Construction Morphology

Reviews / Votes

This book provides an extremely readable and fascinating exploration of how insights from construction grammar help solve a wide range of puzzling issues in theoretical morphology. The new and surprisingly simple theoretical perspective offered by Geert Booij on how morphological structure can be accounted for makes this a landmark study that will be of interest not only to morphologists and syntacticians, but also to corpus linguists, psycholinguists, and other scholars working in related areas of cognitive science. * R Harald Baayen, University of Alberta * Geert Booij's Construction Morphology is a revealing synthesis of insights from Construction Grammar, grammaticalization theory, Simpler Syntax, and psycholinguistics.... This is a major contribution not only to morphology but to an overarching theory of the architecture of language. * Ray Jackendoff, Tufts University * At long last, the theory of Construction Grammar is accessible to morphologists, thanks to Geert Booij. This concise, thorough introduction to Construction Morphology is a tour de force covering the essential elements and arguments for the theory, as well as presenting a wide range of new data. Phenomena which could be shoehorned only crudely into past theoretical models of morphology receive insightful analyses. This book should be an essential part of any graduate course in morphology and belongs on the bookshelf of every morphologist. * Sharon Inkelas, University of California at Berkeley * Booij's Construction Morphology should be required reading for any linguist who wants to understand how words work. This brilliant book is broadly informed, rich with deep insights, and chock-full of great examples. * Adele Goldberg, Princeton University * Geert Booij's Construction Morphology is a revealing synthesis of insights from Construction Grammar, grammaticalization theory, Simpler Syntax, and psycholinguistics. Booij captures the delicate interplay of morphosyntax and phrasal syntax, as well as the intricate patterns of productivity and semiproductivity in morphological and phrasal phonology, syntax, and semantics. Behind it all is the hierarchical lexicon, which stores not just words but patterns at all levels of generality. This is a major contribution not only to morphology but to an overarching theory of the architecture of language. * Ray Jackendoff, Tufts University *