Abstract
Lexemes may be split internally, by phenomena such as suppletion, periphrasis, heteroclisis and deponency. Generalizing over these phenomena, which split a lexeme’s paradigm, we can establish a typology of the possible internal splits. There are also lexemes whose external requirements are split: they induce different agreement, for instance. Again, a typology of these splits has been proposed. The next logical step is to attempt a typology of the possible relations between internal and external splits. This is not straightforward, since we need to avoid spurious linkages. Four lines of argument are offered: (i) general plausibility: the internal-external linkage is compelling, and so other accounts require a degree of coincidence which is unlikely; (ii) overabundance: alternative inflectional forms link to different external requirements; (iii) variation in time and space: splits in inflection and in external requirements vary, while maintaining their linkage; (iv) pluralia tantum nouns: the different types of these nouns provide intriguing confirming evidence. Case studies include Asia Minor Greek, Polish, Russian, Scottish Gaelic, Sɛlɛɛ, Serbo-Croat (BCMS), Slovenian, Latin and Old Frisian. The clear instances which emerge, where an external split is demonstrably linked to an internal one, prove both surprising and significant. We discover that in split paradigms, besides overt overabundance, there may also be covertly overabundant cells. Furthermore, when external splits involve individual cells, these will not induce simple (consistent) agreement. This makes good sense, demonstrating that featural information is associated with lexemes in a natural default manner: at the lexeme level by default, unless overridden at the sub-paradigm level, unless in turn overridden at the level of individual cells.
Highlights
Some lexical items show remarkable properties: they may lack internal consistency, they may be externally inconsistent and – in a fascinating minority – these two characteristics may be linked
Number is the third variable here: there is no direct link between the augment and the agreement; we would not argue that grad ‘city’ has an external split directly linked to its internal split
What is special here is that the borrowing triggered a pattern of covert overabundance: the native oblique plural inflections in the nouns in question are treated as belonging to two different inflection classes, within the same nouns, and controlling the two appropriate gender values
Summary
The best dictionary entries embody the secure accumulated results of linguistic research. The past of go is specified as went This verb has a split in its paradigm, an internal split, induced by suppletion. A Russian dictionary can state that the preposition k ‘towards’ takes the dative case value; this is invariably true, which means that this preposition is externally consistent. Contrast this with Russian po ‘for, about, by’, for which much more must be specified: since it governs different case values (accusative, dative and locative), according to complex conditions. Each type of split will be justified independently, before we go on to the main topic, the relations between such internal and external splits
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