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The categories of Modern Irish verbal inflection
Author(s)
Date Issued
2014-11
Date Available
2015-02-19T10:21:22Z
Abstract
This paper sets out to identify the categories underlying Irish verbal inflection and to explain why they have their observed morphological and semantic properties. Assuming that the semantic range of a tense is a function of the whole clause, it derives the tenses of Irish from three syntactic features. Their basic value and position in the clause, along with that of other independently justified formatives, determines the attested range of interpretations for each tense, while the way they are spelled out determines the observed morphological patterns. Since the analysis of verbal categories is based on their syntactic realization, the same explanation accounts for the paradigmatic structure of Irish conjugation and for various syntagmatic phenomena of contextual allomorphy. A language-specific investigation thus claims a broader theoretical significance as an exploration of the interconnected workings of syntax, morphology, and semantics.
Type of Material
Journal Article
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Journal
Journal of Linguistics
Volume
50
Issue
3
Start Page
537
End Page
586
Copyright (Published Version)
2014 Cambridge University Press
Language
English
Status of Item
Peer reviewed
This item is made available under a Creative Commons License
File(s)
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Name
Categories_Irish_V_Inflection_repository.docx
Size
338.44 KB
Format
Microsoft Word
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