Reanalysis of morphological exponence

A cross-linguistic perspective

Abstract

This paper investigates the complex relationship between Aspect, Voice and verbalizing (e.g. inchoative -v-) morphology. Based on data from previous literature, it discusses data from Greek, Hungarian and English, which lead to new insights into the relationship between morpho-phonological ’packaging’ and syntactic structure. The morpho-syntactic changes it presents suggest that reanalysis of sub-components of words is a process, in which morphological exponents assume new functions and new structural positions within the verbal functional hierarchy. It shows that this takes place in very local relationships between the functional heads that are affected.