From adjective to affix in Dutch and French: The influence of word order patterns on grammaticalization

This study, which builds on previous work on the grammaticalization of lexemes into affixes (affixization), is devoted to the evolution from adjective to affix (prefix or suffix) in Dutch and French. By means of several case studies (oud- ‘old’, dol- ‘mad’, nouveau- ‘new’, -vriendelijk ‘friendly’) which are assessed against grammaticalization parameters such as de- or resemanticization and decategorization, I show that the affixization of adjectives is more productive and more advanced in Dutch than in French. To account for these differences, I argue that the affixization process strongly interacts with the different word order patterns of both languages. According to this hypothesis, the Dutch modifier-head structure would favour the grammaticalization of adjectives into prefixes and suffixes, whereas the French head-modifier structure impedes the affixization process.