Distributed Morphology: Impoverishment and Fission

2000 ◽  
pp. 125-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morris Halle
Keyword(s):  
Distributed Morphology

His Lordship's -ship and the King of Golfdom. Against a purely functional analysis of suffixhood

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heike Baeskow
Keyword(s):  
Functional Analysis ◽  
Conceptual Knowledge ◽  
Semantic Information ◽  
Word Formation ◽  
Distributed Morphology ◽  
Word Class ◽  
Formation Processes ◽  
Functional Elements ◽  
Grammatical Morphemes ◽  
Independent Model

For many decades there has been a consensus among linguists of various schools that derivational suffixes function not only to determine the word-class of the complex expressions they form, but also convey semantic information. The aspect of suffix-inherent meaning is ignored by representatives of a relatively new theoretical direction – Neo-Construction Grammar – who consider derivational suffixes to be either purely functional elements of the grammar or meaningless phonological realizations of abstract grammatical morphemes. The latter view is maintained by adherents of Distributed Morphology, who at the same time emphasize the importance of conceptual knowledge for derivational processes without attempting to define this aspect. The purpose of this study is first of all to provide support for the long-standing assumption that suffixes are inherently meaningful. The focus of interest is on the suffixes -ship, -dom and -hood. Data from Old English and Modern English (including neologisms) will show that these suffixes have developed rich arrays of meaning which cannot be structurally derived. Moreover, since conceptual knowledge is indeed an important factor for word-formation processes, a concrete, theory-independent model for the representation of the synchronically observable meaning components associated with -ship, -dom and -hood will be proposed.

Suppletive verbal morphology in Korean and the mechanism of vocabulary insertion

2009 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 533-567 ◽  
Author(s):  
INKIE CHUNG
Keyword(s):  
Short Form ◽  
Distributed Morphology ◽  
Morphological Operations ◽  
Verbal Morphology ◽  
Phonological Features ◽  
Vocabulary Insertion ◽  
Correct Form ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Feature Negative ◽  
Late Insertion

This paper provides a Distributed Morphology analysis of the paradoxical interaction of the two cases of verbal suppletion in Korean, and argues that the two suppletion types are characterized by two different types of morphological operations. The two roots found with short-form negation and honorification suggest different morphological structures: [[Neg-V] Hon] for al- ‘know’, molu- ‘not.know’, a-si- ‘know-hon’, molu-si- (not *an(i) a-si-) ‘neg know-hon’; and [Neg [V-Hon]] for iss- ‘exist’, eps- ‘not.exist’, kyey-si- ‘exist-hon’, an(i) kyey-si- (not *eps-(u)-si-) ‘neg exist-hon’. Predicate repetition constructions support the [[Neg-V] Hon] structure. In this structure, however, the negative suppletion (analyzed as fusion of negation and the root) is blocked by the honorific suffix structurally more peripheral to the root. C-command is the only requirement for context allomorphy in Distributed Morphology (Halle & Marantz 1993). Since the [+hon] feature c-commands the root, the root can show honorific suppletive allomorphy in the first cycle with negation intervening between the root and [+hon]. Negation fusion occurs in the second cycle after vocabulary insertion of the root. Fusion, then, should refer to vocabulary items, not abstract features, and will be interleaved with vocabulary insertion. If the output of the root is /kyey/ due to the honorific feature, negative suppletion will not apply and the correct form an(i) kyey-si- will be derived. Therefore, both of the distinct morphological operations for suppletion, i.e., fusion and contextual allomorphy, are necessary. The revised formulation of fusion shows that certain morphological operations follow vocabulary insertion. This derivational approach to the suppletion interaction provides support for separation of phonological and nonphonological features and for late insertion of phonological features.

Code-blending and Distributed Morphology

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 756-759
Author(s):  
Artemis Alexiadou
Keyword(s):  
Distributed Morphology

Architecture and Blocking

2008 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Embick ◽  
Alec Marantz
Keyword(s):  
Distributed Morphology ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Word Level ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Blocking Effects ◽  
Architectural Significance

We discuss theoretical approaches to blocking effects, with particular emphasis on cases in which words appear to block phrases (and perhaps vice versa). These approaches share at least one intuition: that syntactic and semantic features create possible “cells” or slots in which particular items can appear, and that blocking occurs when one such cell is occupied by one form as opposed to another. Accounts of blocking differ along two primary dimensions: the size of the objects that compete with one another (morphemes, words, phrases, sentences); and whether or not ungrammatical forms are taken into consideration in determining the correct output (relatedly, whether otherwise well-formed objects are marked ungrammatical by competition). We argue that blocking in the sense of competition for the expression of syntactic or semantic features is limited to insertion of the phonological exponents of such features (the Vocabulary items of Distributed Morphology) at terminal nodes from the syntax. There is thus no blocking at the word level or above, and no competition between grammatical and ungrammatical structures. The architectural significance of these points is emphasized throughout the discussion.

scholarly journals Morphological taxonomy in the present-day generative framework: A case study of English and Czech nominalization

