Speaker: Ricardo Berm\u00fadez-Otero (University of Manchester)
\nTitle: Lexical storage and cyclic locality in phonologically driven allomorph selection
\nDate\/Time: Thursday, Apr 4, 12:30-1:45p
\nLocation: 32-D461<\/p>\n
\nIf exponence proceeds cyclically, so that cycles define local domains for allomorph selection, then empirical evidence from the size of allomorph selection domains can be used to determine the size of lexically stored exponents. Spanish, for example, exhibits a well-known instance of phonologically driven allomorph selection in which allomorphs containing stressed [j\u00e9] and [w\u00e9] alternate with allomorphs containing unstressed [e] and [o]: e.g. cu\u00e9 nta \u0091count\/tell.3 SG\u0092 ~ cont\u00e1mos \u0091count\/tell.1PL \u0092. In the deverbal adjective [N [V co nt\u00e1 ] ble] \u0091countable\u0092, the monophthongal allomorph c onta- is chosen during the second cycle of the derivation, when stress moves to the second syllable. This instance of allomorphy must therefore involve competition between stems (i.e. between two exponents of the verb lexeme CONTAR), rather than between roots (i.e. between two exponents of the ?-node ?CONT ). Two lines of evidence support this analysis of the Spanish diphthongal alternation. First, the assumption of stem storage removes the need for declension diacritics in Spanish nominal and adjectival morphology. Secondly, it correctly predicts that, historically, lexemes that share a root but belong to different categories can cease to display the same allomorphic behaviour: e.g. the stem of the verb cont\u00e1r \u0091count\/tell\u0092 still participates in the diphthongal alternation, whereas the stem of the noun cu\u00e9nto \u0091fable, fibb\u0092 no longer does (cf. cuent\u00e9ro \u0091fabulist, fibber\u0092). These results provide evidence against theories of morphology that restrict lexical storage to roots and to exponents of single functional heads.<\/p>\n