Morphology - Einzelansicht

Students intending to enroll should reach out to the instructor via email: stanislao.zompi@uni-potsdam.de

Competition in exponent selection
We will start by introducing the idea that morphology maps phonology-free syntactic objects onto phonologically contentful exponents, and that the mapping in question is specifically a competition among exponents.  We will then address two main questions: 1) What exponents take part in the competition?  2) What metric determines which of those exponents win(s) out in the end?  In particular, we will first examine the theories of Underspecification and Overspecification, as well as various formulations of the Elsewhere Principle.  We will then move on to theories that integrate both Under- and Overspecification into a single system in terms of ranked, violable constraints (Optimality Theory and Harmonic Grammar).  Finally, we will look at phenomena that are prima facie problematic for all current theories of competition—cases of optionality (e.g. dreamed/dreamt) and defectivity (e.g. *forgoed/*forwent).