§ 15. Typical Semantic Relations

As one of the two words within a conversion pair is semantically derived from the other, it is of great theoretical and practical importance to determine the semantic relations between words related through conversion. Summing up the findings of the linguists who have done research in this field we can enumerate the following typical semantic relations.

I. Verbs converted from nouns (denominal verbs).

This is the largest group of words related through conversion. The semantic relations between the nouns and verbs vary greatly. If the noun refers to some object of reality (both animate and inanimate) the converted verb may denote:

1. action characteristic of the object, e.g. ape n - ape v - ‘imitate in a foolish way’; butcher n - butcher v - ‘kill animals for food, cut up a killed animal’;

2. instrumental use of the object, e.g. screw n - screw v - ‘fasten with a screw’; whip n - whip v - ’strike with a whip’;

3. acquisition or addition of the object, e.g. fish n - fish v - ‘catch or try to catch fish’; coat n - ‘covering of paint’ - coat v - ‘put a coat of paint on’;

4) deprivation of the object, e.g. dust n - dust v - ‘remove dust from something’; skin n - skin v - ‘strip off the skin from’; etc.

II. Nouns converted from verbs (deverbal substantives).

The verb generally referring to an action, the converted noun may denote:

1. instance of the action, e.g. jump v - jump n - ‘sudden spring from the ground’; move v - move n - ‘a change of position’;

2. agent of the action, e.g. help v - help n - ‘a person who helps’; it is of interest to mention that the deverbal personal nouns denoting the doer are mostly derogatory, e.g. bore v - bore n - ‘a person that bores’; cheat v - cheat n - ‘a person who cheats’;

3. place of the action, e.g. drive v - drive n - ‘a path or road along which one drives’; walk v - walk n - ‘a place for walking’;

4) object or result of the action, e.g. peel v - peel n - ‘the outer skin of fruit or potatoes taken off; find v - find и - ’something found,” esp. something valuable or pleasant’; etc.

§ 16. Diachronic Approach of Conversion. Origin

Modern English vocabulary is exceedingly rich in conversion pairs. As a way of forming words conversion is extremely productive and new conversion pairs make their appearance in fiction, newspaper articles and in the process of oral communication in all spheres of human activity gradually forcing their way into the existing vocabulary and into the dictionaries as well. New conversion pairs are created on the analogy of those already in the word-stock on the semantic patterns described above as types of semantic relations. Conversion is highly productive in the formation of verbs, especially from compound nouns. 20th century new words include a great many verbs formed by conversion, e.g. to motor - ‘travel by car’; to phone - ‘use the telephone’; to wire - ’send a telegram’; to microfilm - ‘produce a microfilm of; to tear-gas - ‘to use tear-gas’; to fire-bomb - ‘drop fire-bombs’; to spearhead - ‘act as a spearhead for’; to blueprint - ‘work out, outline’, etc.