Morphology by Itself: Stems and Inflectional ClassesMost recent research in generative morphology has avoided the treatment of purely morphological phenomena and has focused instead on interface questions, such as the relation between morphology and syntax or between morphology and phonology. In this monograph Mark Aronoff argues that linguists must consider morphology by itself, not merely as an appendage of syntax and phonology, and that linguistic theory must allow for a separate and autonomous morphological component. Following a general introductory chapter, Aronoff examines two narrow classes of morphological phenomena to make his case: stems and inflectional classes. Concentrating first on Latin verb morphology, he argues that morphological stems are neither syntactic nor phonological units. Next, using data from a number of languages, he underscores the traditional point that the inflectional class of a word is not reducible to its syntactic gender. He then explores in detail the phonologically motivated nominal inflectional class system of two languages of Papua New Guinea (Arapeshand Yimas) and the precise nature of the relation between this system and the corresponding gender system. Finally, drawing on a number of Semitic languages, Aronoff argues that the verb classes of these languages are purely inflectional although they are partly motivated by derivational and syntactic considerations. |
Contents
Chapter | 5 |
Lexemes | 8 |
Conclusion 165 | 21 |
Chapter 2 | 31 |
Stem Types | 54 |
Nominal Inflectional Classes | 75 |
Chapter 4 | 89 |
Class | 111 |
References 197 | 123 |
without Binyanim | 160 |
Other editions - View all
Morphology by Itself: Stems and Inflectional Classes, Volume 3 Mark Aronoff No preview available - 1994 |
Common terms and phrases
ablaut abstract accusative adjectives affixes agreeing elements agreement analysis Aramaic Arapesh assigned belong binyan binyanim Bloomfield Chomsky citation form conjugation consonant declension default gender derived discussion distinct English example fact feminine nouns free form future participle gender and inflectional gender viii Gloss grammar idiosyncratic inflectional class irregular Israeli Hebrew language Latin Latin verbs lexeme formation lexeme-based lexical categories Lieber linguistic mapping meaning morph morpheme morphology morphophonological morphosyntactic property array neuter nif'al nominal normal noun classes nouns ending paradigm passive perfect participle perfect stem pheme phonological phonological form plural plural marker plural suffix prefix present stem pronouns prosody realization pairs realization rules relation semantic Semitic languages simple singular suffix sound form Spanish specified stem templates stem types stem vowel supine syntactic syntax Syriac tense term theme vowel theory third stem tion tional unprefixed stem verb lexeme verb stems words Yimas