A comparative study of compound words in English, Japanese and mainland Scandanavian
The aim of this thesis is to propose a structure for compounds, specifically compound nouns in Japanese, English and Mainland Scandinavian within the framework of Chomsky's Minimalist Program and Bare Phrase Structure (Chomsky 1995). The purpose is to show that words are derived in Narrow Syntax as phrases and that words must have asymmetrical structure, i. e. a head of the word should be determined. The proposed structure of a compound noun in the languages in question is as follows: (1) P(X) root P(x) root P(x) Structure (1) is derived with the following assumptions in mind. 1. The place of Morphology within the Minimalist Program is argued to be outside the Lexicon and after the Narrow Syntax. This has led several linguists to argue that a word is derived in the same way as a phrase. Moreover, linear order is redundant in the Narrow Syntax, since the structure determines the word order. As a result, it is not the Right-hand Head Rule proposed by Williams (1981) which determines the head of a compound word but the structure does. The Right-hand Head Rule may have a place in the phonology, though, in stipulating how a word derived in the Narrow Syntax is spelled out. The rule is formulated by Williams to
Mukai, Makiko
A comparative study of compound words in English, Japanese and mainland Scandanavian. The aim of this thesis is to propose a structure for compounds, specifically compound nouns in Japanese, English and Mainland Scandinavian within the framework of Chomsky's Minimalist Program and Bare Phrase Structure (Chomsky 1995). The purpose is to show that words are derived in Narrow Syntax as phrases and that words must have asymmetrical structure, i. e. a head of the word should be determined. The proposed structure of a compound noun in the languages in question is as follows: (1) P(X) root P(x) root P(x) Structure (1) is derived with the following assumptions in mind. 1. The place of Morphology within the Minimalist Program is argued to be outside the Lexicon and after the Narrow Syntax. This has led several linguists to argue that a word is derived in the same way as a phrase. Moreover, linear order is redundant in the Narrow Syntax, since the structure determines the word order. As a result, it is not the Right-hand Head Rule proposed by Williams (1981) which determines the head of a compound word but the structure does. The Right-hand Head Rule may have a place in the phonology, though, in stipulating how a word derived in the Narrow Syntax is spelled out. The rule is formulated by Williams to
comparative_study compound word english_japanese mainland aim propose structure compound specifically compound nouns japanese english mainland scandinavian within_framework chomsky minimalist_program bare phrase_structure chomsky purpose show word derive narrow syntax phrase word must asymmetrical structure head word determine propose structure compound noun languages question follow root root structure derive follow assumption mind place morphology within minimalist_program argue outside lexicon narrow syntax lead several linguist argue word derive way phrase moreover linear_order redundant narrow syntax since structure determines word_order right hand head rule propose williams determine head compound word structure right hand head rule may place phonology though stipulate word derive narrow syntax spell_out rule formulate williams