Studies in Morphology – serie

This is the first volume specifically dedicated to competition in inflection and word-formation, a topic that has increasingly attracted attention. Semantic categories, such as concepts, classes, and feature bundles, can be expressed by more than one form or formal pattern. This departure from the ideal principle "one form – one meaning" is particularly frequent in morphology, where it has been treated under diverse headings, such as blocking, Elsewhere Condition, Pāṇini's Principle, rivalry, synonymy, doublets, overabundance, suppletion and other terms. Since these research traditions, despite the heterogeneous terminology, essentially refer to the same underlying problems, this volume unites the phenomena studied in this field of linguistic morphology under the more general heading of competition.The volume features an extensive state of the art report on the subject and 11 research papers, which represent various theoretical approaches to morphology and addressa wide range of aspects of competition, including morphophonology, lexicology, diachrony, language contact, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics and language acquisition.

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.

Latin paradigms are almost proverbially known, and they have often been used as a test case for different theoretical approaches to morphological complexity. This book analyses them in a completely word-based perspective, using a recently developed information-theoretic methodology, making entropy-based techniques of analysis available to a wider readership. By doing so, it shows the relevance of traditional notions like principal parts, giving them a more principled, data-driven formulation. Furthermore, it suggests enhancements to the standard information-theoretic methodology, allowing to account for the role of external factors – like gender and derivational information – in improving predictability between inflected word forms. This book is useful to morphologists, that will see ideas and techniques taken from the current debate on morphological theory tested on complex phenomena of a language as renowned as Latin. It is also helpful for scholars working in both Latin and Romance linguistics: the former will find a freely available lexical resource and a novel description of Latin paradigms, that can be exploited by the latter to draw a comparison with recent analyses of the inflectional morphology of several Romance languages.

Latin paradigms are almost proverbially known, and they have often been used as a test case for different theoretical approaches to morphological complexity. This book analyses them in a completely word-based perspective, using a recently developed information-theoretic methodology, making entropy-based techniques of analysis available to a wider readership. By doing so, it shows the relevance of traditional notions like principal parts, giving them a more principled, data-driven formulation. Furthermore, it suggests enhancements to the standard information-theoretic methodology, allowing to account for the role of external factors – like gender and derivational information – in improving predictability between inflected word forms. This book is useful to morphologists, that will see ideas and techniques taken from the current debate on morphological theory tested on complex phenomena of a language as renowned as Latin. It is also helpful for scholars working in both Latin and Romance linguistics: the former will find a freely available lexical resource and a novel description of Latin paradigms, that can be exploited by the latter to draw a comparison with recent analyses of the inflectional morphology of several Romance languages.

The volume explores the concept of paradigm in word-formation, focusing on its applicability to Slavic morphology, with an emphasis on Czech. It examines word-formation without derivational affixes, referred to as conversion in line with the current debate. It adopts a word-based approach to morphology, using attested words as the core lexicon units and inferring their internal structure through generalisation over sets of words. The book is divided into seven chapters, starting with an introduction and a survey of the discussion on the paradigmatic nature of derivation and other word-formation processes. The concept of paradigm is traced from recent research back to the 1960s. The next chapter explains the specifics of word-formation without derivational affixes in Czech. The empirical part of the study analyses more than 2,000 noun/verb conversion pairs for their phonological, morphological, and semantic features, noting differences between paradigms with nominal vs. verbal roots and native vs. non-native roots. By relating these findings to cross-linguistic and typological debates on word-class specificity and lexical borrowability, the study shows that morphological families with non-native roots tend to favour nouns over verbs. The book is intended for professional morphologists but can also serve as an introduction to the extensive discussion on the paradigmatic approach to word-formation for linguists in general. By moving beyond the Slavic descriptive tradition, it may be particularly valuable for those interested in Slavic word-formation who find traditional descriptions challenging due to theoretical or language-related barriers. This is an open access book.

This volume offers a valuable overview of recent research into the semantic aspects of complex words through different theoretical frameworks. Contributions by experts in the field, both morphologists and psycholinguists, identify crucial areas of research, present alternative and complementary approaches to their examination from the current level of knowledge, and indicate perspectives of research into the semantics of complex words by raising important questions that need to be investigated in order to get a more comprehensive picture of the field. Recent decades have seen both extensive and intensive development of various theories of word-formation, however, the semantic aspects of complex words have, with a few notable exceptions, been rather neglected. This volume fills that gap by offering articles written by leading experts in the field from various theoretical backgrounds.

This volume offers a valuable overview of recent research into the semantic aspects of complex words through different theoretical frameworks. Contributions by experts in the field, both morphologists and psycholinguists, identify crucial areas of research, present alternative and complementary approaches to their examination from the current level of knowledge, and indicate perspectives of research into the semantics of complex words by raising important questions that need to be investigated in order to get a more comprehensive picture of the field. Recent decades have seen both extensive and intensive development of various theories of word-formation, however, the semantic aspects of complex words have, with a few notable exceptions, been rather neglected. This volume fills that gap by offering articles written by leading experts in the field from various theoretical backgrounds.

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 volume analyzes morphological and morphonological phenomena from a number of distinct Slavic languages. It does so in an innovative manner, yet also positions the analysis in the context of current morphological debates. It is thus a valuable contribution both to comparative Slavic morphology and general morphological theory. Moreover, the book is the first attempt at a theory of conversion and subtraction relevant to languages with rich inflectional morphology. It contributes to our structural understanding of the nature of word. As the first illustration of subtraction with examples from southern Slavic languages, it is an excellent source of specialist data. The book’s theoretical framework is easily accessible and applicable to other languages, which makes it attractive to researchers on Slavic languages and general linguists alike. The volume will also appeal to general morphologists, typologists, and advanced students in linguistics.

This volume analyzes morphological and morphonological phenomena from a number of distinct Slavic languages. It does so in an innovative manner, yet also positions the analysis in the context of current morphological debates. It is thus a valuable contribution both to comparative Slavic morphology and general morphological theory. Moreover, the book is the first attempt at a theory of conversion and subtraction relevant to languages with rich inflectional morphology. It contributes to our structural understanding of the nature of word. As the first illustration of subtraction with examples from southern Slavic languages, it is an excellent source of specialist data. The book’s theoretical framework is easily accessible and applicable to other languages, which makes it attractive to researchers on Slavic languages and general linguists alike. The volume will also appeal to general morphologists, typologists, and advanced students in linguistics.

One of the core challenges in linguistics is elucidating compounds—their formation as well as the reasons their structure varies between languages. This book on Modern Greek rises to the challenge with a meticulous treatment of its diverse, intricate compounds, a study as grounded in theory as it is rich in data. Enhancing our knowledge of compounding and word-formation in general, its exceptional scope is a worthy model for linguists, particularly morphologists, and offers insights for students of syntax, phonology, dialectology and typology, among others.The author examines first-tier themes such as the order and relations of constituents, headedness, exocentricity, and theta-role saturation. She shows how Modern Greek compounding relates to derivation and inflection, and charts the boundaries between compounds and phrases. Exploring dialectically variant compounds, and identifying historical changes, the analysis extends to similarly formed compounds in wholly unrelated languages.