Inflectional morphology and compounding in English : a single route, associative memory based account
Native English speakers include irregular plurals in English compounds (e. g., mice chaser) more frequently than regular plurals (e. g., *rats chaser) (Gordon, 1985). This dissociation in inflectional morphology has been argued to stem from an internal and innate morphological constraint as it is thought that the input to which English speaking children are exposed is insufficient to signal that regular plurals are prohibited in compounds but irregulars might be allowed (Marcus, Brinkmann, Clahsen, Weise &amp; Pinker, 1995). In addition, this dissociation in English compounds has been invoked to support the idea that regular and irregular morphology are mediated by separate cognitive systems (Pinker, 1999). It is argued in this thesis however, that the constraint on English compounds can be derived from the general frequencies and patterns in which the two types of plural (regular and irregular) and the possessive morpheme occur in the input. In English both plurality (on regular nouns) and possession are denoted by a [-s] morpheme. It is argued that the constraint on the use of plurals in English compounds occurs because of competition between these two identical morphemes. Regular plurals are excluded before
Hayes, Jennifer Anne
Linguistics
Inflectional morphology and compounding in English : a single route, associative memory based account. Native English speakers include irregular plurals in English compounds (e. g., mice chaser) more frequently than regular plurals (e. g., *rats chaser) (Gordon, 1985). This dissociation in inflectional morphology has been argued to stem from an internal and innate morphological constraint as it is thought that the input to which English speaking children are exposed is insufficient to signal that regular plurals are prohibited in compounds but irregulars might be allowed (Marcus, Brinkmann, Clahsen, Weise &amp; Pinker, 1995). In addition, this dissociation in English compounds has been invoked to support the idea that regular and irregular morphology are mediated by separate cognitive systems (Pinker, 1999). It is argued in this thesis however, that the constraint on English compounds can be derived from the general frequencies and patterns in which the two types of plural (regular and irregular) and the possessive morpheme occur in the input. In English both plurality (on regular nouns) and possession are denoted by a [-s] morpheme. It is argued that the constraint on the use of plurals in English compounds occurs because of competition between these two identical morphemes. Regular plurals are excluded before
inflectional morphology compound english single route associative memory base account native_english_speaker include irregular plural english compound frequently regular plural dissociation inflectional morphology argue stem internal innate morphological constraint think input english speak child expose insufficient signal regular plural prohibit compound irregular might allow pinker addition dissociation english compound invoked support_idea regular irregular morphology mediate separate cognitive system pinker argue however constraint english compound derive general frequency_pattern two_type plural regular irregular possessive morpheme occur input english plurality regular noun possession denote morpheme argue constraint use plural english compound occur competition identical morpheme regular plural exclude