Language is embiggened by wo ds
ha don’ exis : he case o aci cum ix
Aleš Klég (P aha)
The Simpsons’ Sp ing ield own mo o
“Anoble spi i embiggens1 he smalles man.”
ABSTRACT
The pape deals wi h pa asyn he ic o ma ions combining he p e ix en- and he su ix -en, which
a e some imes ega ded as an example o aci cum ix in English. The aim is o ind mo e ins ances
o his pa e n han he usual h ee o ou men ioned in he li e a u e (enligh en, embolden, enli en,
and embiggen). A e sea ching h ee co po a o se e al billion wo ds wi hou much success, an ex-
pe imen was made o sea ch he Web o hypo he ical e b okens cons uc ed om monosyllabic
adjec i es on he pa e n p o ided by he ou ini ial e bs. The sea ch con i med ha mo e han
ahund ed such e bs occu on he Web. The disco e y o so many en-Adj-en e bs unacknowledged
in s anda d e e ence books is a ibu ed o he e ec o big da a on he Web; i is assumed ha he
en-Adj-en pa e n is he ype o p ocess whose unc ion is p ima ily p agma ic, occasion-speci ic
and discou se-o ien ed, a he han lexical (i.e. concep labelling). As a esul , al hough he pa e n
is a ailable o ac i e use, hese o ma ions, a e ha ing se ed hei pu pose, a ely ge beyond he
nonce-wo d s age, le alone en e he lexicon.
KEYWORDS
pa asyn hesis, ci cum ix, en-Adj-en pa e n, conjec u al o ms, Web sea ch expe imen
1. PRELIMINARIES
The i s pa o he pape ’s i le quo es he headline o Baue ’s (2008) b ie no e on
he Web. He add esses he ques ion o he s a us o wo ds we may ha e seen o hea d
bu which a e no lis ed in he s anda d e e ence books, and uses he wo d embig-
gen as an example. “Wha we p obably wan o say in such cases,” he concludes, “is
ha he e is such awo d, bu ha i is no ound in he kind o English ha many o
us happen o speak o w i e, jus as “mo phosyn ac ic” is p obably no in he kind o
English mos o he eade s o his column will speak o w i e. A leas we can ind
some aces o ‘embiggen’.” This seems o imply ha he ‘exis ence’ o awo d is p o-
po ional o he ex en o i s use. As he oo no e below explains, he wo d embiggen
has been a ound o qui e some ime. I is echnically desc ibed as being o med by
pa asyn hesis: ap e ix-su ix combina ion. The em-en added o he adjec i al base big
1 The wo d embiggen was coined by Dan G eaney in 1996 o “Lisa he Iconoclas ”, an episode
om Season 7 o The Simpsons TV Se ies— h ps://en.wikipedia.o g/wiki/Lisa_ he_Icon-
oclas . See also Pe e s (2005) The Simpsons: Embiggening Ou Language wi h C omulen
Wo ds. Ve ba im: The Language Qua e ly 30/2 (Summe 2005), 1–5.
54 LINGUISTICA PRAGENSIA 1/2018
is some imes ega ded as an example o aci cum ix in English. The pape examines
he dis ibu ion o his p esumed ci cum ix in con empo a y English, i s equency
o incidence, o a he a ailabili y, oge he wi h aspec s o i s use, and a emp s o
place he indings in ab oade con ex .
2. INTRODUCTION: PARASYNTHESIS AND CIRCUMFIXATION
In English, as in o he languages, we ind wo ds de i ed by he combina ion o ap e-
ix and asu ix. Some o hese combina ions a e due o ase ial p ocess (e.g. deca -
bonize), some appea o ha e been o med by adding p e ix and su ix simul aneously
(e.g. deca eina e), which is called pa asyn hesis. “I nei he o hese a ixes is used on
i s own”, says Baue (1988b: 28, 325–326), “and he wo seem o ealize asingle mo -
pheme, hey a e some imes classed oge he as aci cum ix”; i aci cum ix “is aken
o be asingle a ix, i is adiscon inuous mo ph.” In amo e ecen book, Baue , Liebe
and Plag (2013: 500–503) show ha he dis inc ion in English be ween he h ee ypes
o mul iple hie a chical o ma ions ( he p e ix is se ially a ached o an exis ing su -
ixed de i a i e, asu ix is a ached o an exis ing p e ixed wo d, and he possibil-
i y o ei he analysis) and pa asyn he ic o ma ions (de ined as ins ances o simul-
aneous p e ixa ion and su ixa ion, in which nei he ap e ixed base no asu ixed
base has been a es ed be o e he appea ance o he su ixed and p e ixed o m) is
no always easy o make. Using he e b deca eina e as an example, hey poin ou
ha “ he e was no e b ca eina e a he ime o c ea ion o which he e e sa i e
p e ix de- migh ha e a ached. The e was also no po en ial base deca ein o he a -
achmen o he su ix –a e […]. This means ha he meaning ‘ emo e X’ is exp essed
h ough bo h he p e ix and he su ix, wi h he su ix con ibu ing he e bal seman-
ics and he p e ix he p i a i e meaning. I migh seem ha we would be o ced o
posi aci cum ix de-a e wi h ha meaning, […], bu bo h de- and -a e occu indepen-
den ly elsewhe e wi h he ele an meanings, which is no ypical o aci cum ix.”
