Abstract
The relation of compounding with derivation on the one hand and inflection on the other has been a challenging topic with consequences for the architecture of grammar. In Chap. 11, it is proposed that there is no radical separation line between derivation and compounding, and thus, if derivation is to be treated within morphology, compounding should not be excluded from its domain. The proposal is illustrated with evidence drawn from the order of application between compounding and derivation and the existence of items, the so-called affixoids, whose categorial status – stems or affixes – is unclear. With respect to inflection, it is shown that Greek compounds are actively inflected at their right edge. However, cases with a non-active compound-internal inflection are not absent in Greek. They belong to an Ancient Greek pattern and constitute fossilised formations. Finally, by investigating [stem-stem] and [stem-word] structures, it is shown that inflection may occur before or after compounding. As a consequence, one may safely assume that the two processes should be handled within the same grammatical component, that is, morphology.
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Notes
- 1.
See Sapir (1921: 61) for the notion of stem- or root-internal modification, Lieber (1981), Don et al. (2004) and Bauer and Valera (2005) for details on the issue of conversion, and Marchand (1969) about zero affixation. It should be noticed that conversion and stem-internal modification are not as common as overt affixation in Greek (Ralli 2005).
- 2.
As argued by Ralli (2005), an inflectional prefix marking the past tense, together with the ending (discontinuous morphemes), namely, the verbal augment e-, can be found in certain MG dialects, such as in Cypriot (the Greek dialect of Cyprus) and Heptanesian (spoken in the Ionian islands of Corfu, Cephalonia, Zante and Ithaca). As opposed to its compulsory presence in the dialectal paradigms (1a), in SMG, the augment is a simple stress carrier since it appears only when it bears a stress; as such, it has no prefixal status, and the past tense is marked only by the ending (see also Appendix 2).
(i)a.
SMG b. Heptanesian
é-li-s-a é-li-s-a
AUG-tie-PERF-PAST.1SG PAST-tie-PERF-PAST.1SG
‘I tied’
lí-s-ame e-lí-s-ame
tie-PERF-PAST.1PL PAST-tie-PERF-PAST.1PL
‘we tied’
- 3.
In this section, I restrict my attention to suffixation since prefixes behave like the left-hand constituents of compounds. For instance, prefixes are category-neutral and are never heads of their constructions. Moreover, prefixation may be subject to the phenomenon of exocentricity in the same way as compounding (see Ralli 2005, 2007 and Sect. 6.3.3).
- 4.
For simplicity reasons, I give a flat structure to the item δarménos, although it is created on the basis of a binary structure: [[δar V -men] A -os] A .
- 5.
The only examples of compounds bearing a derived right-hand constituent, which belong to the [stem-stem] pattern and are, thus, subject to the compound-specific stress rule, are those whose derived component is a deverbal adjective in -tos:
(ii) a.
compound
efkolomaγíreft-os < [efkol]-stem -o- [[[maγirev]stem –t]stem-os]word
easily cooked easily cooked
versus
b.
adjectival phrase adverbial word adjectival word
éfkola maγireftós éfkola maγireftós
easily cooked easily cooked
- 6.
ksaná is a full-word form, and thus, it is not followed by a compound marker (see Chap. 4 for more details).
- 7.
As mentioned in Chap. 9 though, verbal compounds are structurally possible in Greek, as for example, cases such as xartopézo ‘play cards’ and θalasoδérnome ‘be beaten by the sea’:
(iii)a.
xartopézo < xart(iá)- pézo
play cards card play
b.
θalasoδérnome < θálas(a)- δérnome
be beaten by the sea sea be beaten
See Chap. 9, Sect. 9.3, and Di Sciullo and Ralli (1999) for an examination of compound-internal theta-role saturation in Greek.
- 8.
For information about Aivaliot and Moschonisiot, see footnote 16 of Chap. 3. It should be noticed that Aivaliot and Moschonisiot are not very different from the dialect of Lesbos, the three of them forming a dialectal group, since people from Lesbos settled in the areas of Aivali and Moschonisi around the end of the sixteenth century AD.
- 9.
filiázo either originates from θiliázo (< θiliá ‘noose, eyelet’) or is of an unknown etymology.
- 10.
In this section, the LAM examples are given according to their pronunciation, that is, the mid-vowels /e/ and /o/ are raised in unstressed position, and the unstressed high vowels /i/ and /o/ are deleted, according to the phonological laws of the dialectal group (Appendix 1).
- 11.
In this case, there is no need for /i/ deletion since /i/ is not in initial position.
- 12.
Joseph (2003: 478) argues that morphologisation has to be kept distinct from grammaticalisation, although the two processes may overlap to some extent: on the one hand, grammaticalisation may make claims about changes that have nothing to do with morphology, and on the other hand, morphologisation may involve changes that can be accommodated within morphology but do not involve the grammar, in general. Given the fact that prefixation deriving from phrasal structure or compounding is an instance of morphologisation, as well as of grammaticalisation, in this book, I prefer adopting the term of morphologisation.
- 13.
Iacobini (2004) mentions a range of abstract meanings which may be assumed by a prefix.
- 14.
Due to syncretism, all three cases, nominative, accusative and vocative, have the same ending, that is, -o in singular and -a in plural.
- 15.
- 16.
It has been stated in Section 5.3.3 that this suffix may or may not be overtly realised, depending on the case.
- 17.
By convention, I list the 1SG form.
- 18.
In Cypriot, the augment marks the past tense, and thus, its presence is compulsory, independently of the presence of stress. In contrast, in SMG, the augment is a simple stress carrier. For more details, see also footnote 3.
- 19.
In this dialect, -u is the suffix of forming feminine nouns.
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Ralli, A. (2013). Compounding Versus Derivation and Inflection. In: Compounding in Modern Greek. Studies in Morphology, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4960-3_11
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