Competing Strategies in Morphological Approximation: Exploring Prefixoids kvazi(-), nadri(-), nazovi(-), and pseudo(-) in Croatian

Abstract

This study explores the phenomenon of affix rivalry within the domain of morphological approximation in Croatian, focusing on the prefixoids kvazi(-), nadri(-), nazovi(-), and pseudo(-) as they attach to nominal bases. These prefixoids can be classified as privative, as the derivatives they produce do not fully embody the core characteristics conveyed by their morphological bases. To analyze the rivalry among the prefixoids, the study evaluates their productivity, collocational behavior, and distribution across various textual genres, utilizing data from the CLASSLA-web.hr corpus. The findings suggest significant disparities in the productivity and collocational behavior of the prefixoids, with nazovi(-) and kvazi(-) exhibiting the highest productivity and highly overlapping collocational behavior, whereas pseudo(-) and nadri(-) reveal more specialized usage patterns. Additionally, a random sample of 500 tokens per prefixoid is annotated for semantic values. Again, nazovi(-) and kvazi(-) demonstrate substantial overlap, particularly in their mutual application as means for subjective depreciative evaluation, underscoring the insufficiency or pretentiousness of the subject. Nadri(-) is more narrowly focused on legal domains, while pseudo(-), with its proclivity for scientific contexts, remains distinct but conceptually adjacent to kvazi(-) in contexts where imitation is highlighted without necessarily invoking deceit. Overall, the prefixoids present a complex network of interrelationships, yet each prefixoid also establishes a specific niche, balancing between shared semantic roles and distinct, context-dependent uses.