Brno, 24th April 2023

Continuity and variation in Italian
deadjectival verb formation:
A diachronic corpus-based analysis
Claudio Iacobini
University of Salerno, Italy

Introduction
Ø Corpus based analysis of Italian verbs formed from the highest-frequency
adjectives
Ø Wide diachronic perspective, covering the whole history of the language
(12th c. - first decade of the 21st c.)
Development of deadjectival verb formation (coining and obsolescence)
Ø Focus on the encoding of the distinction between telic and atelic values
Ø Adoption of a verb-centred perspective, which enables us to reflect on the
contribution of the different derivational patterns (suffixation, conversion,
parasynthesis) to the purpose of coining verbs and on the relationship of
the derivational patterns to the existing lexicon, ultimately adopting the
speaker’s perspective, who has to make a choice among a number of
options, both when coining and diffusing a verb in usage

Introduction
Ø Overlap of the actional values expressed by deadjectival verbs formed by
different derivational patterns: telic verbs can be formed by the suffixes izzare and -ificare, by parasynthesis and by conversion; atelic verbs can be
formed with the suffix -eggiare or by conversion.
Ø Abundance of verbs formed from a same adjective in prior stages of the
language, which decreases over time; nonetheless: availability to date of
the various verbalizing patterns, i.e., no derivational pattern has exhausted
its productivity.

Introduction
Ø Malkiel,

Yakov.

1941.

Atristar-entristecer:

adjectival

verbs

in

Spanish,

Portuguese, and Catalan
Ø Aronoff, Mark. 2016. Competition and the lexicon
Ø Aronoff, Mark. 2019. Competitors and alternants in linguistic morphology
Ø Biological

and

evolutionary

studies

by

Charles

Darwin

and

Georgy

Frantsevitch Gause
Ø Girard, Gabriel. 1718. La justesse de la langue françoise ou les différentes
significations des mots qui passent pour synonimes
Ø
Ø “Blocking” Aronoff (1976), Rainer (1988, 2012)
Synonymy

and

same

distribution

across

contexts

are

the

key

factors

determining competition among derivational patterns in the linguistic ecosystem

Introduction
Ø Blocking is the morphological phenomenon in which a possible form for a
word cannot surface because it is "blocked" by another form whose
features are the most appropriate to the surface form's environment.
"non-occurrence of one form due to the simple existence of another“

Inflection: plural marker in English s or es (e.g. dog and dogs or wish and
wishes). This plural marker is not, however, acceptable on the word child (as in
*childs), because it is "blocked" by the presence of the competing form children,
which in this case inherits features from an older morphological process.
Blocking may also prevent the formation of words with existing synonyms,
particularly if the blocked form is morphologically complex and the existing
synonym is morphologically simple, e.g. *stealer which is blocked by the
existing simple form thief.
Paradigmatic point of view: semantic and syntactic features create slots or cells
in which items can appear. Blocking happens when one cell is engaged by one

Introduction
Bergson, Henri. 1907. L’évolution créatrice
Ø overcomes the opposition between mechanism and finalism delineating the
perspective of non-teleological creation
Ø elaborates a conception of duration and consciousness of time that allows us
to conceive change as a collective dimension resulting from individual
human behavior
Ø highlights the notion of consciousness as both an individual and a social
outcome related to the ideas of persistence and change
Ø Language is the historical result of a collective action that starts from
individual behavior with consequences for the system without an awareness
on the part of individuals of the complex dynamics of the whole linguistic
system

Outline
Ø Overview of the different derivational patterns employed in deadjectival verb
formation in Italian
ØData collection
Ø Analysis
Ø Summary

Deadjectival verbs in Italian:
derivational and semantic patterns

Suffixed verbs
Ø The verbalising suffixes that have been productively employed throughout all history
of the language:
§

-izzare, e.g., criminale ‘criminal’ → criminalizzare ‘criminalise’

§

-eggiare, e.g., scarso ‘scarce’→ scarseggiare ‘be scarce’

§

-ificare: e.g., beato ‘blessed’ → beatificare ‘beatify’;

Ø Suffixes -izzare and -eggiare go back to the same Greek etymon: -ιζειν.
The form -izzare comes to the Romance languages through learned borrowings from
Latin, while the suffix -eggiare goes back to the vernacular Latin form -idiare,
manifesting clear Romance phonetics.
Ø The suffix -ificare results from Latin compound verbs like certificare (certum facere)
and from other verbs derived either from nouns ending in -fex or from adjectives
ending in -ficus.

