LINGUIST List 18.1102: Morphology: Galani: 'The Morphosyntax of Verbs in Modern Greek'

LINGUIST List 18.1102

Wed Apr 11 2007

Diss: Morphology: Galani: 'The Morphosyntax of Verbs in Modern Greek'

Editor for this issue: Hunter Lockwood <hunterlinguistlist.org>

Directory 1. Alexandra Galani, The Morphosyntax of Verbs in Modern Greek

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Message 1: The Morphosyntax of Verbs in Modern Greek
Date: 11-Apr-2007
From: Alexandra Galani <ag153york.ac.uk>
Subject: The Morphosyntax of Verbs in Modern Greek

Institution: University of York Program: Department of Language and Linguistic Science Dissertation Status: Completed Degree Date: 2005

Author: Alexandra Galani

Dissertation Title: The Morphosyntax of Verbs in Modern Greek

Linguistic Field(s): Morphology
Subject Language(s): Greek (ell)
Dissertation Director:
George Tsoulas
Dissertation Abstract:

The thesis examines the verbal morphosyntax in Modern Greek. The main claimis that verbs in Greek consist of a root, the theme vowel, which mainlyrepresents aspectual features, the morpheme in which voice is realised andthe unit representing agreement and tense. The main hypothesis is thatconjugational classes categorise Greek verbs and are organised on the basisof abstract features. The thesis is written within the framework ofDistributed Morphology (Halle and Marantz 1993) and hence pays particularattention to the interplay of syntax, morphology and phonology inword-formation.

More specifically, it is claimed that that each morphological unitrepresents a set of features (morphological or syntacticosemantic), primaryand secondary ones. Consequently, a one-to-one relation between meaning andform does not hold. The overt or covert spell-out of each morpheme mainlydepends on the marked or unmarked value of aspect (± perf).

Special attention is paid to the classification of verbs which depends onthe abstract, morphological properties of the theme vowels. The role ofconjugational classes is to categorise the pieces of inflection in therepository of grammar as well as to predict the morphological spell-out ofthe form selecting each theme vowel.

The analysis of the verbal morphology in Greek provides support for theclaim that word formation cannot be solely seen as a syntactic ormorphological process, as traditional claims in the literature suggest(Chomsky (1970); Anderson (1992), respectively). Instead, it requires theinteraction of syntax, morphology as well as phonology. It is claimed thatsyntax sets the structures which are further manipulated by morphology.Phonology can also impose the insertion of morphemes via the application ofphonological rules triggered by the necessity to satisfy well-formednessconditions. The augment's insertion in simple and compound verbal formsprovides evidence for this position.

The existence of morphological features in the system does not only accountfor the ways vocabulary items are organised in the repository but also forwhat triggers the application of processes in the morphological componentwhich result at the formation of stems.

It is made clear that stems are not stored or formed under the applicationof strict morphological processes (e.g. readjustment rules) in the lexicon.Instead, I propose that the formation of stem can be only seen as theresult of the creation of a local environment in the morphologicalcomponent between the root and the aspectual projection subject tovocabulary insertion. On the other hand, suppletive stems are derived inthe vocabulary via readjustment rules and then enter the enumeration.

Finally, it is proposed that allomorphic cases which are not phonologicallyconditioned, are accounted for in terms of the vocabulary's organisation.There is no need to assume that they are the product of phonological,syntactic or morpholexical rules. A consequence is that allomorphy is nolonger considered to be a non-productive process.