[[AN]N] in morfosyntactisch perspectief

Abstract

In Middle Dutch, morphology and syntax appear to interact in the process of word formation of [[AN]N] type compounds, such as oudecleedercooper (somenone that trades old clothes). The data presented in this thesis demonstrate adjectival agreement with the first noun in the embedded left part of the [[AN]N] compound, but not with the second noun. This agreement is shown by the inflection on the adjective since it responds to the features of the first noun which it modifies. Because of the overt use of case in the Middle Dutch phase of the Dutch language, this can be easily discovered. It is remarkable that Middle Dutch [[AN]N] compounds not only show the nominative case, but also the dative and accusative case, whereas the agreement on the adjective responds to the case of the entire noun phrase. In as far as agreement and inflection can be regarded as syntactic operations, this thesis states that syntactic rules enter into the internal word structure. In addition, the data show that case as a syntactic feature, seems to manipulate the internal word structure. Considering a morpho‐syntactic approach to word formation, this thesis shows that a “strong” version of the Lexical Integrity Hypothesis (LIH) ‐ which prevents syntactic rules from entering into and manipulating the internal structure of words ‐ cannot be maintained. The Middle Dutch [[AN]N] compounds even challenge a weaker version of the LIH ‐ which states that syntax can enter into the internal word structure, though cannot manipulate this structure ‐ by showing the influence of case on the internal structure of these [[AN]N]s.