The reduction of affixes in morphological reanalysis: Polish neuters in -ich-

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to elaborate on the typology of affix changes due to reanalysis. By discussing the Polish nominal suffix /-ix-/ as resulting from morphological reduction, viz. the false subtraction of /-k-/ from /-isk-/, the supposed unidirectionality of affix changes, i.e., the irreversibility of affix growth, is questioned. Furthermore, the article points to the possible gradual nature of morphological reanalysis, in line with recent studies in syntactic reanalysis. Other types of affix changes, which were previously unidentified or deemed impossible, are also commented on and the supposed parallelism between affix reanalysis and grammaticalization as well as degrammaticalization is considered, including the role of analogy.