Constraints and analogy in the lexicon. An analysis of adjectives derived with –ien and –iano in French and Italian
Résumé
Our assumption is the fact that a speaker's lexical competence depends on at least two factors: the memorized lexicon, by nature composite and stratified, and word formation rules/patterns. The former is only partially constituted by units constructed by means of the latter, since it contains borrowed words or words constructed at previous stages of language. We consider that the surface form of words constructed by synchronically productive rules is the result of the interaction of various constraints. These constraints are first of all phonological, but phonology alone would not explain in any case the form of morphologically complex word. Resemblance with other words belonging to the same morphological family can be as important as the non violation of a phonological principle. Our data are taken from a large database of derivates not recorded in dictionaries, and mostly retrieved via Web searches. Suffixes derived from Latin –(i)anus in French and Italian are a good object in order to elucidate this constraint interaction: in both languages, first, for those suffixes several variants exist. Second, a variant can be chosen in order to satisfy some constraints. Interesting, the same constraints apply in French and Italian, even if in a different order. In both languages the variant displaying a glide [j] (-iano and -ien) is today the most common. However new words construed without the glide are quite frequent. The choice between those allomorphs is conditioned by: (a) phonetic constraints, such as the tendency to avoid some sequences of phonemes; (b) the need to maximally preserve the segmental material of the base (c) size constraints (d) the pressure of the existing lexicon: even the variant -ano can be considered as unproductive today, it was productive in the past, and the Italian lexicon includes many words perfectly analyzable using this suffix. Their very existence justifies the fact that speakers may choose –ano as a variant of –iano to satisfy phonological requirements. Studying similar suffixes in French and Italian allows us to identify the different strategies these languages adopt in order to satisfy the various constraints operating in each of them.