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Hi all,<br><br>
This is a copy of the query that I have sent to LinguistList a few days
ago - I have received almost no responses yet.<br><br>
------------------------<br><br>
I'm looking for examples of phonological readjustment rules working
across more than one cyclic boundary.<br><br>
Imagine that the English verb <i>go </i>consists of two morphemes, the
root and a null verbalizing suffix. Then the change of the stem from
<i>go </i>to <i>wen(d?)</i> (assuming that -t is the past tense suffix)
is effected by a morpheme that is not linearly adjacent to the stem but
nonetheless is structrally adjacent to it (in the next cycle up):<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>[[ GO + v
] + PAST]<br><br>
What I am looking for would look like:<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>a.<x-tab> </x-tab>[[[ROOT
+ n1] adj ] n2]: in presence of n2 the root is different<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>b.<x-tab> </x-tab>[[ASPECT
[ROOT + v]] PAST]: the presence of PAST the root is different<br><br>
An alternative hypothesis would be, of course, that there are no null
verbalizing, adjectivizing, etc. morphemes. Then the structures that
interest me would look exactly like (a) and (b) but with n1 and v,
respectively, being overt. Here's a hypothetical example:<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>c.<x-tab> </x-tab><i>wug
</i>may or may not be a word in the language L<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab><x-tab> </x-tab>[wug
+ -ik] -> wugik<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab><x-tab> </x-tab>[[wug
+ -ik] + -id] -> wugikid<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab><x-tab> </x-tab>[[[wug
+ -ik] + -id] + a] -> alikida<br>
It's ok if say, -ik- has also changed to its independently attested
allomorph (e.g. -ma-) or if the entire internal constituent (say wugik)
has changed to something else (say -go-):<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>d.<x-tab> </x-tab>[[[wug
+ -ik] + -id] + a] -> almaida<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>d.<x-tab> </x-tab>[[[wug
+ -ik] + -id] + a] -> goida<br><br>
What I want to find out is (a) is there evidence that readjustment rules
are not unbounded and (b) if the answer is yes and the boundaries can be
established, whether they can be used to argue for or against the
presence of null morphemes in "underived" verbs like <i>go</i>,
adjectives like <i>red</i>, nouns like <i>snake</i>, etc.<br><br>
Thanks very much,<br><br>
O <br>
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<br>
<br>
Ora Matushansky<br><br>
CNRS - UMR 7023 (Paris 8)<br>
homepage:
<a href="http://mapage.noos.fr/matushan/" eudora="autourl"><font color="#0000FF"><u>http://mapage.noos.fr/matushan/</a><br><br>
<hr>
</u></font>If you are going to walk on thin ice, you may as well
dance.<br>
-- anonymous</html>