Date:    Wed, 18 Mar 1998 17:17:26 EST
<br>From:    RonButters  RonButters[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]AOL.COM 
<br>Subject: arbitrariness of derivational morphology
<br>
<br>"Why can't CONTEMPT be made into a verb in English?" asked my Turkish student.
<br>"And why can't DESPISE be made into a noun?" English is so very flexible when
<br>it comes to interchanging categories--with and without derivational
<br>morphology--one wonders why we can't say, "*David feels the sailor's
<br>despise/despisation for him" or "*Giovanni contempts/contemptates Jacques."
<br>
<br>Any answers--other than the usual language-is-arbitrary response?
<br>