http://glottopedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Function_compositionFunction composition - Revision history2026-11-04T07:24:06ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.6http://glottopedia.org/index.php?title=Function_composition&diff=7692&oldid=prevWohlgemuth: utrecht2009-02-13T22:47:52Z<p>utrecht</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>'''Function composition''' is an algebraic notion which DiSciullo &amp; Williams (1987) adopt from [[Categorial Grammar]] to account for an important difference between [[compounding]] and [[affixation]]. In compounding the non-head satisfies a [[theta-role]] of the [[head]]. The non-head of a complex word headed by an affix, however, does not satisfy a theta-role of the affix; rather the affix and the stem form a composed [[argument structure]]. In order to be able to relate the argument structure of an affixal head to its non-head, they propose that suffixes are [[functor]]s with respect to their [[complement]]s.<br />
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=== Example ===<br />
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The English adjective ''complete'' has a Theme as its the external argument, and the nominal suffix -''ness'' the "degree" argument R, as in (i). Since -''ness'' is assumed to be a functor, function composition yields the composed argument structure in (ii):<br />
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(i) complete -ness =&gt; (ii) completeness<br />
(Th) (R) ((Th) R)<br />
functor<br />
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=== Link ===<br />
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[http://www2.let.uu.nl/UiL-OTS/Lexicon/zoek.pl?lemma=Function+composition&lemmacode=765 Utrecht Lexicon of Linguistics]<br />
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=== References ===<br />
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* Di Sciullo, A. M. and E. Williams 1987. ''On the Definition of Word,'' MIT-press, Cambridge, Mass.<br />
* Spencer, A. 1991. ''Morphological Theory,'' Blackwell, Oxford.<br />
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[[Category:Morphology]]</div>Wohlgemuth