This chapter deals with the role of the [±native] marking in the formation of deverbal adjectives terminating in the suffix -alny in Polish. The class in question corresponds to -able/-ible derivatives in English and conveys the concept of ‘passive possibility’ as expressed in the paraphrase ‘capable of being V-ed’ (Bauer 1983) (e.g. manageable). Diachronically, the English formations arose under the influence of French, in which, like in other Romance languages, the suffix is related to the Latin ‑bilis. In synchronic terms, the suffix -able is counted among the most productive.

By contrast, the relevant suffix in Polish is native in origin but it lags behind its English opposite number in terms of what Corbin (1987) calls rentabilite (‘profitability’). The suffix -alny is synchronically active since, alongside well-entrenched lexical items such as przewidywalny ‘predictable’, widzialny ‘visible’, uleczalny ‘curable’, there are numerous neologisms and nonce-formations, such as definiowalny ‘definable’, manipulowalny ‘manipulable’, negocjowalny ‘negotiable’ (Jadacka 2001: 102). It will be argued that the influx and subsequent adaptation of English verbs, coupled with the speakers’ awareness that -able and -alny discharge similar roles in their respective systems of word formation, has a role to play in raising the productivity of the suffix. This is also possible because, counter to previous analyses (Laskowski 1975; Kowalik 1977; Szymanek 2010), the [±native] marking of the base is not relevant in determining the domain of the process.

This chapter is divided into two parts: a qualitative and a quantitative analysis. In section 1, earlier analyses are presented and critically evaluated and a new proposal is advanced, on which the set of eligible bases is delimited by referring to the semantico- syntactic properties of base verbs. Section 2 offers a frequency analysis supported by diachronic information, which will allow us to separate the wellentrenched lexical items from the latest arrivals, including hapax legomena, and trace the latest developments in the formation of passive potential adjectives (henceforth PPAs).

Constraints on the derivation of passive potential adjectives in Polish

As far as semantico-syntactic constraints are concerned, PPAs in Polish are based on transitive eventive verbs (e.g. wykonalny ‘doable’, zmywalny ‘washable’, odnawialny ‘renewable’).