Converted verbs
Ø Conversion can be defined as “[…] a word-formation process where the form of the
converted item does not change, while its inflectional potential, its syntactic
function and its meaning do, such that the item displays inflectional, syntactic and
semantic properties of a new word class.” (Valera 2015: 322)
Ø
§ fermo ‘still’

→ fermare ‘to stop’

(-are class: default class)

§ svelto ‘quick’ → sveltire ‘make quicker’

(-ire class: currently unproductive class)

Parasynthetic verbs
Ø Simultaneous application of two derivational means, which results in the coinage of
prefixed verbs directly derived from adjectives, e.g.,
§ dolce ‘sweet’ → addolcire ‘to sweeten’
§ grasso ‘fat’

→ ingrassare

§ bianco ‘white’ → sbiancare

intr. ‘to gain weight’, tr. ‘to fatten’
tr. ‘to whiten, bleach’ intr. ‘to turn white’

Ø
Ø productivity of the prefixes (ad-, in-, s-) limited to this pattern
Ø specialisation of these prefixes to only express a change of state
Ø possibility to also form verbs belonging to the non-default, -ire inflectional class.

Semantic features
Ø The vast majority of deadjectival verbs refers to a telic situation, i.e., a situation that
is goal-oriented (denotes a change of state)
Ø Fewer verbs refer to an atelic situation, denoting states or activities.
The subject designates an entity that manifests/possesses, to varying degrees and/or at
intervals in time, the property in question
Ø The bases are mainly adjectives referring to human attitudes or colours, e.g.,
§ curioso ‘curious’ → curiosare ‘browse, snoop around’
§ verde ‘green’ → verdeggiare ‘be/become green’

Semantic features
●

●

change-of-state verbs

state or activity

●

verbs
●
●

causative

‘make become (more)
Adj’

inchoative

●

‘become (more) Adj’

●

●

velocizzare ‘speed (sth.)
up’

●

●

suffixed
●

●

converted

●

●

velocizzarsi ‘speed up’

●

●

●

stancare ‘tire’

‘be [appear, tend to, etc.]
more or less [a little, little,
quite, rather, often, etc.]
Adj’

●

●

fluidificare ‘fluidify (sth.)’

●

●

fluidificarsi ‘fluidify’

scurire ‘darken (sth.)’

●

●

●

scurirsi

●

●

parasynthet

allargare ‘broaden (sth.)’

‘be patient’, ‘wait
patiently’
●

‘darken’
●

●

pazientare

●

‘get tired’, tire o.s. out’

●

‘frolic, goof around’

●

stancarsi

●

folleggiare

●

‘browse, snoop around’

●

●

●

allargarsi ‘broaden’
impazzire ‘go crazy’

curiosare
●

†intristare

●
●

‘be sad’

Data collection

The corpus
Ø 7 1 0 Italian verbs derived from a sample of the 8 4 5 highest-frequency
adjectives
Ø
Ø The lexicographic sources:
§ Basic Vocabulary of the Italian language (De Mauro 1980)
§ Grande Dizionario della Lingua Italiana Historical Dictionary (Battaglia 1961–
2009)

The corpus
Ve r b s w e r e p r o v i d e d w i t h i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t :
Ø d a t e o f fi r s t a t t e s t a t i o n
Ø etymology: verbs of Italian formation, those of direct or
indirect

Latin

inheritance,

and

calques

and

borrowings

from other languages
Ø derivational
combination

patterns:
of

p r e fi x e s

s u ffi x e s ,
and

i n fl e c t i o n a l

i n fl e c t i o n a l

classes,

classes

within

parasynthetics patterns
Ø usage

labels,

as

reported

by

the

G RA D I T

dictionary,

distinguishing in particular between obsolete and current
usage

Chronological subdivision for verb
classification
1) From the beginning of the 13th century to 1375
2) From 1376 to 1532
3) From 1533 to 1691
4) From 1692 to 1840
5) From 1841 to 1947
6) From 1948 to 2010