They sugges wo al e na i e explana ions: he exis ence o apu a i e e b ca eina e
‘p o ide (wi h) ca eine’ subsequen ly p e ixed wi h he e e sa i e p e ix de-, and
he ope a ion o analogy, i.e. he pa asyn he ic o m is c ea ed on he pa e n o he
many exis ing de i a i es wi h he same s uc u e (deacyla e, decapaci a e, dechlo i-
na e, dehyphena e). In asubsequen book, Baue (in Liebe and Š ekaue 2014: 127) up-
holds he igo ous c i e ia o he ecogni ion o aci cum ix, he “ ype o pa asyn-
hesis ha seems o gain mos a en ion”: “In con incing ins ances o pa asyn hesis,
he wo pa s mus make up asingle a ix, which is usually aken o imply ha i we
ha e awo d o he o m X-Base-Y whe e X…Y is he ci cum ix, he e is no seman i-
cally ela ed o m X-Base and no seman ically ela ed o m Base-Y. Amo e es ic i e
equi emen would be ha he e mus ne e be any wo ds o o m Y-Base o Base-Y
which ul ill he same unc ion as X-Base-Y.”
We may ask why and whe he i is necessa y o insis ha he wo componen s
X and Y o aci cum ix mus no appea on hei own in X-Base o Base-Y and wha
wa an s he claim ha i hey do i is no “ ypical o aci cum ix” o acon incing
ins ance o pa asyn hesis. This no o say ha he es ic i e equi emen is pu ely
ALEŠ KLÉGR 55
a bi a y, bu e en i some languages do ha e ci cum ixes ha sa is y his s ic
equi emen , may he e no be o he languages o which i does no apply in ull?
Gi en he endency o a ixes o be mul i unc ional and ha e o e lapping uses, would
no he exis ence o ci cum ixes made up only o “dedica ed” componen s be some-
hing o aluxu y in alanguage? As ama e o ac , in Czech mo phological heo y he
X-Base-Y o ms a e ecognized as ci cum ixes e en when he Y is dep eposi ional o
a ee-s anding e lexi e pa icle. I any hing, an example such as deca eina e abo e
e iden ly c ea es ap oblem and shows ha insis ence on he es ic ion esul s in he
need o in en al e na i e in e p e a ions. I is no su p ising hen ha au ho s a e
some imes no consis en in he use o he label ci cum ix.
A e he e such ins ances in English, i.e. a e he e ci cum ixes in English? Lie-
be (1992: 155) echoes Baue ’s (1988b) complain ha li le o no a en ion has been
gi en o ci cum ixes (in he gene a i e heo y o mo phology) bu adduces no ex-
amples o ci cum ixa ion in English. Baue (1988b: 315) himsel en a i ely allows
ha “Bepa ched may illus a e a a e ci cum ix in mode n English”, as “[ ]e e is no
e b bepa ch om which bepa ched could ha e come.” In his la e books quo ed abo e,
hough, he sounds a he skep ical abou he exis ence o ci cum ixes in English.
Ye , we can ead in Baue and Vale a (2015: 77) ha “The sample con ained one case o
o he wo d- o ma ion p ocesses, namely ci cum ixa ion, in he wo d enligh en.” This
would sugges ha he en/em-en combina ion need no be comple ely excluded om
conside a ion as aci cum ix.
