The Syntax-Morphology Interface: A Study of Syncretism
, by Matthew Baerman , Dunstan Brown , Greville G. CorbettNote: Supplemental materials are not guaranteed with Rental or Used book purchases.
- ISBN: 9780521102759 | 0521102758
- Cover: Paperback
- Copyright: 3/12/2009
Syncretism--where a single form serves two or more morphosyntactic functions--is a persistent problem at the syntax-morphology interface. It results from a 'mismatch', whereby the syntax of a language makes a particular distinction, but the morphology does not. This pioneering book provides the first full-length study of inflectional syncretism, presenting a typology of its occurrence across a wide range of languages. It will be welcomed by linguists interested in the relation between words and the larger units of which they are a part.