Blurb:

This chapter introduces the descriptive framework that is necessary for a discussion of the semantics of adjective formation in English. On its agenda, there are four main items. Section 1 defines the notion of suffixation and specifics the intricacies involved in its description. Section 2 reviews the linguistic approaches. It shows how they treat the issues of form-meaning relationship, morphological rivalry and lexical alternation, touches upon some existing research and offers an assessment of the treatments posited. At the end, a new approach is outlined, covering its underpinnings, assumptions, goals and procedures. Section 3 presents the methods of analysis within which my treatment of adjectival suffixation is conducted. It falls into two subsections. The first tackles the theoretical method represented by Cognitive Linguistics, elaborating on the principles related to adjectival suffixation and the mechanisms responsible for morpheme combination. The second handles the empirical method represented by Corpus Linguistics, describing the corpus consulted and the techniques employed in the analysis.