Chronological subdivision for verb
classification
1 ) Fr o m t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e 1 3 t h c e n t u r y t o 1 3 7 5 : from the
beginning of literature (and, more generally, of vernacular writing) in Tuscany until the
year of Boccaccio's death and the appointment of Coluccio Salutati as Chancellor of
Florence; the same end date delimits the OVI – TLIO text collection.
1)
2 ) F r o m 1 3 7 6 t o 1 5 3 2 : this period includes Humanism and the Renaissance,
between the development of fiorentino “argenteo” (“silver” Florentine) and the choice
of fiorentino “aureo”(“golden” Florentine) as the literary standard, as theorized by Pietro
Bembo in Prose della volgar lingua (1525). This period ends in the year in which the
third edition of Orlando Furioso was published, the actualization of Bembo’s theorizing in
poetry.
3 ) F r o m 1 5 3 3 t o 1 6 9 1 : late Renaissance/ Mannerism and Baroque. This period
ends in the year in which the third edition of Vocabolario degli Accademici della Crusca
was published (1691), one year after the foundation of the Arcadia (1690).

Chronological subdivision for verb
classification
4) From 1692 to 1840: this period includes the Arcadia, the Enlightenment and
Romanticism. This is the age in which Modern Italian was born. This period ends with the
final edition of I promessi sposi, which is based, as is well known, on spoken Florentine.
This book acted, in many respects, as a linguistic model in post-unification Italy.
5) From 1841 to 1947: This is the period of the Risorgimento, of Italian unification and
of the two world wars, up until the advent of the Italian Republic and the proclamation of
the Constitution.
6) From 1948 to 2010: the Republican period, characterised by massive public
schooling, the spread of media, the spread in spoken use of the Italian language that has
surpassed that of dialects.

Analysis

Verbal derivatives per adjective
Ø
one

five or more

four
two
three

Adjectives as bases for multiple verbs
Ø rosso ‘red’
→ rosseggiare
→ rossare (obs) – inc.
→ arrossare – caus.
→ arrossire – inc.
→ inrossare (obs) – caus.
→inrossire (obs) – inc.
Ø doppio ‘double’
→ doppieggiare
→ doppiare (com, term)
→ indoppiare (obs)

Composition of the corpus
Ø

Parasynthesis

Conversion

Suffixation

Distribution over time of deadjectival verbs
Ø
●

●

Period

Deriv. Pattern

●

1200-

●

1376-

1375

●

1532

1533-

●

1692-1840

●

1691

1841-

●

1948-2010

Overall

●

1947

●

Suffixed

●

10%

●

14%

●

46%

●

49%

●

49%

●

80%

●

32%

●

Converted

●

36%

●

40%

●

19%

●

18%

●

20%

●

12%

●

27%

●

Parasynthetic

●

54%

●

46%

●

50%

●

34%

●

30%

8%

●

41%

●

Total250

●

33%

●

15%

●

16%

●

10%

●

15%

●

●

12%

●

100%

200

150

100

●

Suffixed

●

Converted

●

Parasynthetic

50

0

1200-1375

1376-1532

1533-1691

1692-1840

1841-1947

1948-2010

Deadjectival vs denominal verb formation
●

●

Period

1200-

●

Pattern

1376-

●

1375

1533-

●

1532

●

1692-1840

1841-

●

1691

●

1948-2010

Overall

●

1947

●

Suffixed

●

10%

●

14%

●

46%

●

49%

●

49%

●

80%

●

32%

●

Converted

●

36%

●

40%

●

19%

●

18%

●

20%

●

12%

●

27%

●

Parasynthetic

●

54%

●

46%

●

50%

●

34%

●

30%

●

Total

●

33%

●

15%

●

16%

●

10%

●

15%

●

1200-

●

1376-

●

1533-

1692-1840

●

1841-

●

●

Period

Pattern

1375

1532

●

1691

●
8%
41%
Deadjectivals
●
12%
100%

●

●

●

1948-2010

●

Overall

1947

●

Suffixed

●

11%

●

15%

●

23%

●

19%

●

33%

●

32%

●

19%

●

Converted

●

53%

●

38%

●

25%

●

32%

●

26%

●

40%

●

40%

●

Parasynthetic

●

36%

●

47%

●

52%

●

49%

●

41%

●

28%

●

41%

●

Total

●

43%

9%

●

18%

●

11%

●

13%

●

●

●
6%Denominals
100%

Suffixed verbs
Ø
●
●

Period

Deriv. Pattern

1200-

●

1376-

●

1375
●
●
●
●

-eggi(are)
-izz(are)
-ific(are)

