Suffix diversity: investigating the morphological landscape of Russian loan verbs

Abstract This article investigates the integration of loan verbs into the Russian verbal system, focusing on the patterns of suffix distribution across loan verbs. Using a database of verbs from the frequency dictionary by Lyashevskaya and Sharov (2009), our study addresses four key questions: 1) are there suffixes that function as markers for loan verbs; 2) can different suffixes be added to the same verbal stem creating morphological variation (e.g. aktivizirovat’ – aktivirovat’ ‘activate), 3) which factors determine the suffix choice in loan verbs, and 4) do loan verbs exhibit distinct patterns of suffix choice compared to verbs with Slavic bases? The findings confirm -irova- as a distinct marker for loan verbs, likely emerging from a combination of the native suffix -ova- and the German suffix -ier- that was consequently analyzed as a loan verb marker. The suffix -ova- is also highly frequent and applies to both loanwords and native stems. Morphological variation is rare, with suffixal “doublets” typically reflecting semantic differences rather than proper variation. By analyzing a comprehensive database and consulting resources on etymology and word formation, we demonstrate that the period of borrowing and the source language are decisive factors in suffix selection, while morphophonology and the part of speech of the motivating base play a supplementary role. The study reveals that loan verbs display somewhat different suffixal behaviors from Slavic verbs, including the unique morphophonological feature of combining the back vowel /u/ with the -irova- suffix. The proposed analysis sheds light on the morphophonological characteristics and historical development of suffixes in Russian in the context of language contact and borrowing.