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On the Distribution of Imperfective Suffixation and the Position of Theme Vowels in SlovenianVesna Plesničar, published scientific conference contribution abstract
Abstract: There are different views regarding the exact position of the Theme Vowel (TH) in the verb structure within Distributive Morphology (DM). One is that THs are realisations of a TH position that is added to v0 (and other functional heads) (e.g. Oltra-Massuet 1999 and Embick and Halle 2005), another, argued for in Marvin (2002), is that THs are attached directly to the ROOT. The most recent proposal for Slovenian is the one made by Božič (2016, 2017), where he argues that TH is adjoined to Aspectual head (ASP0). On the other hand, Marvin has claimed, contra Božič (2017), that TH could only adjoin to category-defining heads, i.e. that adjunction to any other functional head, such as Tense head, Aspect or Passive is not possible in Slovenian. Our data suggest that contrary to Božič, it is -va- rather than -av- that is an imperfectivizing morpheme in Slovenian, and contrary to previous literature more widely, -va- is not just a secondary imperfective morpheme but more generally an imperfective morpheme. Our idea is supported by the clear distribution patterns shown by -va- in verbs which receive an imperfective interpretation. This suggestion makes further predictions on the position of TH vowel in Slovenian. We argue that TH precedes the imperfective suffix -va-, and thus cannot be a component of the imperfective morpheme, as assumed in Božič (2016, 2017). TH is rather a part of the ROOT (or verbalizing head to which it is attached).
Keywords: Distributive Morphology, Theme Vowel, Imperfective Suffixation, Slovenian
Published in RUNG: 14.10.2020; Views: 3044; Downloads: 79
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