A Morphous Morphology

In A-Morphous Morphology, Stephen Anderson presents a theory of word structure which relates to a full generative grammar of language. He holds word structure to be the result of interacting principles from a number of grammatical areas, and thus not localized in a single morphological component. Dispensing with classical morphemes, the theory instead treats morphology as a matter of rule-governed relations, minimizing the non-phonological internal structure assigned to words and eliminating morphologically motivated boundary elements. Professor Anderson makes the further claim that the properties of individual lexical items are not visible to, or manipulated by, the rules of the syntax, and assimilates to morphology special clitic phenomena. A-Morphous Morphology maintains significant distinctions between inflection, derivation, and compounding, in terms of their place ina grammar. It also contains discussion of the implications of this new A-Morphous position analysis of word structure.

The architecture of the human language faculty has been one of the main foci of the linguistic research of the last half century. This branch of linguistics, broadly known as Generative Grammar, is concerned with the formulation of explanatory formal accounts of linguistic phenomena with the ulterior goal of gaining insight into the properties of the 'language organ'. The series comprises high quality monographs and collected volumes that address such issues. The topics in this series range from phonology to semantics, from syntax to information structure, from mathematical linguistics to studies of the lexicon. To discuss your book idea or submit a proposal, please contact Birgit Sievert

A new contribution to linguistic theory, this book presents a formal framework for the analysis of word structure in human language. It sets forth the network of hypotheses constituting Paradigm Function Morphology, a theory of inflectional form whose central insight is that paradigms play an essential role in the definition of a language's system of word structure. The theory comprises several unprecedented claims, chief among which is the claim that a language's realization rules serve as clauses in the definition of a paradigm function, an overarching construct which is indispensable for capturing certain kinds of generalizations about inflectional form. This book differs from other recent works on the same subject in that it treats inflectional morphology as an autonomous system of principles rather than as a subsystem of syntax or phonology and it draws upon evidence from a diverse range of languages in motivating the proposed conception of word structure.

In spite of the central position that the concept word has among the basic units of language structure, there is no consensus as to the definition of this concept (or network of related concepts). Many perspectives are needed in order to gain even a schematic idea of what words are, how words may be composed, and what relationships there might be between words. Many linguists have put forward frameworks for describing the domain of morphology, each framework proceeding from its author's assumptions, prioritizing distinct formal and functional dimensions, and therefore entering into de facto competition. This book addresses the needs of the language scholar/student who finds her/himself engaged in morphological analysis and theorizing. It offers a guide to existing approaches, revealing how they can either complement or compete with each other.

This new edition of Understanding Morphology has been fully revised in line with the latest research. It now includes 'big picture' questions to highlight central themes in morphology, as well as research exercises for each chapter. Understanding Morphology presents an introduction to the study of word structure that starts at the very beginning. Assuming no knowledge of the field of morphology on the part of the reader, the book presents a broad range of morphological phenomena from a wide variety of languages. Starting with the core areas of inflection and derivation, the book presents the interfaces between morphology and syntax and between morphology and phonology. The synchronic study of word structure is covered, as are the phenomena of diachronic change, such as analogy and grammaticalization. Theories are presented clearly in accessible language with the main purpose of shedding light on the data, rather than as a goal in themselves. The authors consistently draw on the best research available, thus utilizing and discussing both functionalist and generative theoretical approaches. Each chapter includes a summary, suggestions for further reading, and exercises. As such this is the ideal book for both beginning students of linguistics, or anyone in a related discipline looking for a first introduction to morphology.

Tackling theoretical approaches including Construction Grammar and the Minimalist Program, this volume focuses on processes and phenomena. Each chapter covers the main concepts through example data, before discussing the pros and cons of the approach. Topics covered include: units, inflection, derivation, compounding, the Lexical Integrity Hypothesis and the interfaces of morphology with phonology and semantics. Taking your understanding of the form and meaning of words to the next level, this book is ideal for linguistics students interested in learning more about morphology.Key Features* Discusses variety of theories* Exercises and further reading in each chapter

This volume exposes the inadequacies of morpheme or stem based theories of morphology and introduces the two versions (the Montreal version, called Whole Word Morphology, and the `lexicase` one) of a radically a-morphous morphology, somewhat mischievously designated, by Starosta, as `seamless morphology`. It also makes clear their many shared assumptions and principles as well as the differences between them. A number of contributors deal with `compounding` and `incorporation`, two of the toughest problems in maintaining the seamless position. Other contributions show the advantages of that position in analysing synchronic and diachronic problems connected with lexical derivation in Arabic, Bangla, Chinese, English, French, German, Hindi, Spanish and Micronesian languages.

This book presents a detailed examination of the most important arguments for a process-based theory of morphology and offers a highly-constrained alternative to the powerful mechanisms proposed in processual theories of morphology.Data is presented from dozens of different languages from numerous language families around the world, much of it new to the linguistic forum. The importance of prosodic morphology in the analysis of linguistic phenomena is highlighted and the need for greater constraints on generative power is examined. This work addresses some of the thorniest problems in morphological theory in a novel alternative fashion, including the issues of ablaut, exchange rules, metathesis, reduplication and subtraction, and presents reanalyses based on moraic morphology and the traditional notion of 'combination' of morphemes along with the underlying theme of constraining the grammar of natural language to the utmost. Contributions to the field include: (i) new data from Nitinaht reduplicative constructions, Nootka hypocoristic formation, and Nootkan variable-length vowels; (ii) reanalyses of previous problems, including metathesis in Chawchila Yokuts, Hebrew, and Saanich, exchange rules in Luo, Dinka, and Diegueño, and truncation in Danish; (iii) analyses of new problems from reduplication in Nitinaht and Nootka templatic morphology; and (iv) new theoretical apparatus is introduced: the unification of templates and a new proposal for hierarchical syllable structure based on the mora as head of N.