Abstract
We present a syntactic account of the derivation of two types of attributivenominal compounds in Spanish, Russian and Greek. These include right-headed “root” compounds, which exhibit more “word”-like properties and single stress domains, and left-headed “semi-phrasal” compounds with more phrasal properties and independent stress domains for the two compound members. We propose that both compound structures are formed on a small clause predicate phrase, with their different properties derived from the merger of the predicate member of the small clause as a root or as a larger nominal unit with additional functional projections. The proposed structures provide an explanation of observed lexical integrity effects, as well as specific predictions of patterns of compound formation crosslinguistically.
Highlights
A hotly debated issue is to what extent morphological principles are independent from the syntactic ones
We will predict these asymmetries in a syntactic analysis in which a distinction is made between compounds that involve merging of roots vs. those that involve merging of larger structures
Inverted structures feature an obligatory functional element, which unlike the relator cannot be omitted. We extend this insight to compounds: the linking element in rootcompounds is the result of the inversion. 3.1
Summary
A hotly debated issue is to what extent morphological principles are independent from the syntactic ones. The semantic and formal head of a compound is the subject of the small clause, and the predicate member can merge either as a root or a larger structure (e.g., nP, numP). 2. Properties of root- vs semi-phrasal compounds in Spanish, Russian, and Greek.
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