The Lexicon--continued
Linguistics 322
The lexical entry is an example of an irregular verb: the verb hold (see lexical insertion):
hold, held | orthographic form |
/hEld/ / ____ [ /d/ [+Past]] | irregular phonemic form (allomorph) |
/hold/ | default phonemic form (allomorph) |
HOLD | conceptual form |
+V, -N, -Strong, -Weak | syntactic categorial class |
_____ NP | subcategorization |
{HOLD} | morpheme |
root/stem | morphological form |
agent, theme | theta roles |
animate (agent), concrete (theme) | selectional restriction |
CONTAIN IN HANDS | semanti features |
The second line contains the irregular forms of the verb. /hEld/ is the spell out form (phonemic) of the entry when it functions as the host for [+Past], which is spelled out as /d/.
Another example of a lexical is that of fly, which is more complex:
fly, flew, flown | orthographic form |
/flu / ____ [+Past] | irregular phonemic form (allomorph) |
/flo/ ____ [-n [non-progressive participle]] | irregular phonemic form (allomorph) |
/flaj/ | default phonemic form (allomorph) |
FLY | conceptual form |
+V, -N, -Strong, -Weak | syntactic categorial class |
_____ (PP) (PP) (PP) | subcategorization |
{FLY} | morpheme |
root/stem | morphological form |
agent, theme, goal, source, path | theta roles |
animate, winged (agent) | morphological form |
MOVE IN AIR | semantic feaures |
The verb fly here is a transitive verb (the pilot flew the plane (to Geneva)), as opposed to the intransitive verb (the plane flew (to Geneva)). The goal is optional (PP). Obviously, it is necessary to differentiate between the intransitive verb (FLY.intrans) and the transitive verb. The semantic features given here are rought and illustrative only. A complete semantic analysis is beyond the scope of this entry or L322.
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