karasenko O. Middle High German Nouns with the Suffix -er Denoting Males

The thesis focuses on a complex research of Middle High German derivative nouns with the suffix -er denoting males. The study of denominations of men is based on lexicographic and manifold textual sources (i.e. religious and belles-lettres records, documents). The lexeme composition and frequency of the derivatives under consideration have been systematized, their structural and semantic peculiarities have been determined. The combinability of Middle High German words denoting males has been analyzed, the arrangement of systemic relations (i.e. synonymy, clashing) between them in written sources of different genres has been established. The nouns under analysis were classified in accordance with the part-of-speech characteristics of their underlying stems and grouped by their word-building types and functional classes, which permitted to reveal common and distinctive features of formation of these nouns in Middle High German compared with the other historical periods of the German language evolution. The study of Latin and Middle High German parallels served as an important tool for determining the direction of derivational motivation and clarifying disputable points in establishing semantic peculiarities of Middle High German derivatives with the suffix -er.