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Derivational Morphology
Mihaela 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) features
that 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, composed
of more elementary units called features.
- each lexicon item is also marked for the specific syntactic transformation that acts as Word-Formation
Rule (WFR) for the derivation of complex words. The operation of the WFRs upon the list of morphemes
will produce all the potentially well-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-formed
sentences i.e. the rules of the syntactic component.
- the domain of word-structure falls under the study of syntax.
2. Word Formation in GTG
2.1. 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, teacher are related, by their
formal 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 same
selectional restrictions.
(1)

He believes in the power of justice


His belief in the power of justice

- GTG assumes that these nouns are not listed in the lexicon as such, but are actively generated by a
syntactic transformation of NOM(inalization) applied to a sentential structure that contains the basic verb.
- the complex noun phrase their destruction of the city is derived from the D(eep)S(tructure) sentence
The ACT they destroy the city by the transformation of nominalization. The presence of the abstract head
noun the ACT captures, at the syntactic level, the information that the noun destruction is to be
interpreted as the ACT of destroying.

(2)

the arrival of the students


NP
3
Det
N
the
3
N
S
ACT 3
NP
VP
the 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 rattlesnake or madman are derived from the underlying sentences The snake which
rattles and the man who is mad.
- in GTG, compounds are classified by taking into consideration the different syntactic function that the
elements of the compound have in the deep structure sentence. Rattlesnake, for instance, is classified as
an instance of a Verb-Subject compound because of the position the elements have in the underlying
structure: 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, washing
machine, etc.
b) Verb-Object compounds: drawbridge (generated from the underlying sentence The bridge [somebody
draws 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 relations
mentioned above: verb-subject, verb-object, verb-adverbial.
a) verb-subject compounds: earthquake, rainfall, snowdrift, sound change, sunset, cloudburst.
- 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, witchhunt, etc.
c)verb-adverbial: ocean-fishing - generated from a base sentence like The ACT somebody fishes in the
ocean.
- 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) Adverbial Subject
(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 of
live, 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 domain
of syntax and is, therefore, the result of syntactic processes.

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