Finally, he issue o ci cum ixes has been ecen ly aised by S ump (2017) in con-
nec ion wi h his mic omo phology hypo hesis which he de ends in his pape . He
o mula es he hypo hesis a he a ix le el (an a ix may be mo phologically com-
plex, i.e., acombina ion o o he a ixes) and he ule le el (a ule o a ixa ion may
be mo phologically complex, i.e., he con la ion o o he ules o a ixa ion). Re e -
ing o Baue ’s (1988a) pos ula ed syna ixes (including bo h con inuous con la ed
a ixes such as -ic-al and -abil-i y and discon inuous a ixes such as ci cum ixes o
complex ma kings some o all o whose componen s a e nonconca ena i e), he poses
aques ion whe he aci cum ix should be seen as acomplex a ix whose wo pa s
a e discon inuous. And concludes (p.121) ha “[i ] so, hen con la ed a ixes a e only
one kind o complex a ix, ci cum ixes should be seen as complex a ixes ha esul
om he composi ion ( a he han he con la ion) o a ule o p e ixa ion and a ule
o su ixa ion.” Again, does he assumed composi ion o ap e ix and asu ix and he
espec i e ules esul ing in aci cum ix necessi a e ha he wo a ixes ha e o ap-
pea only as pa s o he ci cum ix?
3. THE PATTERN EN/EM-BASE-EN
In spi e o , o because o , he unclea heo e ical s a us o he en/em-en combina ion
as aci cum ix, i is occasionally desc ibed as such in some English and o he sou ces
(e.g. By d and Min z 2010; Če mák 2008, 2011). A any a e, he pa e n en/em-Base-
en is p obably he mos quo ed, ye unde s udied case o pa asyn hesis in English—
By d and Min z (2010: 2018) e en claim he en-X-en is he only ci cum ix in Eng-
56 LINGUISTICA PRAGENSIA 1/2018
lish— and o his eason i was a ge ed in his s udy. The ema kable hing abou
his pa e n is ha in bo h he linguis ic li e a u e and dic iona ies (e.g. The Concise
Ox o d English Dic iona y, 2004), i is exempli ied by only h ee e bs, enligh en, en-
li en and embolden. The pa e n (o he concep o ci cum ixa ion, o ha ma e ) is
no men ioned in such s anda d accoun s o English wo d- o ma ion as Adams (1973,
2001), Baue (1983), Baue and Huddles on (2002) o Plag (2003). This would sugges
ha he pa e n is in ac non-p oduc i e o una ailable (in he sense ha i canno
“be used o p oduce new wo ds as hey become necessa y”, Baue 2004: 205). Indeed,
Ma chand (1969: 163) in his seminal monog aph on wo d- o ma ion men ions e bs
de i ed om adjec i es and nouns by he su ix –en o which he p e ix en/em- was
added be ween 1500 and 1650, bu no es ha mos o hese e bs ha e become obso-
le e. Simila ly, Adams (2001: 42) claims ha “Two p e ixes, na i e be- and o eign en-,
cogna e wi h by and in, no longe appea in new o ma ions”. Baue and Huddles on
(2002: 1703) men ion he p e ix en/em- on i s own o only in combina ion wi h he
su ix –men . As Ihad some doub s abou he una ailabili y o he en/em-en pa e n
in mode n English— suppo ed by he a en ion gi en o embiggen— Iconduc ed
a wo-p onged, co pus- and Web-based, sea ch o ind ou whe he he pa e n is no
longe p oduc i e.
The o m o he pa e n on which he s udy ocuses is de i ed om he h ee e bs,
enligh en, enli en and embolden, which may be ega ded as p o o ypical examples. I
includes he p e ix en- (changing o he allomo ph em- be o e bilabial consonan s b,
m, p), he adjec i al base (monosyllabic, wi h ei he aclosed o an open syllable), and
he su ix –en; he pa e n is class-changing, i.e. esul s in a e b.
4. DATA SOURCES AND RETRIEVAL METHODS
The da a was collec ed om wo sou ces, co po a and he Web. In he i s s ep,
h ee co po a (see Co po a in Re e ences) we e sea ched, he BNC, A aneum An-
glicum Maius and he NOW (News o he Wo ld) co pus. The co pus que y had he
o m [lemma="e[n,m].+en"& ag="V.+"] o he BNC and he A aneum co pus ac-
cessed using he KonTex in e ace o he Czech Na ional Co pus; in he NOW co -
pus, he indi idual e b o ms o he ype en/em-Base-en+0/-s/-ed/-ing we e looked
o and manually p ocessed. The esul s we e disappoin ing: he BNC (100 million
wo ds) con ained only he h ee dic iona y-a es ed e bs, enligh en, enli en and
embolden (in his o de o equency), he much la ge co pus A aneum (1.2 bil-
lion wo ds) con ained only wo mo e e bs o his ype, en ichen and enhippen. Fi-
nally, NOW, he la ges co pus o he h ee (o e 4.4 billion wo ds), added nine mo e
deadjec i al e bs (embiggen, enda ken, enla gen, enwisen, e c.). All in all, he h ee
co po a con ain only 14 di e en deadjec i al e b lemmas, including he p edic -
able enligh en, enli en and embolden, and ahand ul o noun- and e b-based o ma-
ions (en il hen, enhea en, ensc ip en, en icken, e c.) ha we e excluded om he
sample.
