Onomasiological Approach to Word-Formation

There are two basic approaches to the study of word-formation: onomasiological and semasiological. The semasiological (from Greek sema ‘sign’) method, proceeding from form to meaning/concept, concentrates on the analysis of the already existing word-stock. The onomasiological (from Greek onoma ‘name’) method, which takes the opposite direction and studies the naming act, has long been relegated to the periphery of research in works on English word-formation. As noted by Dalton-Puffer (1997: 9), a survey of the literature on English word-formation might lead to the conclusion “that meaning-oriented approaches to word-formation are practically untilled soil”; however, as she adds, the picture changes if we widen our linguistic horizons, and encompass Slavic and Romance works. In a similar vein, Grzega (2002: 2) when analysing the few recent theoretical contributions in this field states that it is astonishing that there have been very few attempts “made to view word-formation as a forming process, as an active process, in other words: as an onomasiologically and cognitively relevant phenomenon.” No wonder: within the mainstream generative tradition, the naming-act perspective has been more or less ignored. But, as noted by L. Lipka (2002: ix), “voices have been raised over the last few years pleading for a reconsideration, or re-discovery, of onomasiology.” This effort, aimed at providing an alternative to the dominating approach to word-formation, has also benefited from the creditable activity of J. Grzega and A. Bammesberger, the editors of an on-line journal Onomasiology Online. Interestingly, the first comprehensive onomasiological theory of word-formation, developed by Czech linguist M. Dokulil, appeared as early as 1962; and even if J. Horecký (1999: 6) aptly states that this theory did not result in a change of paradigm it found a number of proponents in other countries of Central and Eastern Europe, for instance, in Slovakia (Horecký, Buzassyova, Furdik, Stekauer), Poland (Puzynina 1969, Grzegorczykowa 1979, Szymanek 1988, Waszakowa 1994), former USSR (Nes imenko 1963, 1968), and also Germany (Fleischer 1969, von Polenz 1973, Huke 1977).