Semantic rivalry between affixes: the case of Portuguese nominalisers

Abstract

Alexandra Soares Rodrigues’ paper (Semantic rivalry between affixes: the case of Portuguese nominalisers) argues that affixes have semantic features which are semantically compatible or not with each one of the aspect features of the verb. The semantic feature of the affix will coindex with the semantic feature of the verb that is most compatible with itself. This explains the fact that a verb may end up with different event deverbal nouns. Each one has semantic nuances that result from the specific features used in coindexation.