Noun Incorporation Constructions Research Articles

Two Kinds of Structural Noun Incorporation

AbstractThis paper proposes a novel solution to the problem of noun incorporation constructions in which both an incorporated noun and a nominal double, hyponymous object, or stranded modifier are present. Such doubling constructions have been difficult to reconcile with a syntactic approach to noun incorporation. I propose that doubling constructions arise from an underlying structure in which the incorporated nominal and the double are merged as a constituent. In doing so, I argue against the parameterized φ‐deletion analysis proposed in Baker et al. (2005), pointing out some shortcomings of their analysis. This proposal also ties together doubling and stranding into a unified phenomenon, a result I show is supported by cross‐linguistic evidence. I also tie doubling/stranding in with the availability of NI with unaccusatives and show how this also falls out from the current proposal. Thus, this proposal makes a strong testable prediction on the distribution of the properties of NI found in natural language.

Morphologically conditioned stress assignment in Choguita Rarámuri

This article investigates the morphologically conditioned stress system of a previously undocumented Uto-Aztecan language, Choguita Raramuri (Tarahumara). Stress distribution in Choguita Raramuri results from a complex interaction between lexically prespecified stress, two systematic subpatterns (second and third syllable stress), a stress rule specific to noun incorporation constructions, and an initial three-syllable window, a highly unusual typological pattern. This article presents a cophonology analysis that captures the full range of stress alternations in this language through the association of morphological constructions with fully general phonological subgrammars, and through the association of morphologically conditioned phonological effects to the hierarchical structure of morphologically complex words. The cophonology analysis is contrasted with a Root Controlled Accent (RCA) analysis, an indexed constraint analysis argued for in Alderete (2001a, 2001b) to account for the stress patterns of Cupeno, a Uto-Aztecan language with stress alternations similar to those attested in Choguita Raramuri. In an RCA analysis, stress alternations are derived through a single constraint ranking and faithfulness constraints indexed to specific morphological contexts. This article argues that an analysis that overlooks morphological constituency and which indexes faithfulness constraints to morphological environments undergenerates in the Choguita Raramuri case.

Noun incorporation as symmetry breaking

AbstractThis article proposes a novel account of noun incorporation in Northern Iroquoian. It is proposed that there is no special mechanism for noun incorporation and that this phenomenon falls out naturally from the geometry of the phrase structure under Moro’s theory of Dynamic Antisymmetry. In a nutshell, when the verbal head and the nominal head undergo Merge, they form a point of symmetric c-command, which is resolved by the nominal head moving to the specifier of the verb phrase. Further, it is proposed that, in noun incorporation constructions with a full DP double, the incorporated noun and the DP form a constituent, which is merged in theta-position.

Noun Incorporation: Essentials and Extensions

AbstractThis paper presents an overview of the principal debates in the literature on noun incorporation, citing key examples and references. There has been much discussion about which constructions can rightly fall under the term ‘noun incorporation’; for example, compounding, denominal, deverbal, light verb, conflation, and narrow scope indefinite constructions have all been treated as noun incorporation constructions. In addition, there has been much discussion about where in the grammar noun incorporation should be handled: the lexicon or the syntax. This debate has shifted with the development of theories without a clear lexicon–syntax division. In the early studies, the main focus was on the morphology of noun incorporation, but in recent years, the focus has shifted to understanding the semantics of the construction, including semantic incorporation, pseudo noun incorporation, detransitivizing, and noun stripping constructions. In addition, there have been many empirical studies over the years exploring subject and modifier incorporation, incorporation of larger phrases and other topics. Noun incorporation studies also intersect with other areas such as bare nominals, complex predicates, possessor raising constructions, and classifier systems. These issues are reviewed in this paper.

Noun incorporation and the progressive in German

This paper discusses the progressive construction in German and argues that this form constitutes a genuine instance of noun incorporation. Despite the fact that noun incorporation is not generally considered to be a property of Indo-European languages, we discuss several characteristics of the German progressive that bear a striking resemblance to noun incorporation constructions in languages better known for the phenomenon. Thus, we argue that the German progressive should be analyzed along the same lines as noun incorporation in other languages. In particular, we adopt the analysis for noun incorporation in Barrie (2006), which employs a Dynamic Antisymmetry framework. This paper, then, has two goals. The first is to describe the syntax and semantics of the German progressive, arguing that it is a type of noun incorporation. The second is to construct and analysis for noun incorporation in German similar to analyses for noun incorporation in other languages.