This is a seminar for MEd- and MA-students only.
The first part of this seminar is mainly empirical and devoted to the analysis of the morphological structure of complex words like (1). Here we will focus on morphemes and their allomorphs, the different types of affixes and the bases to which they attach (i.e. word vs. root, as in (2) and (3)). Allomorphy, or the different shapes that a morpheme can take, is often phonologically conditioned. Therefore, an important task is to discover the phonological processes which synchronically or diachronically shape words.
(1) unrepeatability: [N [A un [A [V repeat] able ]] ity]
(2) accurate + ness (word-based suffixation)
(3) accurate + acy > [accur]acy (root-based suffixation)
The second part of the seminar is devoted to theoretical aspects of word formation, which is often thought to occur in the (mental) Lexicon, Morphology constituting a separate grammatical component. However, recent approaches, e.g. Distributed Morphology, claim that the structure of complex words is the result of essentially syntactic operations. That is, there is only one computational component that is responsible for both word formation and syntactic structure. After an introduction to Distributed Morphology, we will examine to what extent such a framework can deal with the data discussed in the first part of the seminar. Then we will apply it to a selection of phenomena which have proved problematic for traditional Morphology, for example, different types of nominalisations illustrated in (4–6) and different types of participles (perfect vs. passive participle).
(4) [The Celts’ quick destruction of the fortress] upset Caesar. (complex event nominal)
(5) Caesar remembered [the Celts destroying the fortress quickly]. (verbal gerund)
(6) [John’s foolish mixing of drugs and alcohol] proved fatal. (nominal gerund)
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