MaS (Morphology as Syntax) Cheat Sheet

(from joint work by Chris Collins and Richard Kayne)

1.

There is no morphological component in UG. 

2.

Definition of a morpheme: {FF, PHON}

3.

For all syntactic objects X and Y, Merge(X,Y) = {X,Y}

4.

Contextual restrictions on morphemes are to be understood in terms of relations familiar from syntax (e.g., c-selection, s-selection, l-selection, idioms etc.).

5.

There is no late insertion.

6.

There is no competition (or blocking) between morphemes.

7.

Null morphemes are licensed in certain contexts by syntactic principles.

8.

Contextual allomorphy involves two or more different morphemes.

(e.g., -en is an inner plural morpheme, -s is an outer plural morpheme).

9.

Syncretism involves a single morpheme being used in two or more different syntactic contexts. (see Kayne 2010: chapters 6 and 7)

10.

Metasyncretism is the result of syntactic properties of a language.

11.

There is no post-syntactic insertion of morphemes.

12.

There are no other post-syntactic morphological operations.