Description

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 Provides an in-depth look at morphology, tackling theoretical approaches including Construction Grammar and the Minimalist Program.

A precious guide to the meandering paths of morphological analysis. The ideal textbook for encouraging advanced students to question the issues of morphological units and the relation of morphology to other linguistic fields. A critical eye to the most recent theoretical approaches of word structure. This volume should be an essential part of any graduate course in morphology.

Angela Ralli, Ph.D., is a professor of General Linguistics at the Department of Philology (Linguistics Division) of the University of Patras.

 

 This book presents a welcome and balanced survey of present-day morphological theories for advanced students of morphology. The authors provide helpful guidance in the analysis of various morphological data and the related theoretical issues that play a role in the present debate on morphology and its place in the architecture of grammar.

 Geert Booij, Professor of Linguistics, Leiden University Centre of Linguistics

Abbreviations; Foreword; 1. Morphology: definitions and basic concepts; 1.1. What is morphology?; 1.1.1. Its object of study; 1.1.2. Morphology's place in grammar; 1.1.3. Differences between the lexicon and morphology; 1.2. Classes of morphemes; 1.2.1. Classes of affixes; 1.3. Subdivisions of morphology; 1.3.1. Inflection; 1.3.2. Word formation: derivation and compounding; 1.4. The spell out of morphemes; 1.4.1. Allomorphy; 1.5. Productivity; 2. Morphological units; 2.1. Morphemes; 2.2. Words; 2.3. The debate on the existence of morphemes; 2.3.1. Replacive and substractive morphology; 2.3.2. Mismatches between grammatical features and their exponents; 2.3.3. Cranberry morphemes; 2.3.4. Priscianic word formation; 2.3.5. Paradigmatic motivation of meaning; 2.4. Other units; 2.4.1. Roots and stems; 2.4.2. Constructions 2.4.3. Templates; 2.5. Correlations between morphemes and morphs and morphological typology; 3. Morphological structures; 3.1. The motivation for morphological structures; 3.1.1. Evidence in favour of word internal structure; 3.2. The properties of morphological structures; 3.2.1. The concept of head; 3.2.2. The position of the head; 3.2.3. Binary branching; 3.3. Arguments against morphological structures; 3.3.1. A-morphous morphology; 3.3.2. Exocentricity; 3.3.3. Bracketing paradoxes; 3.3.4. Double base; 3.3.5. Parasynthesis; 4. Inflectional processes; 4.1. Properties of inflection; 4.2. Inflection and grammatical categories; 4.2.1. A comparison of five languages; 4.2.2. Non-inflected categories: prepositions, conjunctions and adverbs; 4.3. Desinences and theme vowels in grammar; 4.3.1. The status of gender and the notion of desinence; 4.3.2. Theme vowels; 4.4. Paradigms; 4.4.1. Syncretism; 4.4.2. Defectivity; 4.4.3. Suppletion; 4.4.4. Patterns of irregularity; 5. Derivational processes; 5.1. Properties of derivation; 5.2. Category changes; 5.2.1. Nominalisations; 5.2.2.Verbalisations; 5.2.3. Adjectivalisations; 5.3. Semantic changes; 5.4. Category cha