This investigation of complex verb
formation seeks to identify and clarify the way(s) in which a base verb
becomes 'complex'. The author carefully considers both the syntactic and
the morphological side of this question, and in doing so brings a
wealth of data from very diverse languages to bear on claims made about
the relationship between syntactic and morphological structure. The work
takes the radical position that most data admit of either a syntactic
(Phrase Structure) or lexical analysis because both are likely to be
valid — under different circumstances. Both approaches are consistently
defended in an attempt to illustrate the complementarity of the two and
ascertain which is the better formulation for a given set of data.
Placing his analysis firmly in the context of historical linguistics,
the author shows that it is necessary to admit the possibility of
lexicalization. The book pays attention to many alternative viewpoints,
and its value is further enhanced by a 40-page bibliography. Miller's
insightful treatment of questions of lexical decomposition, the
relationship of morphology to syntax, and the encoding of argument
structure on verbs make this a work of the utmost importance for
syntacticians as well as morphologists.
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