Gi en he pauci y o hi s in he co po a, adi e en app oach o da a e ie al
was adop ed in he nex s age: an expe imen es ing o he p esence o hypo he i-
ALEŠ KLÉGR 57
cal e bs on he Web. The ad an age o using he Web and Google Sea ch, wi h all i s
pi alls2, is ha he Web ep esen s he la ges , mos a ied and up- o-da e eposi o y
o con empo a y language. The e ie al expe imen p oceeded in wo s eps. The ini-
ial idea was ha i na i e speake s a e amilia wi h and use he en-Adj-en pa e n
o c ea e new e bs om (monosyllabic) adjec i es a all, hen he bes way is o s a
wi h he mos equen adjec i es and see whe he hypo he ical e bs o med om
hese adjec i es can ac ually be ound on he Web. Using he BNC F equency Lis o
Adjec i es (compiled by Leech, Rayson and Wilson 2001), he i s 100 mos equen
adjec i es we e si ed o all monosyllabic ones. The lis includes 35 monosyllabic ad-
jec i es om which conjec u al e b o ms on he en-Adj-en pa e n we e c ea ed.
These hypo he ical e bs, o a he hei cha ac e is ic o ms, he –ed pas ense
o m/pas pa iciple, he 3 d pe son p esen ense o m o he ing- o m, we e hen
sea ched o on he Web (in Feb ua y 2014). Wi h adjec i es s a ing wi h b, m o p,
bo h he p e ix en- and i s allomo ph em- we e es ed o . To make as su e as possible
ha he o ma ions o igina ed wi h na i e speake s, he sea ch was es ic ed o he
UK and he US domains (i was also assumed ha i would be na i e, a he han non-
na i e, speake s who engage in such c ea i e o ma ion). The sea ch a ge ed e bs
in an u e ance, which signals ha he o ma ion was used in ac ual ex . As he aim
o he sea ch was o asce ain whe he someone e e hough o c ea ing such a e b
a all, e en asingle occu ence was coun ed as asuccess ul hi . By he same oken, no
coun was kep o how many occu ences we e ound, as he expe imen is no abou
he equency o occu ence, bu he a ailabili y o he pa e n in cu en English as
such. Ins ances wi h dubious con ex (non-sen en ial, incohe en , e c.) o no based
on an adjec i e we e excluded.
Qui e unexpec edly he s a egy wi h he mos equen adjec i es as bases p o ed
hugely success ul. So much so ha he second pa o he e ie al expe imen wen
one s ep u he and used amuch la ge se o monosyllabic adjec i es ha we e cho-
sen andomly his ime, i.e. ega dless o hei equency anking. The p ocedu e was
he same: he adjec i es we e u ned in o hypo he ical e bs and googled (Feb ua y
o Oc obe , 2017). As wi h he i s se , some o hem appea ed se e al imes, many
only once, bu only hose used in con empo a y language we e aken in o accoun ,
da ing ypically om he end o he las cen u y up un il 2017. Again he equency
o indi idual o ma ions on he Web was dis ega ded.
5. DATA ANALYSIS: CORPUS FINDINGS
Al hough he co pus indings a e a he meag e in e ms o he numbe o di e -
en e bs o he ype sough , hey can p o ide he equencies o hei occu ence
2 The p os and cons o using he Web as co pus ha e been ex ensi ely deba ed o some
ime, see, o ins ance, he 2003 Special Issue on he Web as Co pus, Compu a ional Lin-
guis ics 29/3, o Hund , Nesselhau and Biewe (2007). In spi e o c i ical oices, esp. e-
ga ding he use o Google (Kilga i 2007), he Web o e s in aluable in o ma ion on a e
phenomena (Ju kiewicz-Rohbache , Kolako ić and Hansen 2017).

