The polysemy of -ize derivatives: On the role of semantics in word formation

It has often been noted that derivatives involving the suffix -ize in English are extremely heterogeneous in terms of their semantics, syntax and types of bases the suffix attaches to. Thus adjectives and nouns may be verbalized by -ize, the resulting derivatives are transitive or intransitive, and they may have a whole range of different meanings, often paraphrased as ‘render x, make x, convert into x, put into the form of x, give the character or shape of x, subject to the action, treatment or process of X, subject to a process connected with X, impregnate, treat, combine with x, act in a way characterized by x, imitate the manner of x’ (cf. e.g. Jespersen (1942:319), Marchand (1969:320); X stands for the base word). Although this particular affix is generally regarded as the most productive overt verb-forming suffix in English (see, for example, Bauer 1983:222f., Baayen and Lieber 1991:830f., Lieber 19962, Plag to appear), there is only one more detailed study of the semantic heterogeneity of -ize to date. In this study, Lieber (1996) proposes four different semantic structures for -ize, which are partly considered polysemous, and partly homophonous.