Parallel Computation in Word Formation

Abstract

Taking the Distributed Morphology model as a starting point, this article presents and develops the hypothesis that parallel computations drive some word formation processes. Along the way, some Distributed Morphology assumptions, particularly those concerning contextual allomorphy, are revised. It is argued that event structure is a syntactic head independent of the presence of a vP. Nominalizations in Spanish, which often exhibit verbal thematic vowels between the root and the nominalizing affix, turn out to be an ideal testing ground for theoretical hypotheses.