The problem Peter raises is one aspect of word derivation, or derivational morphology, how we change a word from one class to another. Typical methods of doing this are
Prefixation: do > redo; tie > untie
(prefixation rarely changes word class)
Suffixation: code > codify; happy > happiness; procedure
> procedural; prefer > preference
Stress shift: im’port (v.) > ‘import (n.);
re’ject (v.) > ‘reject (n.)
A very important method of word derivation in English is what’s
called “functional shift”, changing a word from one class to
another without any overt marking. We regularly turn nouns into verbs by
this means:
We packed the books in a box. > We boxed the books.
This is such a common phenomenon in English that a grammatical
maxim has been coined: Any noun can be verbed. Your examples with “book”
are a good example of functional shift. Sometimes, however, it’s difficult
to tell what the direction of the shift is. With words like “hope”,
“wish”, and “claim”, in the following sentences.
I hope it doesn’t rain. <> It is my hope that is
doesn’t rain. Cf. Hope never dies.
She’s wishing for a vacation in the mountains.
<> Her wish for a vacation in the mountains. Cf. Make a wish.
The defendant claimed that he was out of the country when the
crime occurred. <> The defendant’s claim that he was
out of the country when the crime occurred. Cf. Where is the Claims
Department?
Whether some of these words have separate lexical entries as
nouns and as verbs depends on questions of usage. If their meanings
differ more than simply by word class, or if there isn’t a strong sense
that the word is basically of one class or another, then there are two lexical
entries. So they’d be two words. If there is a clear and
productive derivational relationship between them, then only one entry would be
needed. But the decision is frequently not clear cut.
I described functional shift only in terms of nouns and
verbs. Obviously it applies to nouns and adjectives as well and to other
pairs.
Herb
On Oct 7, 2007, at 6:59 PM, Martha Kolln wrote:
I think that one problem with terminology is the term "parts
of speech." (I prefer to discuss "word classes" rather
than "parts of speech." After all, we could also identify
prepositional phrases and subjects and predicates as "parts of
speech.") Except for the terms "gerund" and
"participle," the Warriner type of traditional school grammar
ignores the concept of function in its descriptions. For example, a noun
that modifies a noun headword (the garbage can, the
college professor, the computer problem) is labeled an adjective; a
noun modifying a verb (I walked home;
He's coming Monday) will be called
an adverb.
But considering both form and function, we would describe the noun
modifiers as nouns functioning adjectivally; the verb modifiers as nouns functioning
adverbially. The word class is one thing; its function another.
How about the word "book" in the following
sentence:
We always book our reservations six months in advance of our
vacation.
Is this "book" a verb? Or is it a noun
functioning as a verb? Is its form class noun, but its function
verb? It can take an -ed inflection (booked), so is it a
verb? But it can take a plural (books) and a possessive (the book's
cover), so is it a noun? Or are there two different words a noun
"book" and a verb "book" that just happen to be spelled and
pronounced identically? And, of course, there are lots of these words
that are usually nouns but are occasionally used as verbs or verbs occasionally
used as nouns.
Someone please help me understand how this form and function
distinction works for these words.
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