Lexical structures : compounding and the modules of grammar
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Bibliographic Information
Lexical structures : compounding and the modules of grammar
（Edinburgh studies in theoretical linguistics, 1）
Edinburgh University Press, c2015
- : hardback
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Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 125-133) and indexes
Description and Table of Contents
Description
An original study of both structural entities originating in the lexicon, and the structural characteristics of the lexicon as a module of formal grammar, this book makes two 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'. The lexicon-syntax distinction facilitates important new insights in the nature of compounding in English. However, Heinz Giegerich argues that the Lexicalist assumption of a sharp divide between the modules cannot be upheld: the two modules overlap, such 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.
Table of Contents
- 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.
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