Title: The Syntax-Morphology Interface
Subtitle: A Study of Syncretism
Series Title: Cambridge Studies in Linguistics, 109
Published: 2005
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
http://us.cambridge.org
Author: Matthew Baerman
Author: Dunstan Brown
Author: Greville G. Corbett
Hardback: ISBN: 0521821819 Pages: 272 Price: U.K. £ 50.00
Hardback: ISBN: 0521821819 Pages: 272 Price: U.S. $ 90.00
Abstract:
Syncretism - where a single form serves two or more morphosyntactic functions - is a persistent problem at the syntax-morphology interface. It results from a 'mismatch', whereby the syntax of a language makes a particular distinction, but the morphology does not. This pioneering book provides the first full-length study of inflectional syncretism, presenting a typology of its occurrence across a wide range of languages. The implications of syncretism for the syntax-morphology interface have long been recognised: it argues either for an enriched model of feature structure (thereby preserving a direct link between function and form), or for the independence of morphological structure from syntactic structure. The Syntax-Morphology Interface argues for the autonomy of morphology, and the resulting analysis is illustrated in a series of formal case studies within network morphology. It will be welcomed by all linguists interested in the relation between words and the larger units of which they are a part.
1. Introduction 2. Characteristics of syncretism 3. Cross-linguistic typology of features 4. Formal representation 5. Formal framework and case studies 6. Conclusion Appendixes
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