Abstract
This paper argues that a number of puzzling issues in the analysis of English nominal structure arise because English has lost the obligatory pre-N attributive morphology which is still present in the other Germanic languages, represented in this paper by German and Danish. The morphology which the other Germanic languages assign in this particular configuration ensures a clear-cut formal distinction between compounds and phrases, and it upholds a one-to-one relationship between pre-N attributive distribution and the word-class of adjectives. English lost the morphology in this particular configuration, so English also lost the clear-cut formal distinction between compounds and phrases, turning the distinction instead into a semantic one, and it opened up the pre-N attributive slot to constituent classes other than adjectives and adjective phrases. Understanding the role of pre-N attributive morphology in the nominal structure of Germanic languages opens up new ways of understanding the puzzles of English. This paper reviews some known puzzles in the light of the role of pre-N attributive morphology; and it makes new observations and proposes new explanations of structural facts across English, German and Danish.
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