One should carefully avoid the following types of statements: 1. Mentalistic In place of the statement: Because the suffix '-ik' has the idea of 'bad,' it naturally does not go with words expressing good ideas. Use: The pejorative suffix '-ik' occurs with the following words: ... its distribution appears to reflect a cultural evaluation. We seek to avoid any statements about suffixes 'having ideas'. They may 'have meanings', 'indicate relationships', and 'reflect concepts', but they do not 'have ideas'. Furthermore, it does not 'naturally' follow that pejorative affixes fail to occur with words indicating features meeting with cultural approval. The statement that the distribution of '-ik' reflects a cultural evaluation is not necessary in a purely structural analysis, but it may have value in determining the allosemes of this morpheme.[...]
- Nida (1949), Pag. 241