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  • The lexical core of a compl...
    Gouskova, Maria; Bobaljik, Jonathan David

    Natural language and linguistic theory, 11/2022, Letnik: 40, Številka: 4
    Journal Article

    Like other syntactic elements, affixes are sometimes said to be heads or modifiers. In Russian, one suffix, -onok , can be either: as a head, it is a size diminutive denoting baby animals, and as a modifier, it is an evaluative with a dismissive/affectionate flavor. Various grammatical properties of this suffix differ between the two uses: gender, declension class, and interaction with suppletive alternations, both as target and trigger. We explore a reductionist account of these differences: the baby diminutive comprises a lexical morpheme plus a functional nominalizing head, while the evaluative affix is the lexical morpheme alone. We contend that our account is superior to two conceivable alternatives: first, the view that these are homophonous but unrelated affixes, and second, a cartographic alternative, whereby diminutives attach at different levels in a universal structure.