Where and what is morphology?
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Soledad Varela [1]
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[1] Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Madrid, España
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- Localización: Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone linguistics, ISSN-e 2199-3386, ISSN 1939-0238, Vol. 2, Nº. 2, 2009, págs. 451-462
- Idioma: inglés
- Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
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Resumen
In contemporary linguistics the debate about the status and character of morphology is as recurrent as it is many-sided. Succinctly put, whereas some authors disperse morphological facts over the main grammatical components, others treat morphology as a subcomponent of the lexicon whose units interact in a regular and systematic way with phonology, syntax and semantics. I contend that it is this lexical status – which has been characterized as interfacial – that gives morphology its shape and character. This paper reviews the different ways the lexicon-morphology is conceived, and located within the grammar, by some of the most representative models put forward in recent years, and goes through the properties that are taken to define a linguistic component. In order to illustrate the interaction of phonology, semantics and syntax that takes place whenever lexicon-morphology is involved, a brief discussion is included of a case of word-formation that clearly reveals the interface nature of morphology.
