-O(w/v)sky/i as an appreciative morpheme in lunfardo Abstract

Abstract

In this work, exploratory in nature, we intend to describe the morphophonological aspects of -o(w/v)sky/i, which, has not been previously studied as a lunfardo’s appreciative morpheme. We postulate that its source is linked with the reanalysis and gramaticalization process of easter European surnames’ endings. Moreover, we will link -o(w/v)sky/i with the variety of contact originating from the yiddish and the rioplatense spanish (valesco for Feierstein [1993] and Conde [2011] or castídish for Skura & Fiszman [2015]), in the context of the massive immigration. Thus, we hope to show a number of similarities between -o(w/v)sky/i and the italian formants studied in Di Tullio (2014).