From verbal to adjectival : Evaluating the lexicalization of participles in an Estonian corpus

This study addresses categorization issues related to adjective candidates in Estonian, focusing on the category of participles. The aim of the analysis was to assess the ranges of the prototypical adjective and to determine its degree of deviation on the prototypicality scale. The investigation was based on a group of validated adjectives – selected adjectives included in the Basic Estonian Dictionary – and two control groups of more and less lexicalized participles. We tested seven morphosyntactic corpus patterns characteristic of adjectives. The test patterns were based on the prototypical features of the adjective, as well as on observations made in the actual lexicographic analysis. To assess the sample words and determine the significance of the test patterns from the point of view of defining adjectivity, we used deviation analysis. The results of this study can be applied to establish a measure of adjectivity for lexicographic judgments when distinguishing, for instance, lexicalized participles from regular ones.Članek obravnava vprašanja kategorizacije, povezana s pridevniškimi kandidati v estonščini, s poudarkom na deležnikih. Cilj analize je bil oceniti razpon prototipskega pridevnika in določiti stopnjo njegovega odstopanja na lestvici prototipskosti. Raziskava je temeljila na skupini potrjenih pridevnikov – izbranih pridevnikov, vključenih v Osnovni slovar estonščine– in dveh kontrolnih skupinah bolj in manj leksikaliziranih deležnikov. Preverili smo sedem morfosintaktičnih korpusnih vzorcev, značilnih za pridevnike. Testni vzorci so temeljili na prototipskih značilnostih pridevnika in na opažanjih pri konkretni leksikografski analizi. Za oceno vzorčnih besed in določitev pomena testnih vzorcev z vidika opredelitve pridevnika smo uporabili analizo odklona. Rezultate študije je mogoče uporabiti za določitev merila pridevniške ustreznosti pri leksikografskih presojah, na primer za določanje leksikaliziranih deležnikov.