●
●
●

Tot

●

1533-

●

1532

46%
4%
50%

●
●
●

11%

●

60%
20%
20%
7%

●

1692-1840

1841-

●

1691
●
●
●
●

●

1948-2010

Overall

●

1947

47%
43%
20%

18%
●
73%
●
9%

●

15%

●

15%

●

●

●

●

9%
78%
13%

●

23%

●

●

●

6%
91%
3%
29%

●
●
●
●

23%
64%
13%
100%

70
60
50

Ø Verbs fallen out of use:

40
30

-eggiare verbs: 75%

20

-ificare verbs: 30%

10
0

-izzare verbs 62%
1200-1375

1376-1532

1533-1691
eggiare

1692-1840

izzare

ificare

1841-1947

1948-2010

Suffixed verbs: co-occurrence and competition
Ø When co-radical verbs formed by -eggiare and -izzare express the same
meaning, they most often coincide in the expression of an atelic value:
§ latino ‘latin’ → latineggiare / latinizzare

‘to make use of Latinisms’

The very few verbs in -izzare which currently express an atelic value do not
have an -eggiare counterpart
§ solidale ‘supportive, sympathethic’ → solidarizzare ‘to sympathise [with sb]’
§ sottile ‘subtle’ → sottilizzare ‘argue or examine an issue with subtle,
precise, but often overly pedantic distinctions’
•

Suffixed verbs: co-occurrence and competition
Ø In the fewer cases of pairs of co-radicals where the -eggiare verb has
expressed a telic value, this has fallen out of use, with the rival in -izzare
prevailing
§ ridicolo ‘ridicule’ → *ridicoleggiare (obs) / ridicolizzare ‘to ridicule’
Ø Very rare pairs of verbs in -eggiare and –ificare
§ chiaro ‘light, clear’ → *chiareggiare (obs) / chiarificare ‘clarify’
Ø Co-radical verbs in -ificare and -izzare are sometimes synonymous, but more
often differ with respect to usage distribution.
•

