Topics in English Morphology
D. C. Siegel, 1974
This thesis concerns aspects of English inflectional and derivational morphology.
In Chapter 1, a theory of English case is developed. The morphology of genitive pronouns is investigated. It is shown that the genitive feature originates in the determiner. A phrase structure rule which expands N���� as N���CASE is motivated. The structure-dependent rules which realize CASE are formulated and their ordering is investigated. The empirical consequences of enriching the structure of noun phrases is discussed. A condition on N���, the CASE Condition, is proposed and its consequences are discussed. The surface rules which incorporate the genitive feature into nouns and pronouns are formulated.
In Chapter 2, some fundamental issues in derivational morphology are investigated. The nature and distribution of the boundaries are investigated. The nature and distribution of the boundaries which play a role in lexical word derivation are discussed. It is demonstrated that English affixes fall into two classes: those which are introduced with the + boundary (Class I affixes) and those which are introduced with the # boundary (Class II affixes). The application of the rules of primary stress assignment and stress subordination to lexically derived words is considered. The ways in which Class I and Class II affix-derived words differ are discussed. A schema of lexical organization which accounts for these differences is proposed. This schema obviates the need for global affixation conditions and constrains the generative capacity of the lexicon.
Thesis supervisor:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Morris Halle
Title:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Professor of Modern Languages and Linguistics
Table of Contents
Chapter 1        A Theory of English Case                                                                    28
           1         The morphology of English genitive pronouns                            28
                       1.1      The strong and weak forms of English genitive pronouns           28
                       1.2      The distribution of the strong and weak forms               29
                       1.3      Genitive spell-out on pronouns                                     34
                       1.4      Justification of the determiner source for the genitive
                                   feature                                                                                     35
                                   1.4.1   Evidence that genitive pronouns are not subjects
                                               or objects                                                                    36
                                   1.4.2   One as the missing subject or object                             45
                       1.5      Justification for not using syntactic dependency to predict
                                   the distribution of the strong and weak forms                49
                       1.6      Reformulation of the genitive pronoun spell-out rule                  54
           2         The representation of CASE in phrase structure                        55
                       2.1      Evidence that the distribution of the genitive feature
                                   cannot be stated at the surface                                     57
                       2.2      N����                                                                                       60
                       2.3      Revision of the phrase structure rules to incorporate N����         62
           3         CASE-realization                                                                                 63
                       3.1      Genitive CASE-realization                                                       63
                                   3.1.1   The rule�s application in noun phrases and
                                               derived nominals                                                          64
                                   3.1.2   The rule�s application in verbal gerunds            64
                       3.2      Nominative and oblique CASE-realization                                71
           4         Formulations of genitive movement, NP-preposing, and agent-
                       postposing                                                                                           73
           5         Empirical consequences of the theory of CASE                        78
                       5.1      Two types of movement rules                                                   78
                       5.2      The CASE condition                                                                79
                       5.3      Further remarks                                                                       80
           6         Surface rules                                                                                        85
                       6.1      Genitive incorporation                                                  86
                       6.2      Genitive distribution                                                                 90
                       6.3      Genitive spell-out on nouns                                                      94
           7         Epilogue                                                                                              98
Footnotes                                                                                                                    100
Chapter 2        Basic Issues in Derivational Morphology                                              101
           1         Introduction                                                                                         101
           2         The lexical representation of formatives                                    104
                       2.1      Stems                                                                                      104
                       2.2      Prefixes                                                                                   105
                       2.3      Suffixes                                                                                   107
                       2.4      Underived words                                                                    109
                       2.5      Derived words                                                                         110
           3         Two classes of affixes                                                                          111
                       3.1      Two classes of suffixes                                                 111
                                   3.1.1   Class I suffixes                                                 111
                                   3.1.2   Class II suffixes                                                           112
                       3.2      Two classes of prefixes                                                114
                                   3.2.1   Class I prefixes                                                115
                                   3.2.2   Class II prefixes                                                           130
           4         The structure of the lexicon                                                                  148
                       4.1      Consequences of (36)                                                              154
                       4.2      Sample derivations                                                                   155
                                   4.2.1   Class I affixes                                                              156
                                   4.2.2   Class II affixes                                                 160
           5         Further empirical consequences of the proposed structure of the
                       lexicon                                                                                                 162
                       5.1      Elimination of global constraints on suffixation               163
                       5.2      The stacking-up of Class I and Class II affixes              182
Footnotes                                                                                                                    189