The role of syntax and morphology in compounding

Peter Ackema | University of Edinburgh

Ad Neeleman | UCL

In this chapter it is argued that, although syntax is not directly involved in the formation of compounds themselves, competition between the syntactic and morphological modules of grammar (Ackema and Neeleman 2001, 2004) has a decisive influence on compounding. This is because this type of competition has the effect that certain, grammatically possible, compounds will not surface in a language. This is why synthetic compounds can be based on root compounds that do not themselves surface. We argue that, if the morphology of a language really does not allow for the relevant type of root compound to be formed, then the associated synthetic compounds are ruled out just as well. The fate of synthetic compounds during the development of Saramaccan (and some other creole languages) is shown to provide clear evidence for this hypothesis.

Published online: 28 April 2010
https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.311.04ack

Cited by

Cited by 5 other publications

Ackema, Peter

2014. Japanese Causatives are Not Relevant To Lexical Integrity. Studia Linguistica 68:2 ► pp. 169 ff.

Berg, Thomas

2014. Competition as a unifying concept for the study of language. The Mental Lexicon 9:2 ► pp. 338 ff.

Fuhrhop, Nanna & Sarah Olthoff

2019. In Sprachsensibler Fachunterricht [Sprachsensibilität in Bildungsprozessen, ], ► pp. 35 ff.

Ralli, Angela

2013. In Compounding in Modern Greek [Studies in Morphology, 2], ► pp. 243 ff.

Spencer, Andrew

2018. Adjectives and compounds at the interface Heinz J. Giegerich, Lexical Structures: Compounding and the Modules of Grammar. Word Structure 11:2 ► pp. 254 ff.

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