Nicola Lampitelli

The Decomposition of Somali Nouns

The goal of this paper is to understand the internal organization of Somali nouns. More precisely, I propose an analysis of the inflectional markers, i.e. the exponents of gender, number and syntactic case. Within a syntactic approach to noun formation, I show that a list of basic exponents can be reached throughout the phonological deconstruction of the surface forms. In addition, I argue that each phonological exponent corresponds to a unique morpho-syntactic category. On a more general level, the analysis depicted illustrates the behavior and the formation of basic and non-derived nouns in Somali, regardless the notion of “noun class”.

On Plurals, noun phrase and num(ber) 
in Moroccan Arabic and Djibouti Somali

This volume brings together articles by some major figures in various linguistics domains — phonology, morphology and syntax — aiming at explaining the form of linguistic items by exploring the structures that underlie them. The book is divided in 5 parts: vowels, syllables, templates, syntax-morphology interface and Afro-Asiatic languages. Specific topics are the internal structure of vowels and its relation to harmony; the logic of recurrent vocalic patterns; syllabic prominence; the interaction of syllabic and templatic structure and segmental realization; the innateness of templates and paradigms; the limits of phonology; and various morpho-syntactic implications on phonological form. The volume renders homage to Jean Lowenstamm’s work, by underlining the importance of seeking structural and intermodular insight in the study of linguistic form.