Construction Morphology [Paperback]

This book shows how complex words and word-like phrasal lexical units can be analyzed as constructions, as pairings of forms, and meanings. It contributes to current work on the architecture of the grammar, the morphology-syntax interface, the shape and characteristics of the lexicon, and the analysis of grammaticalization phenomena. It is an important work for morphological theory in particular and for linguistic theory in general.

Geert Booij applies the insights of construction grammar to morphological theory and the formation of words and lexical phrases. Construction grammar refers to the class of linguistic theories that focus on the pairing of form and meaning at different levels of abstraction. Such work (by William Croft and Adele Goldberg, for example) has tended to focus on syntax or (as in the case of Ray Jackendoff) on the syntax-semantics interface. Booij offers a characteristically lucid integration of his own and others' work and considers what it reveals about the nature of words and idioms. His book will appeal to professional linguists in all subfields and to graduate students of syntax and morphology.

1. Morphology and Construction Grammar
2. The Lexicon as a Network of Relations
3. Schemas and Subschemas in the Lexicon
4. Quasi-noun Incorporation
5. Separable Complex Verbs
6. Progressive Constructions
7. Phrasal Names
8. Numerals as Lexical Constructions
9. Construction-Dependent Morphology
10. Stem Allomorphy and Morphological Relatedness
11. Taking Stock
References
Index

This very interesting book fills a gap in construction grammar in regard to word formation. Booij succeeds in linking syntax, morphology and the lexicon in a coherent way and giving fascinating insights into the nature of the lexicon as a network of syntactic and morphological constructions with varying degrees of abstractness. Concerning its formal qualities, I really enjoyed the abundant use of examples, its minimallyló²