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A note on root projection and labelling


Jochen Zeller

Abstract

This paper identifies a problem with a hypothesis put forward in Chomsky (2013) in relation to his labelling algorithm. Chomsky suggests that category-neutral roots do not qualify as labels and cannot project. However, I provide evidence that the derivation of particle verbs involves the projection of a category-neutral root, which has merged with (a projection of) the particle. It follows that Chomsky's hypothesis has to be rejected.

Keywords: roots, projection, labelling, particle verbs


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eISSN: 2223-9936
print ISSN: 1027-3417