Converted verbs
Ø
●
●

Period

Deriv. Pattern

1200-

●

1376-

●

1375
●
●
●

-are
-ire
Tot

●
●
●

1533-

●

1532

87%
13%
44%

●
●
●

●

1692-1840

1841-

●

1691

75%
25%
23%

●
●
●

67%
33%
11%

●

100%
●
0%
●
7%

95%
●
5%
●
10%

●

80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10

1200-1375

1376-1532

1533-1691
are

1692-1840
ire

1948-2010

Overall

●

1947

90

0

●

1841-1947

1948-2010

●

100%
●
0%
●
5%

●
●
●

83%
17%
100%

Parasynthetic verbs
Ø
●
●

Period

Deriv. Pattern

1200-

●

1376-

●

1375

Ad●
In●
S●
Tot

1532

56%
●
38%
●
6%
●
43%

●

●

1533-

●

●
●
●
●

1692-1840

●

1841-

●

1691

27%
53%
20%
17%

140

70

120

60

25%
●
68%
●
7%
●
19%

22%
●
52%
●
26%
●
8%

●

●

●
●
●
●

18%
61%
21%
11%

100

50

80

40
60
30
40

20

20

10
0

0
1200-1375

1200-1375
1376-1532

1376-1532
1533-1691
are

1533-1691
1692-1840
ire

ad

1948-2010

●

Overall

1947

90
80

●

1692-1840
1841-1947
in

s

1841-1947
1948-2010 1948-2010

13%
●
62%
●
25%
●
3%
●

37%
●
51%
●
12%
●
100%
●

Parasynthetic patterns
Ø
●
●

Period

Deriv. Pattern

1200-

●

1376-

●

1375

Ad-A-are
●
In-A-are
●
S-A-are
●
Tot
●

●

Period

Deriv. Pattern

1532

67%
●
26%
●
9%
●
50%

●

●

●

1200-

●
●
●
●
●

1375
●
●
●
●

Ad-A-ire
In-A-ire
S-A-ire
Tot

●
●
●
●

41%
57%
2%
35%

1533-

●

●
●
●

30%
52%
17%
16%

1841-

●

48%
●
48%
●
4%
●
14%
●

1533-

27%
●
45%
●
27%
●
7%
●

●

1692-1840

●
●
●
●
●

1691
●
●
●
●

12%
80%
9%
24%

●

1948-2010

Overall

●

1947

●

1532
●

1692-1840

1691

23%
54%
23%
17%
1376-

●

13%
67%
20%
10%
1841-

33%
●
33%
●
33%
●
2%

47%
●
40%
●
13%
●
100%

●

●

1948-2010

●

Overall

●

1947
●
●
●
●

17%
59%
25%
9%

●
●
●
●

22%
56%
22%
13%

●
●
●
●

0
80%
20%
3%

●
●
●
●

26%
63%
11%
100%

Parasynthetic verbs formed from a same adjective
Can differ with respect to:
Ø

inflectional class

§ caro ‘expensive, pricey’ → incarare / incarire ‘become more expensive’
§ piatto ‘flat’ → appiattare / appiattire
Ø

‘flatten’

prefix

§ largo ‘broad, large’ → allargare / slargare ‘enlarge, widen’
§ robusto ‘robust’ → arrobustire / irrobustire
Ø

‘make more robust, strengthen’

derivational pattern as a whole (in rare cases):

• ruvido ‘rough’ → arruvidare / irruvidire

‘roughen’

Atelic parasynthetic verbs

Present-day: Italian parasynthetic verbs express exclusively change-of-state
Prior stages: also atelic - usually state - verbs have been formed (currently
fallen out of use), e.g.,
§ triste ‘sad’ → intristare ‘look sad’
§ vario ‘varied, diverse’ → svariare ‘appear in shades of variegated colours’

Diachronic distribution of the verbs present
in the Gradit dictionary and in our dataset
50
Corpus

Gradit

45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
1200-1375

1376-1532

1533-1691

1692-1840

1841-1947

1948-2010

Concluding remarks

Concluding remarks

With this work we have provided some insight into the formation of deadjectival
verbs in Italian, concerning in particular:
- the proportion of adjectives that serve as base for one or multiple verbs;
-

the number of co-radical verbs for each adjective;

- the contribution of suffixation, conversion and parasynthesis to deadjectival verb
formation.
•

Concluding remarks
Main findings:
Ø Suffixation is the most frequently employed pattern in the cases where an adjective has
yielded only one verbal derivative
Ø When an adjective has formed two verbs, they are most often a converted and a
parasynthetic verb. The competition, for the expression of telicity, is mostly resolved
in favour of the parasynthetic rival, with the converted verb falling out of use:
§ giallo ‘yellow’ → giallire (obs) / ingiallire (com)

‘become yellow’

§ morbido ‘soft’ → morbidire (obs) / ammorbidire (com)

‘soften’

Ø Opposite cases also occur, though rarely:
§ lucido ‘shiny, bright’ → lucidare (com) / allucidare (obs)
-

‘polish’

Concluding remarks
•

Ø In cases where multiple co-radical verbs are attested, the diachronic
trend is toward the resolution of competition through a reduction of
the number of verbs:
§ forte ‘strong’ →

fortificare (com) ‘strenghten, fortify’
fortire (obs)

infortare (obs), inc
infortire (obs), inc

Concluding remarks

Ø
Ø

Ø The survival of more than one verb is in most cases due to the fact that the verbs are
not synonyms, but differ with respect to their semantic / actional values:
§ caldo ‘warm, hot’ → caldeggiare (com) ‘sympathise for sb’
accaldare (obs) caus
scaldare (com) caus
‘make warm’
§ estremo ‘extreme’ → estremare (obs)
estremizzare (com)

‘bring to the extreme’

•
•
Ø prevalence of one derivational pattern (-izzare verbs) over the others
•
Ø Disappearance over time •of a large number of verbs due to rivalry with
competing forms

Thank you for your attention