Is lexical insertion regulated by the subset or the
superset principle?
Pavel Caha
Masaryk University (Brno)
Linguistic Flashmob 18 February 2021
□     g     - =
► Syncretism
► Portmenteau morphemes
□    g     - =
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Syncretism
rortmanteau
The Subset Principle
ho     11   oKcot" r\kin^*i t~\Io
IC U IJ CI OC L L/1 I v_ I L/1 c I   /-\ »-» r* 11 i r- i r\ v\ c
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Latin
	war		servant	
nom	bell-	um	serv-	us
acc	bell-	um	serv-	um
4/15
Latin
		war	servant
nom	[A]	bell-um	serv-us
acc	[A.B]	bell-um	serv-um
4/15
Latin
		war	servant
nom	[A]	bell-um	serv-us
acc	[A.B]	bell-um	serv-um
(1)      Lexical entries can match multiple feature structures
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in
		war	servant
nom	[A]	bell-um	serv-us
acc	[A.B]	bell-um	serv-um
(1)      Lexical entries can match multiple feature structures a.    Subset: um = [A]
in
		war	servant
nom	[A]	bell-um	serv-us
acc	[A.B]	bell-um	serv-um
(1)      Lexical entries can match multiple feature structures
a. Subset: um = [A]
b. Superset: um = [A,B]
Portmanteau
Korean negation (Chung 2007)
(2)     ca    -n -ta sleep -pres -decl 'is sleeping'
Korean negation (Chung 2007)
(2) ca    -n -ta sleep -pres -decl 'is sleeping'
(3) mos/an(i) ca    -n -ta neg sleep -pres -decl 'can't sleep / isn't sleeping'
Korean negation (Chung 2007)
(2)
(3)
ca    -n -ta sleep -pres -decl 'is sleeping'
mos/an(i) ca    -n -ta neg sleep -pres -decl
'can't sleep / isn't sleeping'
NegP
Neg
mos/ani
V
sleep
ca
□ s
Korean negation (Chung 2007)
(4)     al     -n -ta know -pres -decl 'knows'
Korean negation (Chung 2007)
(4) al     -n -ta know -pres -decl 'knows'
(5) *mos/an(i) al     -n -ta
neg know -pres -decl
'cannot / does not know'
Korean negation (Chung 2007)
(4) al     -n -ta know -pres -decl 'knows'
(5) *mos/an(i) al     -n -ta
neg know -pres -decl
'cannot / does not know'
(6) molu -n -ta
neg.know      -pres -decl 'cannot / does not know'
Korean negation (Chung 2007)
(4) al     -n -ta know -pres -decl 'knows'
(5) *mos/an(i) al     -n -ta
neg know -pres -decl
'cannot / does not know'
(6) molu -n -ta neg.know      -pres -decl
'cannot / does not know'
(7) molu = [ neg know ]
Korean negation (Chung 2007)
(4) al     -n -ta know -pres -decl 'knows'
(5) *mos/an(i) al     -n -ta
neg know -pres -decl
'cannot / does not know'
(6) molu -n -ta neg.know      -pres -decl
'cannot / does not know'
(7) molu = [ neg know ]
molu
□    s>     - =
rortmanteau
The Subset Principle
y\     III C I     |^\ o
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The Subset Principle
(8)      The Subset Principle (Halle 1997)
The phonological exponent of a Vocabulary Item is inserted into a morpheme of the terminal string if the item matches all or only a subset of the grammatical features specified in the terminal morpheme.
□    ifp    - =
The Subset Principle
(8)      The Subset Principle (Halle 1997)
The phonological exponent of a Vocabulary Item is inserted into a morpheme of the terminal string if the item matches all or only a subset of the grammatical features specified in the terminal morpheme.
(9)      The Modified Subset Principle (would fail, if proposed)
The phonological exponent of a Vocabulary Item is inserted into a node if the item matches all or only a subset of the grammatical features specified in the node.
□    ifp     - =
(10) The Modified Subset Principle
The phonological exponent of a Vocabulary Item is inserted into a node if the item matches all or only a subset of the grammatical features specified in the node.
(11) molu <^> [ neg know]
□ s
(10) The Modified Subset Principle
The phonological exponent of a Vocabulary Item is inserted into a node if the item matches all or only a subset of the grammatical features specified in the node.
(11) molu <^ [ neg know]
(12) al-li-know-caus
'let know, inform'
□ S1
The Modified Subset Principle
The phonological exponent of a Vocabulary Item is inserted into a node if the item matches all or only a subset of the grammatical features specified in the node.
molu <^> [ neg know]
al-li- CausP
know-caus
'let know, inform
Caus
know
-//
The Modified Subset Principle
The phonological exponent of a Vocabulary Item is inserted into a node if the item matches all or only a subset of the grammatical features specified in the node.
molu <^> [ neg know]
NegP
know-caus
'let know, inform
Neg
CausP
V
Caus
know
-//
(10)      The Modified Subset Principle
The phonological exponent of a Vocabulary Item is inserted into a node if the item matches all or only a subset of the grammatical features specified in the node.
molu
The Modified Subset Principle
The phonological exponent of a Vocabulary Item is inserted into a node if the item matches all or only a subset of the grammatical features specified in the node.
molu <^> [ neg know]
molu
The Modified Subset Principle
The phonological exponent of a Vocabulary Item is inserted into a node if the item matches all or only a subset of the grammatical features specified in the node.
molu <^> [ neg know]
*molu        (-li)   -ess -ta neg+know -caus -past -decl 'did not /could not inform'
mos al-li-ess-ta
neg know-caus-past-decl
'did not /could not inform
know-caus
'let know, inform
molu
The Superset principle
/-\ iii <"* | /"\ |^\ o
11/15
Insertion
(15)    The Superset Principle
A lexically stored tree L matches a syntactic node S iff L contains the syntactic tree dominated by S as a subtree.
12/15
Insertion
(15)    The Superset Principle
A lexically stored tree L matches a syntactic node S iff L contains the syntactic tree dominated by S as a subtree.
NegP /molu/ Neg V
know
Insertion
(15)    The Superset Principle
A lexically stored tree L matches a syntactic node S iff L contains the syntactic tree dominated by S as a subtree.
Neg
NegP ^ /molu
V
know
NegP
Neg
CausP
V
know
Cause
□    ifp    - =
12/15
Insertion
(15)    The Superset Principle
A lexically stored tree L matches a syntactic node S iff L contains the syntactic tree dominated by S as a subtree.
*molu
12/15
Insertion
(15)    The Superset Principle
A lexically stored tree L matches a syntactic node S iff L contains the syntactic tree dominated by S as a subtree.
NegP o /molu/
Neg        V Neg CausP
know moc/ani       V Cause
know -// a/
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rortmanteau Conclusions
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Conclusions
► Both principles can give an account of syncretism
► The Superset Principle can also inform us when portmanteau morphemes are possible and when they are impossible
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References
Chung, Inkie. 2007. Suppletive negation in Korean and distributed morphology. Lingua 117. 95-148.
Halle, Morris. 1997. Impoverishment and fission. In Benjamin Bruening, Y. Kang & Martha McGinnis (eds.), Papers at the interface, vol. 30 MIT Working Papers in Linguistics. 425 - 449. Cambridge, Mass.