Semantic criteria

a) The criterion of non-correspondence between part-of-speech meaning of the stem and lexical meaning of the root morpheme.

Stems of words related through conversion are phonetically identical but have different part of speech and denotational meanings (hand n — > hand v). So, semantically they are not identical. The problem is to identify which stem, or word, is primary and which one is derived.

In the noun hand, for example, the part-of-speech meaning of the stem 'an object' doesn't contrast with the lexical meaning of the root morpheme 'the end of the arm beyond the wrist'which also refers to an object. In the case of the verb to hand, however, the part-of-speech meaning of the stem 'an action' contrasts with the lexical meaning of the root 'the end of the arm beyond the wrist'. So, we may state that to hand is a derivative, as only in simple words the part-of-speech meaning of the stem corresponds to the lexical meaning of the root morpheme.

The same kind of non-correspondence of lexical meaning of the root and the stem in a derived word is observed in affixationally derived words (teacher). Tthe difference

between an affixationally derived word and the word derived by conversion is that in the former case the derived word retains signs of the derivation process both in its formal morphological and in its semantic structure, too. In the latter case the traces of derivation are observed only in the semantic structure of the derivative.

b) The criterion of typical semantic relations between the -words in a conversion pair.

Semantic relations in a conversion pair are diverse. Yet, scholars, such as P.A. Soboleva /CoSojiesa 1959/, point out that verbs converted from nouns (denominal verbs) typically denote:

a) action characteristic of the object (to monkey, to father, to fool);

b) action with the object (to whip, to water, to knife);

c) acquisition of the object (to fish, to milk, to mud);

d) deprivation of the object (to dust, to skin).

Nouns converted from verbs (deverbal nouns) usually denote:

a) instance of the action (a jump, a smile, a try);

b) agent of the action (a help; a hand but mostly derogatory: a cheat; a bore; a scold);

c) place of the action (a race, a run);

d) object or result of the action (apeel, help).

Though the types of meaning in a derived word may be predictable, a lot of memory work is necessary to remember the exact meaning of the word derived by conversion because like any other derived word it is highly idiomatic:

a knife — to knife 'to stab or wound with a knife';

a boot — to boot 'to put boots on; to kick; to make an error on the ground';

a cap — to cap 'to provide or protect with a cap'.

c) The polysemy degree criterion

Derived words are usually less polysemantic than the simple ones used as their sources (cf.: a great number of meanings in the simple noun head, for example, and much more limited their number in its derivative to behead). Words derived by conversion are not exceptions to this rule, and derived units m a conversion pair usually display a smaller degree of polysemy. The simple noun house, for example, has such meanings as '1. a building as a living quarters for one or a few families, 2. a) a shelter for a wild animal, b) a shelter for something, 3. HOUSEHOLD, 4. a residence for a religious or other community, the community itself, 5. a legislative assembly, 6. a place of business or entertainment, 7. the audience of a theater' while the verb to house derived by conversion has only the meanings '1. to provide with living quarters, 2. to encase, enclose, 3. to serve as shelter'.

So, a lower degree of polysemy of a word in a conversion pair may be regarded as an indicator of its derived character.

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