‘Abbreviated nouns’ in African languages: a morphological, semantic and lexicographic perspective

Abstract

This article focuses on morphological and semantic analysis as well as lexicographic treatment of a specific type of compound noun whose initial part is a so-called ‘abbreviated noun’, which in the case of Zulu is -so- or -no- and in Sepedi is ra- or ma-. It will be argued that these nouns have become grammaticalised forms which have lost their status as fully fledged lexical items, and have, through metaphorical usage and a subsequent process of desemanticisation, been reanalysed as grammatical units used productively to coin new words. A semantic continuum will be postulated representing the semantic range, or even shift, of these abbreviated nouns from the original meanings ‘father/mother of, as one extreme through’ owner of or ‘having special skills/characteristics’ to ‘occupation’ as the other extreme. Finally, various suggestions will be made for the alternative lexicographic treatment of transparent versus non-transparent forms, according to a transparency continuum.