Combinatorial Morphology

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.

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.

In this book Peter Juul Nielsen examines the foundations of morphological theory from a structural-functional perspective on language as a sign system with the empirical challenge of describing the nonfinite verb forms in Danish as his point of departure.

This book explores interdisciplinary work on the mental processing of syntax and morphology. It is divided into four parts concerned with word structure, sentence structure, processing syntax and morphology at the interfaces, and a comparison of different models of syntactic and morphological processing in the neurophysiological domain.

This book contains the refereed proceedings of the 11th International Symposium on Mathematical Morphology, ISMM 2013 held in Uppsala, Sweden, in May 2013. The 41 revised full papers presented together with 3 invited papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 52 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on theory; trees and hierarchies; adaptive morphology; colour; manifolds and metrics; filtering; detectors and descriptors; and applications.

This volume focuses on detailed studies of various aspects of Construction Morphology, and combines theoretical analysis and descriptive detail. It deals with data from several domains of linguistics and contributes to an integration of findings from various subdisciplines of linguistics into a common model of the architecture of language. It presents applications and extensions of the model of Construction Morphology to a wide range of languages. Construction Morphology is one of the theoretical paradigms in present-day morphology. It makes use of concepts of Construction Grammar for the analysis of word formation and inflection. Complex words are seen as constructions, that is, pairs of form and meaning. Morphological patterns are accounted for by construction schemas. These are the recipes for coining new words and word forms, and they motivate the properties of existing complex words. Both schemas and individual words are stored, and hence there is no strict separation of lexicon and grammar. In addition to abstract schemas there are subschemas for subclasses of complex words with specific properties. This architecture of the grammar is in harmony with findings from other empirical domains of linguistics such as language acquisition, word processing, and language change.

This monograph addresses morphology and its interfaces with phonology and syntax by examining comparative data from the Uto-Aztecan language family, and analyses involving reduplication as well as noun incorporation and related derivational morphology are provided within the framework of Distributed Morphology. Reduplication is treated by analyzing reduplicative morphemes (reduplicants) as morphological pieces (Vocabulary Items) inserted into syntactic slots at Morphological Structure. Noun incorporation constructions are analyzed as involving either incorporation (head movement in syntax, a la Baker 1988), or conflation, involving direct merger of a nominal root into verbal position (a la Hale and Keyser 2002). It is argued that denominal verb constructions should be treated as a sub-case of NI, as in Hale and Keyser (1993). Finally, the historical development of the polysynthesis parameter in Nahuatl is discussed, and a reconstruction of the likely stages of development, each of which is attested elsewhere in the family, is presented.

This popular introductory textbook offers a lively and comprehensive introduction to current morphological theory and analysis, enabling beginners to approach current literature in the subject with confidence. Part I develops students' understanding of traditional and structuralist notions of word structure and provides them with a firm grounding in word structure and word formation. Part II explores the relationship between morphology and phonology, while Part III looks at morphology in relation to syntax and the lexicon. Numerous practical exercises which involve formulating hypotheses and testing them against linguistic data cement the reader's understanding of the field. This accessible introduction to morphology is an ideal resource for students of English and linguistics and their teachers. New to this Edition: - Fully revised throughout, with updated discussions to reflect changes in the field and an expanded list of suggestions for further reading - Brand-new chapter on Optimality Theory