Nanosyntax and the Lexicalization Algorithm
Published on 21. October 2025
Book
Hardback
528 pages
978-0-19-894713-4 (ISBN)
Description
This book presents the latest research in the Nanosyntax framework, a late-insertion theory based on the idea that the elementary building blocks of syntactic trees are limited to single features. The features are assembled by means of syntax and lexicalized by means of phrasal lexicalization and the lexicalization algorithm, a simple, constrained, and algorithmic process of externalization of syntactic structures. The chapters in this volume are divided into four parts that each contribute to a better understanding of the framework as a whole and of the lexicalization algorithm in particular.
The case studies in Part I use the lexicalization algorithm to probe for the underlying ingredients of the functional sequence, while those in Part II take a closer look at the structural nature of prefixes and how they differ from suffixes, exploring the complications related to their derivation. Part III investigates the finer detail of the algorithm, presenting its most recent innovations, in order to resolve some challenging data patterns relating to (apparent) non-local allomorphy, neutralization, ABA-patterns, and theme vowels. The volume's final part looks forward to new avenues of investigation, with chapters on phonologically-conditioned allomorphy, selection, and multilingual settings.
The case studies in Part I use the lexicalization algorithm to probe for the underlying ingredients of the functional sequence, while those in Part II take a closer look at the structural nature of prefixes and how they differ from suffixes, exploring the complications related to their derivation. Part III investigates the finer detail of the algorithm, presenting its most recent innovations, in order to resolve some challenging data patterns relating to (apparent) non-local allomorphy, neutralization, ABA-patterns, and theme vowels. The volume's final part looks forward to new avenues of investigation, with chapters on phonologically-conditioned allomorphy, selection, and multilingual settings.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 224 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 43 mm
Weight
930 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-894713-4 (9780198947134)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Pavel Caha is an associate professor at Masaryk University. His research focuses on the theoretical implications of case marking, declensions, and degree morphology. His work has been published in journals such as Natural Language & Linguistic Theory, Morphology, Journal of Linguistics, and Glossa, and in reference works including The Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics, The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Morphology, and The Cambridge Handbook of Distributed Morphology.
Karen De Clercq is a CNRS researcher affiliated with the Laboratoire de Linguistique Formelle at Universite Paris Cite. Her main research interest is the morphosyntax of negation, which she approaches from a typological and nanosyntactic perspective. She is the author of The Morphosyntax of Negative Markers (Mouton de Gruyter, 2020), and co-editor of Exploring Nanosyntax (OUP, 2018) and Adverbial Resumption in Verb Second Languages (OUP, 2023).
Guido Vanden Wyngaerd is a full-time professor at KU Leuven for the fields of Dutch and General Linguistics. His current research focuses on negation and adjectival degrees from a nanosyntactic perspective. His publications include Dissolving Binding Theory (with Johan Rooryck; OUP, 2011), as well as a number of articles in leading international journals and reference works. He is an Associate Editor of Glossa.
Karen De Clercq is a CNRS researcher affiliated with the Laboratoire de Linguistique Formelle at Universite Paris Cite. Her main research interest is the morphosyntax of negation, which she approaches from a typological and nanosyntactic perspective. She is the author of The Morphosyntax of Negative Markers (Mouton de Gruyter, 2020), and co-editor of Exploring Nanosyntax (OUP, 2018) and Adverbial Resumption in Verb Second Languages (OUP, 2023).
Guido Vanden Wyngaerd is a full-time professor at KU Leuven for the fields of Dutch and General Linguistics. His current research focuses on negation and adjectival degrees from a nanosyntactic perspective. His publications include Dissolving Binding Theory (with Johan Rooryck; OUP, 2011), as well as a number of articles in leading international journals and reference works. He is an Associate Editor of Glossa.
Content
1: Karen De Clercq;Pavel Caha;Michal Starke;Guido Vanden Wyngaerd: Nanosyntax: State of the art and recent developments
Part I The Functional Sequence
2: Anastasiia Vyshnevska: Comparing Slavic comparatives
3: Fenna Bergsma;Jan Don;Anne Merkuur;Meg Smith: Complex Left Branches in Frisian verbs
4: Furkan Dikmen; OEmer Demirok: Decomposing habituals
5: Antonio Fabregas: Suppletion and affix selection in Nanosyntax: The case of Spanish numerals
Part II Prefixes
6: Bartosz Wiland: Polish prefix stacking redux
7: Anne-Li Demonie: Complications of Complex Left Branches: The case of Dutch verbal prefixes
8: Serra Goek;OEmer Demirok: The non-uniform nature of auxiliaries: A case study on Turkish
PART III The Algorithm and Subextraction
9: Pavel Caha: A local analysis of an apparent nonlocal allomorphy in Tamil: A perspective from Rutul
10: Daniar Kasenov: ABA patterns and the generative power of Nanosyntax
11: Pavel Caha;Lucie Taraldsen Medova: Syncretism and markedness paradoxes in the Russian demonstrative declension
12: Tarald Taraldsen: The relation between theme vowels and root suppletion
Part IV New Explorations
13: Tommaso Balsemin;Francesco Pinzin: A modular approach to Phonologically Conditioned Allomorphy: The case of the Ligurian article system
14: Utku Tuerk: Controlling morphosyntactic competition through phonology
15: Lena Baunaz;Eric Lander: Lexical structure and subjunctive selection
16: David Natvig;Michael T. Putnam;Emmeline Wilson: Exponency in bilingual grammars: Conflict and compromise
Part I The Functional Sequence
2: Anastasiia Vyshnevska: Comparing Slavic comparatives
3: Fenna Bergsma;Jan Don;Anne Merkuur;Meg Smith: Complex Left Branches in Frisian verbs
4: Furkan Dikmen; OEmer Demirok: Decomposing habituals
5: Antonio Fabregas: Suppletion and affix selection in Nanosyntax: The case of Spanish numerals
Part II Prefixes
6: Bartosz Wiland: Polish prefix stacking redux
7: Anne-Li Demonie: Complications of Complex Left Branches: The case of Dutch verbal prefixes
8: Serra Goek;OEmer Demirok: The non-uniform nature of auxiliaries: A case study on Turkish
PART III The Algorithm and Subextraction
9: Pavel Caha: A local analysis of an apparent nonlocal allomorphy in Tamil: A perspective from Rutul
10: Daniar Kasenov: ABA patterns and the generative power of Nanosyntax
11: Pavel Caha;Lucie Taraldsen Medova: Syncretism and markedness paradoxes in the Russian demonstrative declension
12: Tarald Taraldsen: The relation between theme vowels and root suppletion
Part IV New Explorations
13: Tommaso Balsemin;Francesco Pinzin: A modular approach to Phonologically Conditioned Allomorphy: The case of the Ligurian article system
14: Utku Tuerk: Controlling morphosyntactic competition through phonology
15: Lena Baunaz;Eric Lander: Lexical structure and subjunctive selection
16: David Natvig;Michael T. Putnam;Emmeline Wilson: Exponency in bilingual grammars: Conflict and compromise