On the Derivation of Denominal Adjectives in Polish

This research investigates the derivation of denominal qualitative adjectives in Polish formed by the suffixes ‑liwy, ‑ny, ‑sty, and ‑owy (e.g. wadliwy ‘defective’, pomocny ‘helpful’, górzysty ‘mountainous’, kolorowy ‘colourful’). Employing an all-syntactic approach to word formation (and specifically the Distributed Morphology framework), the study investigates whether such adjectives are morphosyntactically denominal, that is, whether their internal structure projects a nominal head. To establish this, the examined adjectives have been subjected to the test diagnosing whether they can support anaphoric nouns and pronouns. The test reveals that denominal qualitative adjectives can support anaphoric nouns, but unlike denominal relational adjectives, denominal qualitative adjectives cannot support anaphoric pronouns in Polish. The reason for this difference is argued here to reflect a non-phasal status of the nominal head in the structure of denominal qualitative adjectives.