word-formation patterns of contemporary European Portuguese (Rio-Torto et al., 2016). The work is theoretically supported on the multiple-route model (Kuperman et al., 2010) and empirically based on the analysis of corpora (Corpus de Referência do Português Contemporâneo and Linguateca) and of experiments (acceptability judgement task and recall task) made with native speakers of European Portuguese. The empirical phenomenon of the multiple affixation under focus is constituted by lexemes containing the suffix series -bil/-al-iz(a)-bil-idade, which is observable in words with low frequency such as comercializabilidade and materializabilidade. Under the perspective of structural constraints (Gaeta, 2015; Rodrigues, 2014; 2015), multiple affixation should be possible as long as the constraints between affixes are obeyed. However, the low frequency of the multiple affixation under analysis arouses the hypothesis that processual conditionings influence the limits of multiple affixation. The acceptability judgement task and the recall task aim to shed light on the psycholinguistic conditions that intervene in the limits of multiple affixation. The study concludes that variables such as the frequency of the affix combination, semantic transparency, affix salience, and expectedness (Bell & Schäffer, 2013; 2016) towards the combination are important for the pattern construction power of the affix combination, that is, for the capacity of the combination to function as a mental pattern that allows the speaker to produce and analyze lexemes. The pattern construction power depends on the experience of the speaker towards the affix combination.