A comparative constructionist approach in European languages.
The starting point of this project is the common shared assumption that morphological structures do not always show the ideal one-to-one correspondence between units of content (signified) and units of form (signifier) (asymmetry between form and meaning). Prime examples of this asymmetry are the phenomena of conversion and affix pleonasm. By adopting a comparative method, this research project examines conversion and affix pleonasm in a series of European languages with different inflectional profiles and aims to provide a typology and an explanation for them. The analysis of the morphological asymmetries poses serious challenges to all theoretical accounts. In this project, it is argued that Construction Morphology provides an adequate framework for analyzing the data in hand and similar cases cross-linguistically.
01/12/2015-30/11/2017
Members:
Prof. Kristel Van Goethem,
Dr. Nikos Koutsoukos