Cultural and Linguistic Factors in Word Formation. An Integrated Approach to the Development of the Suffix -Age by Suzanne Fleishman (review)

CULTURAL AND LINGUISTIC FACTORS IN WORD FORMATION. AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SUFFIX -AGE BY SUZANNE FLEISHMAN (University of California Publications in Linguistics 86. Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press, 1977. ix + 492 page.) This fine monograph is based on the A.'s Berkeley dissertation (1975); see also RPh, 30 (1976-77), 42-58, and the forthcoming second volume of the Homenaje . . . Alarcos Ldorach. F. here studies the neological process as illustrated by the genesis of Fi.-age Gr.-Lat. aticu and its diffusion to the other Romance languages and English. She has chosen an integrated approach involving diachronic linguistics and cultural history. Her work thus represents an innovation in Romance word formation studies as it marks the first attempt to explain the growth and spread of a derivational pattern in terms of extra linguistic circumstances, namely the rise of feudalism in medieval France and the concomitant need to create an appropriate terminology. The opening chapter traces the complex history of -aticu in Latin and its transition from an adjectival to a nominal suffix used in Late Latin fiscal terminology. Chap. II examines the learned transmission of -aticu, with a side glance at "mock-learned" formations. Chap. Ill, one hundred pages long, analyses and lavishly documents the semantic evolution of OFr. -age and describes in detail the cultural context in which it flourished. The use of -age as a tax designator was its main function and the major factor behind its expansion. F. demonstrates that its role in forming collectives, abstracts, and action nouns are outgrowths of fiscal -age. The A. next surveys the vernacular reflexes of -aticu outside Gallo-Romance. In comparison with -age, these suffixes show a restricted development and, except for Rum. -atec/-atic, failed to become significantly productive. The concluding chapter richly illustrates the spread of -age beyond French. General linguists will profit from F.'s discussion here of the theoretical implications of borrowing and neologisms. The careful attention to data and theory combined with methodological innovations render this work a major contribution to Romance and General Linguistics. STEVEN N. DWORKIN* •STEVEN N. DWORKIN holds a Ph.D. in Romance Philology from the University of California at Berkeley and is currently an Assistant Professor of Romance Linguistics at the University of Michigan. He previously taught at Arizona State University. VOL. 33. NO. 4 (FkIl 1979) ...