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Derivational MorphologyMihaela Tnase-Dogaru, Fall semester 2014

Course design: Ileana Baciu (2004). English Morphology. Word formation (EUB)

Lecture 4 Generativism. Approaches to word structure (2)

1. The form of lexicon entries

- each morpheme (free or bound) in the lexicon is a lexicon item specified for:

(i) its phonological distinctive features

(ii) syntactic (categorial and subcategorial) features(iii) semantic ( inherent and selectional) featuresthat set it apart from other morphemes that belong to the same paradigm.

- in the Aspects model lexical items are viewed as structured entities called complex symbols, composedof more elementary units calledfeatures.- each lexicon item is also marked for the specific syntactic transformationthat acts as Word-Formation

Rule(WFR) for the derivation of complex words. The operation of the WFRs upon the list of morphemeswill produce all thepotentiallywell-formed words.

Summing up, in the Standard model of GTG the rules that produce (generate) well-formed

morphologically complex words are assumed to be the same set of rules that generate well-formedsentences i.e. the rules of the syntactic component.- the domain of word-structure falls under the study of syntax.

2. Word Formation in GTG2.1. Deriving suffixed nominals in GTG.

- generativism assumes that the native speakers intuitions of lexical relatedness can be properly

accounted for (mirrored) by the syntactic (generative) component of grammar.- morphologically complex words such as arrival, development, destruction, teacherare related, by theirformal and semantic characteristics, to the corresponding verbs: arrive, develop,destroy, teach,- nominalizations govern the same sorts of complements like the base verbs and impose the sameselectional restrictions.

(1) He believes in the power of justiceHis belief in the power of justice

- GTG assumes that these nouns are not listed in the lexicon as such, but are actively generated by asyntactic transformationofNOM(inalization) applied to a sentential structure that contains the basic verb.

- the complex noun phrase their destruction of the cityis derived from the D(eep)S(tructure) sentenceThe ACT they destroy the city by the transformation of nominalization. The presence of the abstract headnoun the ACT captures, at the syntactic level, the information that the noun destruction is to beinterpreted as the ACT of destroying.

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(2) the arrival of the studentsNP3

Det N

the 3

N SACT3

NP VPthe students arrive

2.2. Compound formation

- nominal compounds are not listed in the lexicon but are actively generated from underlying sentences by

a set of transformations.

a. Compounds with verbal element

- compounds like rattlesnakeor madmanare derived from the underlying sentences The snake whichrattles and the man who is mad.- in GTG, compounds are classified by taking into consideration the different syntactic function that theelements of the compound have in the deep structure sentence. Rattlesnake, for instance, is classified asan instance of a Verb-Subject compound because of the position the elements have in the underlyingstructure: the snake [the snake rattles].

- the following sub-classes of nominal compounds with verbal element were established:

a) Verb-Subject compounds: workman, popcorn, clasp-knife, firing squad, talking machine, washingmachine, etc.

b) Verb-Object compounds : drawbridge (generated from the underlying sentence The bridge [somebodydraws the bridge]), push-button, skim-milk, punch card, drinking water, cooking apple, chewing-gum,etc.c) Verb-Adverbial compounds - several subclasses depending on the type of adverbial:

- instrumental adverbial: whetstone (derived from the stone [somebody whets with a stone]),saw-mill, searchlight, grindstone, magnifying glass, curling iron, scrubbing brush, nutcracker (smth(such that) [smb cracks nuts with smth]) etc.

- place adverbial structures: playground, washbasin, escape drain, writing table, gambling house,

ironing board, smoking room etc.- time adverbial: fastday, payday, workday, closing time, calving season etc.

d) Abstract Head Noun Compounds-the head is an abstract nominal, ACT, EVENT, etc.- the reason for setting up this class is their semantic interpretation.- within this class the surface elements of the compound display the three types of functional relationsmentioned above: verb-subject, verb-object, verb-adverbial.a) verb-subject compounds: earthquake, rainfall, snowdrift, sound change, sunset, c loudburst.- Earthquake is generated from a base sentence like The ACT the earth quakes.

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b) verb-object: house-keeping - generated from a structure like The ACT somebody is keeping a house.

- sightseeing, essay-writing, fault-finding, town-planning, dress-making, fortune-telling, almsgiving,mind-reading, bloodshed, birthcontrol, crime-detection, man-slaughter, suicide-attempt, haircut, witch-

hunt, etc.c)verb-adverbial: ocean-fishing - generated from a base sentence like The ACT somebody fishes in theocean.

- waterskiing, sunbathing, rope-dancing, churchgoing, flyfishing, sleepwalking, daydreaming, etc

b. Verbless compounds

a) Object-Subject compounds

- do not contain any surface verb- also generated from base sentences- BUT analysed as containing in their underlying structure a generalized verb

(3) air-rifle, alcohol-lamp, heat-engine, motor-car, steam-boat

= ambiguous between interpretations containing the verbs impel, propel, energize, activate,power, drive etc.

- all these verbs are represented in the underlying sentence by a generalized verb.

(4) Steamboat = steam GENERALIZED VERB boat

b) AdverbialSubject

(5) water-rat, bedbug, cave-bear, woodsman, sand-fly, kidney stone, house-dust, night-bird

- the underlying sentence for these compounds contain a generalized verb that has the semantic features oflive, work, inhabit, infest etc.

(6) bedbug = bug (such that) the bug GENERALIZED VERB the bed.the generalized verb = infest, live etc.

To sum up, with GTG the generation of compounds, like that of derived nominals, belongs to the domainof syntax and is, therefore, the result of syntactic processes.