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Ludmila Veselovská
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Distributed Morphology ◽  
Morphological Taxonomy ◽  
Parallel Data ◽  
Syntactic Derivation

Abstract This paper addresses the classification of morphemes in a generative framework. Referring to existing theoretical models of generative morphosyntax (e.g. Distributed Morphology), it demonstrates that a traditional long-standing taxonomic distinction reflects formal, i.e. structural (and derivational) distinctions. Using the well-known examples of the English multi-functional nominalizer -ing and some parallel data in Czech, the study reinterprets morphological taxonomy in terms of three levels, namely the (i) lexical, (ii) syntactic and (iii) post-syntactic insertion of grammatical formatives. It shows that the level of insertion in a syntactic derivation results in predictable (and attested) diagnostics for the multi-morpheme exponents.

scholarly journals Ζητήματα διεπαφής λεξικού και σύνταξης και εφαρμογή στη νέα ελληνική ως δεύτερη/ξένη γλώσσα

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Παναγιώτα Σαμιώτη
Keyword(s):  
Distributed Morphology

Το αντικείμενο της παρούσας διατριβής είναι η μελέτη των επιθετικών μετοχών στα Ελληνικά, με εστίαση στις επιθετικές μετοχές -τός/-τος δυνατότητας. Βασικός στόχος είναι να διερευνηθεί η δομή των επιθετικών μετοχών -τός/-τος δυνατότητας και κατά πόσο τα δομικά χαρακτηριστικά τους διαφέρουν από τις ρηματικές δομές δυνατότητας (προδιαθετικές δομές) διαγλωσσικά. Οι κοινές σημασιακές και δομικές ιδιότητες των επιθετικών μετοχών –τός/-τος δυνατότητας με τη ρηματική προδιαθετική μέση οδηγούν στο συμπέρασμα ότι εμπεριέχουν στη δομή τους κοινές λειτουργικές κατηγορίες με αυτήν, όπως ο Γενικευτικός Τελεστής και η κεφαλή Φωνής. Στην παρούσα διατριβή η ερμηνεία των επιθετικών μετοχών στα Ελληνικά γίνεται με βάση το μορφολογικό-συντακτικό μοντέλο της Κατανεμητικής Μορφολογίας (ΚΜ) (Distributed Morphology).

scholarly journals Features, Syntax, and Categories in the Latin Perfect

2000 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Embick
Keyword(s):  
Distributed Morphology ◽  
Verbal System ◽  
The Status ◽  
Category Labels ◽  
The Difference

The analysis centers on the notion of category in synthetic and analytic verbal forms and on the status of the feature that determines the forms of the Latin perfect. In this part of the Latin verbal system, active forms are synthetic (“verbs”) but passive forms are analytic (i.e., participle and finite auxiliary). I show that the two perfects occur in essentially the same structure and are distinguished by a difference in movement to T; moreover, the difference in forms can be derived without reference to category labels like “Verb” or “Adjective” on the Root. In addition, the difference in perfects is determined by a feature with clear syntactic consequences, which must be associated arbitrarily with certain Roots, the deponent verbs. I discuss the implications of these points in the context of Distributed Morphology, the theory in which the analysis is framed.

A morphosyntactic analysis of nominal expressive suffixes in Russian and Greek

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga Steriopolo ◽  
Giorgos Markopoulos ◽  
Vassilios Spyropoulos
Keyword(s):  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Distributed Morphology ◽  
Semantic Level ◽  
Expressive Meaning ◽  
Morphosyntactic Analysis

Abstract This work investigates and compares nominal expressive suffixes in Russian and Greek within the framework of Distributed Morphology. It shows that, although the suffixes under investigation share the same expressive meaning, they differ significantly in their syntactic structure, namely in the manner and place of attachment in the syntactic tree. More specifically, in both languages expressive suffixes can attach either as heads or as modifiers and, furthermore, they may occupy various syntactic positions. This illustrates that, despite their uniformity at semantic level, expressive suffixes exhibit variation with respect to their syntactic structuring both within and across languages.

Case Variation in Eastern Polynesian Spatial PPs

2020 ◽  
pp. 56-83
Author(s):  
David J. Medeiros
Keyword(s):  
Morphological Feature ◽  
Feature Matching ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Distributed Morphology ◽  
Common Pattern ◽  
Spatial Prepositions ◽  
Case Marking ◽  
The Cross ◽  
Genitive Case

This chapter examines variation in terms of case marking within complex spatial prepositions in Hawaiian and Māori. A dialect difference is proposed such that post-revitalization Māori patterns with Hawaiian in the realization of genitive case within spatial prepositions (the cross-linguistically more common pattern), to the exclusion of pre-revitalization Māori. Working within a model in which genitive case within spatial prepositions follows from syntactic structure, the unexpected non-genitive marking in pre-revitalization Māori is linked to the grammar of possession in that language, as contrasted with Hawaiian and post-revitalization Māori. The specific case marking variation is modeled in terms of morphological feature matching in a Distributed Morphology framework. Therefore, independent properties of the grammar of possession accounts for the observed micro-variation.

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