Expressive L-derivations remain a mystery to all morphological frameworks (see Scalise
1988, Stump
1993, Spencer & Zwicky
1996). Expressive derivations include Diminutives, Augmentatives, Pejoratives, forms of Endearment, and Honorifics. They differ from all other types of L-derivation in that they are meaningful (unlike
transpositions), and yet the meaning is not consistent (unlike
functional derivations and
feature switches). Rather than mean, expressive derivations reflect subjective attitudes of the speaker. Thus, a Russian will refer to his son with the Diminutive
syn-ok regardless of the son's size. Indeed, size is irrelevant to the references of many Diminutives, e.g.
vin-co 'a nice wine',
ded-uš-ka 'grandfather'.
