The ProSPar model is an in-progress theory of word formation and meaning that tries to
explain how morphological relations and world knowledge shape novel word formation and
novel word meaning. In this thesis, I analyze the derived words of 40 proper names in
Spanish employing some of the notions of the model to address a challenge that this kind of
derivation poses for it. The challenge is how to make the notion of scenario, which seems to
work well with the derivation of other kinds of words, ...
The ProSPar model is an in-progress theory of word formation and meaning that tries to
explain how morphological relations and world knowledge shape novel word formation and
novel word meaning. In this thesis, I analyze the derived words of 40 proper names in
Spanish employing some of the notions of the model to address a challenge that this kind of
derivation poses for it. The challenge is how to make the notion of scenario, which seems to
work well with the derivation of other kinds of words, operative in the analysis of derivatives
of proper names. Data analysis suggests that one way to understand the scenarios is as models
of knowledge that group entities (or types of entities) such as intellectual movement, the
referent itself, qualities, individuals, actions, periods of time, historical events, appreciations
and linguistic expressions. Since understanding scenarios in this way allows us to explain
some inferences about the interpretation of new words, it seems a plausible proposal.
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