ABSTRACT
The non-emotive suffix repertoire of Spanish numbers several hundred derivational morphemes whose inventory is not fixed but expands, contracts, and otherwise changes as new suffixes are introduced, while established suffixes may decline or become fossilised. At the same time, apparently discarded or stagnant morphemes may be revived by particular speakers and writers. The suffix -áceo, for example, as in arena → arenáceo, is no longer productive, while -ata, a cult suffix which a short time ago seemed fossilised in forms such as columna → columnata, has found new favour in neologisms of the type droga → drogata. 1 So the long list of suffixes is subject to a process of lexical turnover with its components varying in productivity both diachronically and synchronically.
