Japonic

Abstract The Japonic family, which includes Japanese and Ryukyuan languages, is characterized by the agglutinative morphology of native verbs and adjectives. This chapter explores the significance of this typological trait for category-changing word-formation. Observing a marked productivity difference between verb-to-noun and noun-to-verb conversion, it is argued that the synchronic process of conversion eliminates, but does not create, word structure. When verbs are stripped of their inherent structure, they become nouns. Conversion in the opposite direction is rare because nouns require the support of overt derivational morphology to acquire the structure that is necessary for predicate agglutination.