Joshua Albair 
University of New Hampshire
Major: Computer Information Systems and Linguistics
Mentor: Dr. Rochelle Lieber, UNH Department of English
What is the State of Evaluative Affixes in Contemporary English?
There are no current bodies of research fully exploring evaluative affixes in contemporary English. While linguists agree that English makes limited use of evaluative affixes, it is debatable as to whether these affixes are truly evaluative. Bauer, Lieber, and Plag are working to produce a comprehensive study of current English morphology, English Morphology: A reference guide (in progress), of which this project will play a role. The online corpus, Corpus of Contemporary American English, will provide linguistic data consisting of words, using supposedly evaluative affixes, and their frequency. The data will be analyzed by comparing and contrasting productivity and frequency among affixes, as well as a qualitative look at the evaluative nature of the affixes. This research will provide a look into the health and status, if any, of evaluative affixes in contemporary English.
