The lexicographic vs. corpus representation of English converted verbs

Abstract

Conversion is a fertile resource of word-formation in English. Its degree of productivity is often reflected in the high incidence of converted lexemes in language resources, for instance dictionaries and corpora. With the main aim of surveying the alleged relationship between morphological productivity and frequency, this study examines English verbs derived by denominal conversion between 1990 and 2019. The analysis of a dataset compiled from the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) and the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) reveals a concentration of converted verbs within the lowest frequency bands. The scarcity of converted verbs in mid-to-high frequency bands suggests that, while morphologically viable, they rarely achieve broad lexical entrenchment. This underscores the often ephemeral nature of the output of highly productive word-formation processes, with many formations remaining marginal or specialized in use, contingent upon their semantic categorization. It is noteworthy that, while the OED documents a significant number of converted verbs, the COCA data indicates that many of these remain peripheral in discourse. The prominence of converted verbs in the OED’s lowest bands suggests their recognition without widespread usage, consistent with prior observations that conversion frequently yields nonce formations and contextdependent lexical items. The semantic distribution of converted verbs further elucidates their productivity and frequency patterns. Instrumental verbs dominate, reflecting technological influence, while performative verbs also show remarkable representation. Overall, the findings confirm that denominal conversion is a productive but predominantly low-frequency process, shaped by morphosyntactic and semantic constraints.