1. Conversion In the Modern English language

2. The aims:  to give the definition of the process of conversion  to see different approaches to it  to find out the reasons of its productivity  to investigate the models of conversion

3. Three main approaches to conversion:  morphological  syntactic  morphological-syntactic

4.  We stick to the point of view on conversion as a morphological-syntactic word-building means, for it involves both a change of the paradigm (if any) and a change of the syntactical function of the word, e.g. to go - a go.

5.  Conversion is the process of coining a new word in a different part of speech and with a different distribution characteristic but without adding any derivative element, so that the basic form of the original and the basic form of the derived word are homonymous

6. The reasons of productivity  1) the analytical structure of Modern English which greatly facilitates processes of making words of one category of parts of speech from words of another  2) a great number of one-syllable words. Such words are naturally more mobile and flexible than polysyllables

7. The analysis of conversional models has shown that only three models are productive nowadays:  N → V ;  V → N;  N → Adj

8. I. Verbs converted from nouns This is the largest group of words related through conversion. The semantic relations between the nouns and verbs vary greatly. If the noun refers to some object of reality (both animate and inanimate) the converted verb may denote: This is the largest group of words related through conversion. The semantic relations between the nouns and verbs vary greatly. If the noun refers to some object of reality (both animate and inanimate) the converted verb may denote:  1)action characteristic of the object, e.g. ape n — ape v — ‘imitate in a foolish way’; butcher n — butcher v — ‘kill animals for food, cut up a killed animal’;  2)instrumental use of the object, e.g. screw n — screw v — ‘fasten with a screw’; whip n — whip v — ’strike with a whip’;  3)acquisition or addition of the object, e.g. fish n — fish v — ‘catch or try to catch fish’; coat n — ‘covering of paint' — coat v — ‘put a coat of paint on’;  4)deprivation of the object, e.g. dust n — dust v — ‘remove dust from something’; skin n — skin v — ’strip off the skin from’; etc.

9. II. Nouns converted from verbs The verb generally referring to an action, the converted noun may denote: The verb generally referring to an action, the converted noun may denote:  1)instance of the action, e.g. jump v — jump n — ’sudden spring from the ground’; move v — move n — ‘a change of position’;  2)agent of the action, e.g. help v — help n — ‘a person who helps’; it is of interest to mention that the deverbal personal nouns denoting the doer are mostly derogatory, e.g. bore v — bore n — ‘a person that bores’; cheat v — cheat n — ‘a person who cheats’;  3)place of the action, e.g. drive v — drive n — ‘a path or road along which one drives’; walk v — walk n — ‘a place for walking’;  4)object or result of the action, e.g. peel v — peel n — ‘the outer skin of fruit or potatoes taken off; find v — find и — ’something found,” esp. something valuable or pleasant’; etc

10. Verbs converted from nouns 1)Action characteristic of the object air – to be broadcast air – to be broadcast  cash-limit —to impose a cash limit on.  cowboy – Br. inf., to drive recklessly  office – Am., - to work in an office.  outsource – to subcontract work to another company

11. 2) Instrumental use of the object:  wok – to cook using a wok  pipe – sl., to smoke the drug crack  network – to establish a set of contracts with people in a similar business or situation as oneself, to provide for interchange of information, furtherance of one’s own prospects, etc.

12. 3) Acquisition or addition of the object:  woman – to supply with female operatives or crew.  silicone – to implant silicone into a woman’s breasts as a cosmetic surgery procedure, to alter their shape

13. 4) Deprivation of the object:  de-accession – euphemistic, to sell or otherwise to dispose (an article, that is in a museum, library).  bin – to throw away by putting into a wastepaper basket

14. Analysis on the base of The Longman Register of New Words