The Syntax-Morphology Interface by Matthew Baerman, Dunstan B... - 9780521102759

The Syntax-Morphology InterfaceA Study of Syncretism\nAuthor(s): Matthew Baerman, Dunstan Brown, Greville G. Corbett\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom\nImprint: Cambridge University Press\nISBN-13: 9780521102759, 978-0521102759\nSynopsis\nSyncretism - 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 a full-length study of inflectional syncretism, presenting a typology of its occurrence across a wide range of languages. The implications of syncretism for the syntax-morphology interface have long been recognised: it argues either for an enriched model of feature structure (thereby preserving a direct link between function and form), or for the independence of morphological structure from syntactic structure. This book pr.