Diminutive-formation in German

In German, mass nouns can be turned into count nouns by means of two alternative strategies: either by using them in connection with a numeral classifier, or by adding the diminutive morpheme (-chen). In this paper, I argue that the two strategies are structurally exactly parallel, with both kinds o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe journal of comparative Germanic linguistics Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 1 - 46
Main Author Ott, Dennis
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Dordrecht Springer Nature B.V 01.04.2011
Subjects
Classifiers
Clitics
Count/Mass distinction
Diminutives and augmentatives
German language
Morphemes
Nouns
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Summary:In German, mass nouns can be turned into count nouns by means of two alternative strategies: either by using them in connection with a numeral classifier, or by adding the diminutive morpheme (-chen). In this paper, I argue that the two strategies are structurally exactly parallel, with both kinds of elements (numeral classifiers and diminutive -chen) being exponents of an individuating functional head. The (superficial) difference is that -chen—which I show is a clitic-like element—triggers obligatory movement of the nominalized root to its Spec. By contrast, this movement is optional with a (non-deficient) numeral classifier, yielding both ‘analytic’ and ‘compound’ forms. The picture that emerges from the discussion is a unified analysis of count structures in German.
ISSN:1383-4924
1572-8552
DOI:10.1007/s10828-010-9040-x