58 LINGUISTICA PRAGENSIA 1/2018
wi hin he co pus. The co po a included he ollowing lemmas based on he en-Adj-
en pa e n: he BNC (3)— enligh en, enli en, embolden; A aneum (5)— enligh en, en-
li en, embolden, en ichen, enhippen; NOW (News o he Wo ld; 13)— enligh en, em-
bolden ( a ian enbolden), enli en, embiggen (wi h he a ian enbiggen), emplumpen,
enb igh en (no em- a ian ), en a en, enda ken, enla gen, en ichen, en igh en, enslicken,
enwisen. All h ee co po a sha ed only he e bs enligh en, enli en, and embolden; wo
o hem, A aneum and NOW, sha ed one mo e, en ichen. Fi e o he e bs appea ed
only once in he 5.7 billion-wo d co po a. Al oge he hese ex co po a con ain 14
lemmas: embiggen (enbiggen), embolden (enbolden), emplumpen, enb igh en, enda ken,
en a en, enhippen, enla gen, enligh en, enli en, en ichen, en igh en, enslicken, and enwi-
sen. The o mal ea u es o he o ma ions, such as he p esence o he al e na ion o
ini ial en- o em- be o e bilabials b, m, p, o i s absence (enbolden, enb igh en, enbiggen)
will be discussed la e .
Unlike he Web da a, he co po a p o ide equencies o hese lemmas and so can
gi e us an idea o how o en hey a e used. The ollowing o e iew shows bo h hei
o al equencies and hei espec i e equencies in he BNC, A aneum, and NOW
co po a (misspelled ins ances we e discoun ed):
lemma To al BNC/A aneum/NOW
enligh en 29677 242/4791/24644
embolden 11986 53/1122/10811
enli en 5010 182/1256/3572
embiggen 158 —/—/158
en ichen 25 —/6/19
enla gen 10 —/—/10
enb igh en 6 —/—/6
enda ken 5 —/—/5
enbolden 4 —/—/4
enwisen 2 —/—/2
emplumpen 1 —/—/1
en a en 1 —/—/1
enhippen 1 —/1/—
en igh en 1 —/—/1
enslicken 1 —/—/1
Table 1.Summa y o he co pus indings
Table 1 makes i clea why only he i s h ee o he ou een en-Adj-en lemmas iden-
i ied in he co po a a e ound in s anda d dic iona ies and can be sa ely conside ed
pa o he lexicon (i.e. lis emes). Gi en he o al size o he co po a (o e 5.7 billion
wo ds), he emaining lemmas a e clea ly ma ginal and epheme al (wi h he possi-
ble excep ion o embiggen which may ha e enjoyed, o pe haps s ill does, some hing
o a ashion as Baue ’s no e and Pe e s’ a icle sugges ), and can be conside ed nonce
wo ds.
ALEŠ KLÉGR 59
All his would sugges ha o all p ac ical pu poses he en-Adj-en pa e n is in-
deed non-p oduc i e in cu en English as gene ally assumed. To make su e ha his
is eally he case, ano he a emp was made using a wo-pa Web expe imen .
6. DATA ANALYSIS: WEB EXPERIMENT FINDINGS
The i s pa o he expe imen s a ed wi h iden i ying all monosyllabic adjec i es
in he i s 100 mos equen adjec i es om he lis compiled by Leech, Rayson, and
Wilson (2001). These monosyllabic adjec i es could be po en ial bases o en-Adj-en
e bs. The ba ch o one hund ed mos equen adjec i es included he ollowing 35
monosyllabic ‘seed’ adjec i es (in o de o equency):
good, new, old, g ea , high, small, la ge, young, igh , big, la e, ull, a , low, bad, main, su e,
clea , black, whi e, ee, sho , s ong, ue, ha d, poo , wide, close, ine, w ong, nice, F ench,
ed, p ime, dead
Table 2.The lis o 35 monosyllabic seed adjec i es selec ed om he i s 100 mos equen adjec i es
in he BNC
Nex , 35 hypo he ical e bs we e o med om hese seed adjec i es on he en-Adj-en
pa e n and sea ched o on he Web. The sea ch e ealed ha 27 e b o ms o he 35
hypo he ical e bs we e indeed ound, ha is, only 8 o hem (ma ked in bold in he
lis abo e) we e no a es ed on he Web. In o he wo ds, mo e han 3/4 (77 pe cen )
o he hypo he ical e bs appea ed on he Web a leas once (some imes mo e han
once). As he adjec i es o ming una es ed e bs a e sp ead h oughou he whole
se o 35, p esumably equency played no pa in his. He e a e (unedi ed) examples
o all he 27 e bs in con ex :
I ’s well-known ha apic u e o a housand wo ds make h aba le epo en-
goodened. / Enoldened now, Sansa began o plan, o assimila e. / Today ou insu -
icien ly eng ea ened na ion go i s answe / Mos p e-wo kou p oduc s a e made
o li e s. Thei pu poses wa y be ween/a e o en combined o he ollowing: en-
