Projections and constructions in functional morphology: The case of Old English HRÄ’OW

Abstract

The aim of this article is to apply the framework of the Layered Structure of the Word (LSW) to the derivational paradigm of Old English HRĒOW, thus contributing to the debate over morphology in structural-functional models of language such as Role and Reference Grammar. In general, the line is taken that, although full regularity is an unattainable aim in morphological analysis, a combination of projections and constructions on the explanatory side and syntagmatic as well as paradigmatic analysis on the descriptive side can explain certain synchronic regularities in derivational morphology and take a new look at some unproductive patterns. In synchronic analysis, this research concentrates on processes that apply regularly if the definitions of the source and target category of the derivation are taken into account. In this framework, functional categories may undergo functional adjustment and produce, through linking meaning-form that operates on lexical structures, fully specified words represented by means of the LSW. In diachronic analysis, the derivational paradigm states morphological relatedness both in the synchronic and the diachronic axis. At the same time, the Nuclear Shell Principle stipulates that the Nucleus of the LSW isolates opaque non-productive stem formations that are recoverable in the diachrony only, thus distinguishing unproductive from productive processes in the synchrony. A discussion of the relevance of the LSW to cross-linguistic analysis yields the conclusions that the layered morphological structure and the morphological template are applicable to non-Indo-European languages and that lexical negation, modification, causativity, and relators are leading candidates for universal lexical operators.