Documentation

Studies.KalinBjorkmanEtAl2026

Kalin et al. (2026): The Morphology/Syntax Interface #

This file formalizes Kalin, Bjorkman et al.'s map of the morphology/syntax interface. Section 2 sets out the dimensions along which theories vary: whether the morphology is a component separate from the syntax, lexicalism; the timing of the two computations, an architecture that is parallel or pre-syntactic exactly in the lexicalist theories and syntactic or post-syntactic in the non-lexicalist ones, (4); whether complex forms arise from pieces or from processes, which implicates lexicalism; and whether exponents are independent of the features they realize, realizational, or built up with them, incremental. Table 2 places seven theories in the space of lexicalism, mapping and exponence, and its two empty cells are exactly the non-lexicalist process-based ones (unattested_iff), the four representative theories' architectures agreeing with their lexicalism (architecture_lexicalism). Section 3 separates the morphosyntactic word, diagnosed by cohesiveness, fixed order, selectivity and domainhood, from the phonological word, and crosses the two kinds of boundness into Table 3's cells (WordhoodProfile.classify, rows_cells); Zwicky and Pullum's diagnostics place the English plural affix in the canonical-affix cell and the auxiliary clitic in the simple-clitic cell (plural_s_canonicalAffix). Section 4 distinguishes seven form-meaning mappings and Table 4 records how each representative theory treats each; the theories that treat some non-one-to-one mapping as genuine are exactly the realizational ones (handlesNatively_iff_realizational), the purely syntactic Morphology as Syntax reanalyses every one (mas_reanalyses), and no theory treats morphological gaps natively (no_theory_handles_gaps).

Implementation notes #

References #

The dimensions of the interface (Section 2.1) #

Whether the morphology is a component separate from the syntax, Section 2.1.1.

Instances For
    @[instance_reducible]
    Equations
    Equations
    • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
    Instances For
      @[instance_reducible]
      Equations
      • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

      The timing of morphology and syntax, (4).

      Instances For
        @[instance_reducible]
        Equations
        Equations
        • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
        Instances For
          @[instance_reducible]
          Equations
          • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

          Whether complex forms arise from the concatenation of stored pieces or from processes applied to a stem, Section 2.1.3.

          Instances For
            @[instance_reducible]
            Equations
            Equations
            • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
            Instances For
              @[instance_reducible]
              Equations
              • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

              Whether exponents realize features given in advance or are built up with them, Section 2.1.4.

              Instances For
                @[instance_reducible]
                Equations
                Equations
                • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                Instances For
                  @[instance_reducible]
                  Equations
                  • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

                  A cell of Table 2.

                  Instances For
                    def KalinBjorkmanEtAl2026.instDecidableEqCell.decEq (x✝ x✝¹ : Cell) :
                    Decidable (x✝ = x✝¹)
                    Equations
                    • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                    Instances For
                      def KalinBjorkmanEtAl2026.instReprCell.repr :
                      Cell → ℕ → Std.Format
                      Equations
                      • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                      Instances For
                        @[instance_reducible]
                        Equations
                        • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

                        The seven theories Table 2 places.

                        Instances For
                          @[instance_reducible]
                          Equations
                          Equations
                          • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                          Instances For
                            @[instance_reducible]
                            Equations
                            • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

                            Table 2.

                            Equations
                            • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                            Instances For

                              Table 2's empty cells are exactly the non-lexicalist process-based ones, Section 2.4: a process-based morphology computes unlike the syntax, Section 2.1.3.

                              Distributed Morphology and Nanosyntax share a cell; they differ in mechanism, phrasal against terminal spellout, not in these dimensions.

                              The four theories Sections 2.2 and 2.3 present in detail and Table 4 compares.

                              Instances For
                                @[instance_reducible]
                                Equations
                                Equations
                                • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                Instances For
                                  @[instance_reducible]
                                  Equations
                                  • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

                                  Each representative theory's architecture has the lexicalism of its Table 2 cell.

                                  Wordhood (Section 3.2) #

                                  Morphosyntactic boundness, Section 3.2.1: necessarily internal to a morphosyntactic word.

                                  Instances For
                                    @[instance_reducible]
                                    Equations
                                    Equations
                                    • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                    Instances For
                                      @[instance_reducible]
                                      Equations
                                      • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

                                      Phonological boundness, Section 3.2.2: necessarily internal to a phonological word.

                                      Instances For
                                        @[instance_reducible]
                                        Equations
                                        Equations
                                        • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                        Instances For
                                          @[instance_reducible]
                                          Equations
                                          • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

                                          An element's two boundnesses.

                                          Instances For
                                            Equations
                                            Instances For
                                              Equations
                                              • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                              Instances For
                                                @[instance_reducible]
                                                Equations
                                                • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

                                                The cells of Table 3.

                                                Instances For
                                                  @[instance_reducible]
                                                  Equations
                                                  Equations
                                                  • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                                  Instances For
                                                    @[instance_reducible]
                                                    Equations
                                                    • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

                                                    Table 3 is a bijection between profiles and cells.

                                                    Equations
                                                    • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                                    Instances For

                                                      The English plural is a canonical affix and the auxiliary clitic a simple clitic: their morphosyntactic side from [ZP83]'s profiles, both phonologically bound.

                                                      A row of Table 3: the two boundnesses and the cell.

                                                      Instances For
                                                        def KalinBjorkmanEtAl2026.instDecidableEqWordhoodRow.decEq (x✝ x✝¹ : WordhoodRow) :
                                                        Decidable (x✝ = x✝¹)
                                                        Equations
                                                        • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                                        Instances For

                                                          A row from the paper's features.

                                                          Equations
                                                          • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                                          Instances For

                                                            The Element's printed examples of three of the four cells: cat, plural -s and possessive -s; the fourth, the non-cohering affixes, it describes in prose only.

                                                            Equations
                                                            Instances For

                                                              Each example sits in the cell its boundnesses give.

                                                              Form-meaning mappings (Section 4) #

                                                              The seven descriptive form-meaning mappings of Section 4: abundance on the form side, allomorphy and multiple exponence; on the meaning side, syncretism and portmanteaux; and absence on either, gaps and empty morphs.

                                                              Instances For
                                                                @[instance_reducible]
                                                                Equations
                                                                Equations
                                                                • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                                                Instances For
                                                                  @[instance_reducible]
                                                                  Equations
                                                                  • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

                                                                  How a theory treats a mapping in Table 4: as a genuine non-one-to-one mapping by its basic mechanisms, by reanalysis as another mapping, or by an extra mechanism.

                                                                  Instances For
                                                                    @[instance_reducible]
                                                                    Equations
                                                                    Equations
                                                                    • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.
                                                                    Instances For
                                                                      @[instance_reducible]
                                                                      Equations
                                                                      • One or more equations did not get rendered due to their size.

                                                                      Table 4, a list where the subcases of a mapping receive different verdicts.

                                                                      Equations
                                                                      Instances For

                                                                        A theory treats a mapping natively when some subcase is a genuine mapping for it.

                                                                        Equations
                                                                        Instances For
                                                                          @[instance_reducible]
                                                                          Equations

                                                                          Morphology as Syntax denies every non-one-to-one mapping, reanalysing each, Section 4.6.

                                                                          The theories that treat some non-one-to-one mapping as genuine are exactly the realizational ones of Table 2: separating exponents from features is what makes a mismatch possible, Section 4.6.

                                                                          Distributed Morphology alone treats allomorphy natively, by contextual Vocabulary Insertion, and Paradigm Function Morphology alone multiple exponence, by independent rule blocks, Sections 4.1 and 4.2.