The syntactic derivation of deverbal adjectives and adjectival compounds.

摘要

This paper attempts to explain deverbal adjectives formed by affixation of -ing and -en, adjectival synthetic compounds such as the apple eating worm and the worm eaten apple, and verb-preposition adjectival compounds as in the stood on table as the product of standard syntactic processes. This syntactic approach provides a unified account of each type of deverbal adjective and compound without postulating new structure building or theta-role assigning mechanisms. Head movement and constraints such as the ECP and UTAH provide enough tools to account for the distribution of theta-roles and preposition types that may compound with the adjectival element. This paper provides evidence that true incorporation processes such as Noun, Verb, and Preposition Incorporation play some role in English.