Abstract
There are several suffixes deriving nouns of action in Greek (-sis, -sí-ā, -eí-ā, -mós, -tū́s). In this article their productivity and distribution are discussed.
In Greek, action nouns ( nomina actionis ) are derived by means of the following suffixes (Derivational Morphology):
- i.
- -sis (<*tis)
- ii.
- -sí-ā
- iii.
- -eí-ā
- iv.
- -mós and -ma
- v.
- -tū́s
(i) -sis is the most productive action suffix: lú-ō ‘loosen’ > lú-sis ‘loos(en)ing, setting free’. It goes back to PIE *-ti (phú-sis ‘nature’ < *bhū-ti, cf. Skt. bhū́-ti ~ bhū-tí ‘being…