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Article published In: New Questions for the Next Decade
Edited by Gonia Jarema, Gary Libben † and Victor Kuperman
[The Mental Lexicon 11:3] 2016
► pp. 467–493

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Morphological schemas

Theoretical and psycholinguistic issues

 | Tufts University
 | Leiden University
Published online: 31 December 2016
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ml.11.3.06jac
We propose a theory of the lexicon in which rules of grammar, encoded as declarative schemas, are lexical items containing variables. We develop a notation to encode precise relations among lexical items and show how this differs from the standard notion of inheritance. We also show how schemas can play both a generative role, acting as productive rules, and also a relational role, where they codify nonproductive but nevertheless prolific patterns within the lexicon. We then show how this theory of lexical relations can be embedded directly into a theory of lexical access and lexical processing, such that it can make direct contact with experimental findings.
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