La morfología aumentativa en el español actual: el sufijo -azo. Un estudio formal y semántico y su comparación con -ote

ABSTRACT In the Spanish Language, the augmentative suffix has not been studied as in-depth diminutive suffixes. The purpose of this study is to examine the behaviour of the suffix -azo, and its current status in the Spanish language. Two interpretations of the suffix will be examined in this project: the augmentative interpretation and the interpretation of abrupt and sudden contact, also called 'de golpe'. This corpus-based study will examine which bases the suffix is combined with, and what value the suffix contributes to the whole word. Additionally, a brief comparison with another augmentative suffix, -ote, will be presented. Furthermore, the function of the suffix -azo in the Spanish language, and its semantic and formal features, will be discussed. The results lead us to make the claim that there is a correlation between the two interpretations of the suffix. In addition to this claim, an attempt to categorise the suffix will be presented. This study will claim that the suffix -azo, having the augmentative interpretation, has some atypical characteristics that make it difficult to define the suffix as a prototypical, derivative suffix. In this regard, two suggestions will be presented: first, that the augmentative suffix -azo can be placed between derivation and inflection; second, that the suffix can be categorised as a derivative suffix, even if not as a prototypical one