Derivationally related deverbal synonyms in Middle English

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to show how the OED earliest quotations of verbs and deverbal coinages from the period of Middle English can lay the foundation for a study of the expansion of loosely synonymous deverbal word-forming families over time. Two areas open for diachronic modelling are suggested: comparison of the constituents’ ordinal positions in the strings of varied categorial affiliation and assessment of the extent of similarity of these processes. The description is supplemented with references to the developed interactive electronic framework.