English word formation has two disruptive problems which this book will address. Firstly, it presents a consistent theory of `compounding'. There is a long-standing dispute in the literature as to whether certain constructions (e.g. LONDON ROAD) are compound words or syntactic phrases. Secondly, the book suggests an alternative to the commonly assumed sharp division of the grammar into the `lexicon' and the `syntax'. The book illustrates a grammar that is rather different from that envisaged in Lexicalism and provides a better understanding of some of the most recalcitrant problems in English word formation.
English word formation has two disruptive problems which this book will address. Firstly, it presents a consistent theory of `compounding'. There is a long-standing dispute in the literature as to whether certain constructions (e.g. LONDON ROAD) are compound words or syntactic phrases. Secondly, the book suggests an alternative to the commonly assumed sharp division of the grammar into the `lexicon' and the `syntax'. The book illustrates a grammar that is rather different from that envisaged in Lexicalism and provides a better understanding of some of the most recalcitrant problems in English word formation.
1. Introduction; 2. Noun-plus-noun compounding and the lexicon; 3. The grammar of attribution: phrase vs. compound; 4. On the interface: associative-adjective constructions and similar borderline cases; 5. The specific and the general: blocking effects and the modularization of the grammar; 6. Two modules or three? Interfaces, overlaps and the lexicon-syntax continuum.
This book makes two major contributions to our understanding of the formal grammar of English. Firstly, it presents a coherent theory of 'compounding' in English. There is a long-standing but unresolved dispute in the literature as to whether certain constructions (e.g. LONDON ROAD, DENTAL TREATMENT) are compound words or syntactic phrases. The question is important because in other cases the distinction is clear-cut (RING ROAD, FREE TREATMENT respectively), and because it impinges on central assumptions regarding the organisation of the grammar. Secondly, the book suggests an alternative to the commonly assumed sharp division of the grammar into the 'lexicon' and the 'syntax'. Heinz Giegerich argues that the Lexicalist assumption of a sharp divide between the modules cannot be upheld and that the two modules overlap so that there are constructions in English that are simultaneously compound and phrase. He suggests an alternative, tripartite, structure comprising three successive, and significantly overlapping, modules: the lexicon proper, the morphology and the syntax. The book illustrates a grammar that is rather different from that envisaged in Lexicalism (while still retaining that theory's basic insights) and provides a better understanding of some of the most recalcitrant problems in English word formation.
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