| ROA: | 164 |
|---|---|
| Title: | Optimality and Economy of Expression in Japanese and Korean |
| Authors: | Peter Sells |
| Comment: | |
| Length: | 13 |
| Abstract: | Optimality and Economy of Expression in Japanese and Korean Peter Sells Stanford University November 1996 13 pages This paper is concerned with certain areas of Japanese and Korean morpho-syntax in which an account based on Optimality Theory seems to provide certain advantages of explanation and simplicity over previous accounts. The areas discussed are: the competetion between words and small syntactic constructions, such as those involving adjectival nouns in construction with the copula and the generalized "do" verb; blocking of generally productive morphological patterns by particular "irregular" morphemes; and the distribution of the Japanese prenominal morpheme "-no", which I argue is a generalized linking morpheme, and not a genitive marker as such. I propose two major economy constraints, Avoid Word and Avoid Affix, in accounting for the relevant data. |
| Type: | Paper/tech report |
| Area/Keywords: | |
| Article: | Version 1 |