Ungrammaticalization of {-inho}
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5433/2237-4876.2009v12n2p205Keywords:
Ungrammaticalization, Linguistic change, Brazilian Portuguese.Abstract
This paper addresses the process of change in which the {-inho} affix becomes a free form, which sometimes works as an adjective or as a noun. We consider this process as a phenomenon of ungrammaticalization. In fact, if we observe the route of this process, we can see that the variant "-inho", which etymologically comes from the flexional suffix {-inu} in Latin, acquired phonological strengthening with the addition of the segment [z] to its base, and it resemantized into "zinho" which, in some contexts, took the form and function of a name, meaning "individual", "person". This can be summarized as follows: (-inu) > -inho > -zinho > zinho > adj. > subst.
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