highened men al ocus ( his is some hing many o hem do), … / Ou ins i u ional
b anding is s ill he e bu cen e ed and ensmallened. / Enla gened Top View o A1N
Single Laye De ec . / In lashback, we see adigi ally enyoungened Ku Russell
head o e heels in lo e wi h Pe e ’s mom. / Ihope you’ll ind his in o ma ion
wo h you ime o ead and ge en igh ened in he p ocess. / Well, ano he week
ull o comics is al eady dawned (e en i sligh ly enla ened om a ip o g and-
ma’s) / Iam en ullened wi h jealiosi y. / Isuspec Ha mless delibe a ely enlowened
he pos ing le el a e he hia us in o de o a ac o e s / I was u he embad-
dened by he ac ha he de ense counsel he was alking abou hadn’ e en been
in he same cou oom. / The con inuous e o s ensu ened asigni ican p og ess
in linking b oadcas e s wi h he NDMA in Thailand, / Abgo , Xe a h and Phy exia
a e among he bands ha will pe o m a he Enblackened 2010 es i al held a he
60 LINGUISTICA PRAGENSIA 1/2018
Camden Unde wo ld on Sa u day May 15 h 2010 / when Iwoke up his mo ning
he wo ld had been enwhi ened. / The page seems o be ensho ened / I became
akind o eligious my h ens ongened a e he all o communism / Yea, and hey
d ink, o mo e enha dened joy, Man’s blood o wine, / he e is akind o uni e sal
cul u al impo e ishmen and hei li es a e empoo ened by i . / we also enwidened
ou whole p oduc ange / The wall is iewed om so close-up, so i is almos as
i one is being enclosened and smashed by he wall. / And Saje, dude, s op si ing
so enw ongened. You’ll end up hu ing you sel . / Wha e e mi aculous ennicening
and ensma ening p ocess has been u ilized he e should be applied o he en i e
wo ld. / he pseudonym she uses in ‚No Fu u e o You‘ is jus aposhe , sligh ly
enF enchened e sion o / I’m no con inced ha „en eddened“ will ca ch on ... /
Ikilled mos o hem, bu Ican’ seem o igu e ou how o kill he kamakazi guys
wi hou becoming endeadened mysel .
Ve b o ms no con i med on he Web come om he adjec i es clea , a , ine, ee,
main, new, p ime, and ue, i.e. e bs like *enclea en, *en a en, *en een, *ennewen, *en-
uen, e c. The possible easons o hei non-occu ence will be discussed la e .
In iew o he encou aging esul s, he second pa o he e ie al expe imen
sough o inc ease he sample o e bs o be sea ched o and a he same ime a oid
he po en ial e ec o selec ing adjec i es by equency. Fo his eason, wo and
ahal imes mo e seed adjec i es we e chosen, his ime andomly wi hou conside -
ing hei (co pus) equencies. This second se (see Table 3) hus included he ollow-
ing 91 seed adjec i es om which hypo he ical e bs we e o med and looked o on
he Web, using he same p ocedu e as in he i s pa :
bald, ba e, bland, blank, bleak, blind, blue, blun , b a e, b ie , b oad, b oke, b own, coa se, cold,
cool, c ass, c isp, c ude, cu e, damp, dea , deep, dense, dim, d unk, dull, ai , as , ie ce, i , la ,
esh, glad, gold, g im, g oss, g u , ha sh, ho , huge, jus , kind, lewd, limp, long, loud, mad, meek,
mild, nea , nea , odd, pale, posh, p oud, quee , quick, ash, aw, ound, ude, sa e, scan , sha p,
sick, sleek, sligh , slim, sma , smoo h, so , sound, spa se, s eep, s e n, s i , s ill, s aigh , s ange,
s uck, swee , swi , all, hick, igh , ague, wa m, wei d, we , wild
Table 3.The lis o 91 monosyllabic seed adjec i es andomly chosen
This ime he sea ch con i med he occu ence o 81 hypo he ical e bs (89 pe cen )
based on he adjec i es. I should be no ed ha as he choice o he adjec i es was hap-
haza d, he ac ual igu es could easily be di e en wi h adi e en se o adjec i es,
which, howe e , does no de ac om he ac ha he numbe o a es ed e bs is
conspicuously high. The e bs which we e no ound on he Web de i e om hese 10
adjec i es: c ass, jus , nea , odd, quee , ash, aw, scan , s e n, s ill (again highligh ed in
he abo e lis ). In o de o illus a e he a ie y o adjec i es appea ing in his kind o
o ma ion, asample o e bs based on di e en ypes o adjec i es is p esen ed he e:
Ice ainly p e e o be smug and me y, bu Iwas enbleakened by ho mones and
