Abstract
This paper presents a syntactic analysis of the constructions which consist of a verbal noun and a copular verb ‘ita’. The previous approaches can be divided into three types, depending on the level of grammar where a verbal noun, assumed as N, incorporates into a verb ita: the lexicon-formation approach, the syntax-formation approach, and the LF-formation approach. All the approaches turn out to have non-trivial theoretical problems with respect to syntax-morphology interface and hence not to be sustained. Based on Distributed morphology, this paper argues that a verbal noun projects a Root Phrase and can license its internal argument crucially without the help of ‘ita’ and that ‘ita’ is a dummy verb which is inserted to support inflectional elements. This paper supports a syntax-driven approach to morphology.
Published Version
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