The analysis of conversion

Abstract This chapter focuses on the analysis of conversion across different frameworks through a chronological discussion of how three analytical issues have been addressed by different morphological theories since Sweet’s work in 1891. The three questions address (i) the nature of the process, which discusses whether conversion is different from derivation or can be analysed as derivation involving zero affixes, (ii) the issue of directionality, which examines whether conversion acts upon a base to produce a different word or is a symmetric procedure that establishes a non-directional relation between two independent morphological or lexical objects, and (iii) the contextual issue, which discusses whether conversion is entirely analysable through internal properties of the word or the linguistic context where the word is introduced is what ultimately triggers conversion through semantic, functional, or formal accommodation.