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Teaching and learning Italian word-formation patterns

Lami, Irene LU orcid (2023) In Series in Language and Linguistics p.105-128
Abstract
A knowledge of word-formation patterns can have considerable benefits on competence in a second language. A dynamic view of the lexicon can reveal recurring patterns in the vocabulary of a language, representing a useful tool to improve receptive fluency. Unfortunately, reflections on wordformation are not often considered an essential part of second language teaching, and grammar books often tend to take morphological processes for granted. However, while native speakers can make use of word-formation rules to construct new words out of the already existing ones, the same cannot be said of foreign learners, who lack native intuitions on productive mechanisms. This chapter aims to give an overview of the main wordformation patterns in... (More)
A knowledge of word-formation patterns can have considerable benefits on competence in a second language. A dynamic view of the lexicon can reveal recurring patterns in the vocabulary of a language, representing a useful tool to improve receptive fluency. Unfortunately, reflections on wordformation are not often considered an essential part of second language teaching, and grammar books often tend to take morphological processes for granted. However, while native speakers can make use of word-formation rules to construct new words out of the already existing ones, the same cannot be said of foreign learners, who lack native intuitions on productive mechanisms. This chapter aims to give an overview of the main wordformation patterns in Italian, organizing them in relation to the different parts of speech. Importance is given to their productivity, semantic regularities, and specialisations, allowing learners to familiarize themselves with a regular system rather than considering words as isolated linguistic objects. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
word-formation, Italian morphology
categories
Higher Education
host publication
Italian as a foreign language : Teaching and acquisition in higher education - Teaching and acquisition in higher education
series title
Series in Language and Linguistics
editor
Regagliolo, Alberto
pages
105 - 128
publisher
Vernon Press
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
7c0bc1a2-5c5d-4f2f-b532-12304f545b9c
date added to LUP
2023-09-01 10:50:55
date last changed
2023-09-04 16:12:41
@inbook{7c0bc1a2-5c5d-4f2f-b532-12304f545b9c,
  abstract     = {{A knowledge of word-formation patterns can have considerable benefits on competence in a second language. A dynamic view of the lexicon can reveal recurring patterns in the vocabulary of a language, representing a useful tool to improve receptive fluency. Unfortunately, reflections on wordformation are not often considered an essential part of second language teaching, and grammar books often tend to take morphological processes for granted. However, while native speakers can make use of word-formation rules to construct new words out of the already existing ones, the same cannot be said of foreign learners, who lack native intuitions on productive mechanisms. This chapter aims to give an overview of the main wordformation patterns in Italian, organizing them in relation to the different parts of speech. Importance is given to their productivity, semantic regularities, and specialisations, allowing learners to familiarize themselves with a regular system rather than considering words as isolated linguistic objects.}},
  author       = {{Lami, Irene}},
  booktitle    = {{Italian as a foreign language : Teaching and acquisition in higher education}},
  editor       = {{Regagliolo, Alberto}},
  keywords     = {{word-formation; Italian morphology}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{105--128}},
  publisher    = {{Vernon Press}},
  series       = {{Series in Language and Linguistics}},
  title        = {{Teaching and learning Italian word-formation patterns}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}