zero derivation, n.

zero-derivation
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zero-derivation_n%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
Revised 2018

# zero derivationnoun

## Factsheet

### What does the noun zero derivation mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the noun zero derivation. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

### How common is the noun zero derivation?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1960 | 0.0065
1970 | 0.0072
1980 | 0.0077
1990 | 0.0077
2000 | 0.0091
2010 | 0.0098

### Where does the noun zero derivation come from?

Earliest known use

1960s

The earliest known use of the noun zero derivation is in the 1960s.

OED's earliest evidence for zero derivation is from 1960, in the writing of H. Marchand.

### Nearby entries

1. zero balance, adj. 1974–
2. zero-base, adj. 1962–
3. zero-based, adj. 1963–
4. zero beat, n. 1920–
5. zero-carbon, adj. 1990–
6. zero-coupon, adj. 1979–
7. zero creep, n. 1904–
8. zero crossing, n. 1941–
9. zero day, n. 1917–
10. zero-defect, adj. 1964–
11. zero derivation, n.1960–
12. zero derivative, adj. & n. 1948–
13. zero-derived, adj. 1971–
14. zero-dimensional, adj. 1880–
15. zero-emission, n. & adj. 1952–
16. zero-energy, adj. 1947–
17. zero-field, adj. 1915–
18. zero-G, adj. & n. 1950–
19. zero grade, n. 1888–
20. zero gravity, n. & adj. 1915–
21. zero-graze, v. 1954–

## Meaning & use

Linguistics.

1. 1960–
   Derivation in which a word comes to be used with a different grammatical function or (sometimes) in a different (though related) sense from the existing one, without the form of the word being altered.
   Used by those who explain such change in terms of the addition of a ‘zero morpheme’, i.e. derivation by the addition of nothing. The more usual term for this is conversion: see conversion n. II.11e. Compare earlier zero derivative adj.
   1. 1960

      > Zero-derivation as a ‘specifically English’ process.

      H. Marchand, Categories Present-day English Word-formation v. 295 (heading)
   2. 1976

      > Zero-derivation..must be regarded an extremely productive word-formative process both in English and German, but also in other languages.

      Archivum Linguisticum vol. 7 129
   3. 2011

      > Linguists seek to describe and explain a broad range of phenomena, covering territory from acoustic phonetics to zero derivation.

      Times Educational Supplement (Nexis) 3 November (Language & Linguistics section) 17
   grammar philology
   1. derivation 1530–
      Grammar. Formation of a word from a more primitive word or root in the same or another language; origination as a derivative.
   2. declension 1678
      Grammar. Formerly, in a wider sense: Change of the form or of the ending of a word, as in derivation. (Cf. note under case, n.¹ 1) Obsolete. rare.
   3. zero derivation 1960–
      Derivation in which a word comes to be used with a different grammatical function or (sometimes) in a different (though related) sense from the…
   View in Historical Thesaurus

## Frequency

zero derivation typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.

zero derivation is in frequency band 2, which contains words occurring between 0.001 and 0.01 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands

Frequency data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.

### Frequency of zero derivation, n., 1960–2010

* Occurrences per million words in written English

Historical frequency series are derived from Google Books Ngrams (version 2), a data set based on the Google Books corpus of several million books printed in English between 1500 and 2010.

The overall frequency for a given word is calculated by summing frequencies for the main form of the word, any plural or inflected forms, and any major spelling variations.

For sets of homographs (distinct entries that share the same word-form, e.g. mole, n.¹, mole, n.², mole, n.³, etc.), we have estimated the frequency of each homograph entry as a fraction of the total Ngrams frequency for the word-form. This may result in inaccuracies.

Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the Google Books corpus.

Decade | Frequency per million words
--- | ---
1960 | 0.0065
1970 | 0.0072
1980 | 0.0077
1990 | 0.0077
2000 | 0.0091
2010 | 0.0098

Originally published as part of the entry for zero, n. & adj.

zero, n. & adj. was revised in June 2018.