Versatility?

[Angus B. Grieve-Smith]

     Aya, I've been thinking about your "rooster" example.  I think one 
important factor is that the noun "rooster" has become much more 
frequent than the verb "roost."  As English-speaking societies have 
become less and less agricultural, we see roosters a lot less 
frequently, our opportunities to see them roosting dwindle, and thus 
roosting has become less significant as a characteristic of roosters.  
In contrast, I think that most English speakers would be able to tell 
you why a particular kind of bird is called a "roaster."

     Other derived words that have similarly outpaced their roots, like 
"computer," and we'd expect them to be treated similarly.

-- 
				-Angus B. Grieve-Smith
				grvsmth at panix.com