sel -pi y. / a e you enblindened by you u y, only wishing o see someone who
ALEŠ KLÉGR 61
de ea s you as ha ing an un ai ad an age, o ease he ange o losing? / The sky is
enbluened wi h agobbe o bee le wings, and he e a e no owl sca s o dis ac you
om he incessan hobbling o iny gna s; Iha e been embluened ! / Idon’ objec
o b e i y, bu he ideas being enb ie ened ha e o ha e a leas ali le me i o s a
wi h. / The mic os uc u e will be encoa sened e en a ini ia ion o i s solidi ica-
ion, / You inge ing you sel in you di y, spunk enc ispened bed p obably only
bu ns like 50 calo ies. / Once again he obse an echbea wa che inds his o
he lowe - o so ga men s endampened by ea , as news eme ges ha hea yweigh
US mili a y ne ds / Jus like asand-endensened low, you swep in o my wo ld./
e e since his a ack upon me in Waynesbu g, whe e he was backed by big John
King and his hos o iends, he has been ge ing mo e en ie cened, ... / Oh he e’s
acouple o in e iew clips whe e hey (including apa ially e-en i ened Paul)
alk abou The Sa u days / They p e e ed o eco d hei au oma ic w i ing in
pe ec ly co ec syn ax; he wo ld, no he sen ence, was in need o an en esh-
ened ision. / Pho os and ideos wi h he hash ag ‚engoldened‘ on Ins ag am. / …
he week eng immens u he . / Fo i is o he eng ossened e he o which his
e he eal plane is composed ha ea h is su used. / As well as dum ounded, Iwas
also ins an ly eng u ened, bu Iswallowed i down, / I’m enkindening and gen ling
in my decline. ;-). / Whe he she is o lewd pu poses o no , like he de ils we
a e, she will be enlewdened. / S a o d hu ies o he shell olley, enmeekened. /
Fla has been enposhened o de elly :-) / Sa e y is in dange , my iends, and only
ou eedom can keep i ensa ened om u he endange men . / I’m ensickened
o his, hones ly... I’m going o ag all o ha hing’s pos s / my b ain has become
ensmoo hened a e eading his nonsense / Pe haps i po ays he ens angened
Ame ican socie y o he la e 80s and ea ly 90s. / Allies ouched by pulses o Song
o Cele i y a e enswi ened by he music. / Su ounding hem we e lea y bowe s
and en hickening mois ines ha c ep like ep iles along he g ound / He e’s my
si ua ion (sligh ly en aguened o p o ec he innocen ): / En iched and Enwe ened
by Thei P esence. / Endowed wi h psychological cha ac e is ics and he abili y
o expe ience emo ions, s ange and enwildened beas s wi h human heads wande
he inde ini e
I is impo an o s ess ha al hough mos , i no all, o hese o ma ions a e e y
unusual and su p ising o many na i e speake s when asked o commen on hem,
hey a e no di icul o unde s and and in con ex hei use makes sense. The illus-
a i e sen ences a e some imes long, some imes sho , bu hey a e gene ally su -
icien o allow d awing in e ences abou he s ylis ic en i onmen and he s ylis ic
alue o hese e bs.
7. MERGING THE WEB AND CORPUS FINDINGS
When he wo Web samples, e bs om mos equen monosyllabic adjec i es and
e bs om andomly selec ed adjec i es, a e pu oge he , he mos imp essi e ind-
ing is he shee quan i y o en-Adj-en e b o ms ha can be ound on he Web a es -
68 LINGUISTICA PRAGENSIA 1/2018
a e b oadly speaking wo ypes o wo d- o ma ion p ocesses. The ole o he i s
ype o p ocesses is o ex end and inno a e he lexicon by naming new concep s and
by eca ego izing exis ing wo d classes. They will end o p oduce o ma ions, ypi-
cally ule-go e ned, ha will e en ually become pe manen addi ions o he lexicon
i he ci cums ances a e igh . The o he ype o p ocesses, occupying he c ea i e
end o he spec um, ha e adi e en pu pose; hei ole is o con ibu e o discou se
p oduc ion by in oducing p agma ic in o ma ion, a i udes, e alua i e aspec s, by
se ing he s ylis ic one o he u e ance, o by con ibu ing o he cohesi eness o
he ex (see Hohenhaus 2007). Unlike he i s ype hey will ypically p oduce e a-
nescen o ma ions as equi ed by he pa icula si ua ion o which he e is no need
o be pe manen ly s o ed. Nonce o ma ions wi h discou se and o he unc ions (e.g.
