Davide92
Kouhai
- Joined
- 8 May 2017
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- 96
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Hi all. When I study languages, I like to spend some time noticing and studying the connections in terms of morphology (prefixes, affixes, sound changes etc.) between etymologically related words. For example, in the case of English, that would mean noticing (or finding out) that 'long, length, lengthen, oblong, elongate' etc. and even 'longing' share the same root. That would also mean noticing that 'th' makes nouns out of adjectives ( long → length, but also wide → width, broad → breadth...), that 'en' turns such nouns into verbs (length-en), etc.
When it comes to Japanese, I've noticed that my textbooks don't pay a lot of attention to these processes of derivation. I think they only cover in detail the transitive/intransitive verb patterns and the さ and み noun-forming suffixes.
One thing thing that I've noticed is that め/ま turns certain adjectives into verbs, for example 広い → 広める and 広まる. Also, according to this paper (http://www.f.waseda.jp/dechene/RP-RBS+JDM.pdf ), ぐ turns nouns into verbs with a meaning of 'making a typical use of something', as can be seen in 綱 → つなぐ and 股 → またぐ .
That's pretty much the extent of what I know on the subject.
I think noticing these connections can be useful to memorize more easily new words and also to get a deeper grasp of certain aspects of the language. At the same time, noticing them can be hard if one doesn't know that a pattern exists, as in the case of 綱 → つなぐ where the kanji aren't even the same.
So what do you think? If anyone has more information of this kind or can point me to resources that cover this, I would really appreciate that.
When it comes to Japanese, I've noticed that my textbooks don't pay a lot of attention to these processes of derivation. I think they only cover in detail the transitive/intransitive verb patterns and the さ and み noun-forming suffixes.
One thing thing that I've noticed is that め/ま turns certain adjectives into verbs, for example 広い → 広める and 広まる. Also, according to this paper (http://www.f.waseda.jp/dechene/RP-RBS+JDM.pdf ), ぐ turns nouns into verbs with a meaning of 'making a typical use of something', as can be seen in 綱 → つなぐ and 股 → またぐ .
That's pretty much the extent of what I know on the subject.
I think noticing these connections can be useful to memorize more easily new words and also to get a deeper grasp of certain aspects of the language. At the same time, noticing them can be hard if one doesn't know that a pattern exists, as in the case of 綱 → つなぐ where the kanji aren't even the same.
So what do you think? If anyone has more information of this kind or can point me to resources that cover this, I would really appreciate that.