ex ual deixis, p onominalising, dummy-compounding, e c.) a e discussed, o in-
s ance, by Hohenhaus (2007, 2015). The wo ca ego ies o wo d- o ma ion p ocesses
(lexicon-expanding and discou se-o ien ed) will no be mu ually exclusi e, and de-
spi e he endency o pa e ns o belong o one a he han he o he , he same pa e n
may p oduce o ma ions wi h di e en kinds o unc ion. On his in e p e a ion, he
en-Adj-en pa e n belongs o he la e ype and can be ac i a ed by speake s when-
e e he occasion equi es i bu he anci ul nonce wo ds will no be ci cula ed and
become gene ally accep ed (wi h a e excep ions, such as embiggen).
To sum up, he pape s a s by explo ing he English ci cum ix en-Base-en (un-
de mo e elaxed c i e ia) which has ecei ed some a en ion bu was illus a ed by
only ou examples. Then i p oceeds om aco pus sea ch o mo e ins ances o he
pa e n o web sea ch que ies ha ex ac ed o e ahund ed o hese o ma ions. To
explain he exis ence o so many en-Adj-en e bs unknown o s anda d e e ence
books i is hypo hesised ha en-Adj-en o ma ions belong o he ype ha a ises as
a unc ion o ex and disappea s wi h he ex in which hey se e as s ylis ic ma k-
e s; hei ole is o con ibu e o he discou se and no o he lexicon. As such hey
a e unlikely o gain much cu ency, hey will no become ins i u ionalised (unless
hey enjoy asho pe iod o ogue, such as o embiggen popula ized by aTV se ies)
and will no make i in o dic iona ies ( o asimila posi ion on nonce- o ma ions and
hei lexicalizabili y see Hohenhaus 1998). Because o hei passing na u e hey will
be disco e ed only h ough he use o big da a on he Web. On he whole, he esul s
o Web sea ch con i m ha he desc ip ion o many wo d- o ma ion p ocesses, hei
ange and use in cu en English, may p o i conside ably om sys ema ic exploi a-
ion o he a ailable Web esou ces.
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70 LINGUISTICA PRAGENSIA 1/2018
INTERNET SOURCES
Baue , L. (2008) Language is embiggened by wo ds
ha don’ exis . A ailable a : h p://www.s u .
co.nz/blogs/opinion/735053/i-Language-is-
embiggened-by-wo ds- ha -don- -exis -i
Facebook exchange: h ps://www. acebook.com/
pe malink.php?s o y_ bid=301321023242571
&id=296963433678330
Leech, G., P.Rayson and A.Wilson (2001)
Wo d F equencies in W i en and Spoken
English: based on he B i ish Na ional Co pus.
Companion Websi e. BNC F equency lis s. Lis
5.3: F equency lis o adjec i es (by lemma).
A ailable a : h p://uc el.lancs.ac.uk/bnc eq/
lis s/5_3_all_ ank_adjec i e. x
U ban Dic iona y: ‘embiggen’. A ailable a :
h p://www.u bandic iona y.com/de ine.
php? e m=embiggen
CORPORA
Benko, V. (2015) A aneum Anglicum Maius
(Global English, 15.04) P aha: Ús a Českého
ná odního ko pusu FF UK. A ailable a h p://
www.ko pus.cz
B i ish Na ional Co pus. P aha: Ús a Českého
ná odního ko pusu FF UK. A ailable a h p://
www.ko pus.cz
Český ná odní ko pus— SYN2000 (2000). Ús a
Českého ná odního ko pusu FF UK, P aha.
A ailable a h p://www.ko pus.cz
News on he Web (NOW) A ailable a : h p://
co pus.byu.edu/now/
Aleš Klég
Depa men o English Language and ELT Me hodology
Facul y o A s, Cha les Uni e si y
nám. J.Palacha 2, 116 38 P aha 1, Czech Republic
ales.kleg @ .cuni.cz