ID structure

1. ID properties and categories. The properties formulated in lexical entries for the roots of simplex words, and permissible combinations of inflectional categories (morphosyntactic categories), need to be stated for each word class. Permissible bundles of properties will be referred to as ID categories. The set of roots will be referred to as ROOT (consisting of , etc.), the set of inflectional category combinations will be called INFL (consisting of , etc.), and their union, the set containing both kinds of morpheme will be called MORPHEME. Finally, the set of inflected simplex words will be called SIMPLEX.
2. Permissible ID categories. The set of permissible ID categories in lexical entries will be called .

   This set consists of the various disjoint subsets, most of which are not relevant here. The subsets include for root property combinations, for inflectional property combinations, and for the properties of simplex words.

   The set of ID categories for both lexical and inflectional morphemes will be referred to as follows:

   .

   Discussion: What are the permissible properties of English lemmata and inflections, e.g. for the words bread, bake? The following definitions can be referred to.

3. Abbreviation of categories as functions. The property bundle (feature set, category), i.e. the lexical entry, for morphemes can be abbreviated as a function which we will call ` ':

   

   For example, applying this to inflections for a specific noun entry bus:

   • Permissible inflections for nouns:

     ,
     where:
     
     

     e.g. [ Number=plural, Case=nongenitive, Paradigm=regular ]
     

   • Relevant properties for nouns (minimally: the specification of Lemma):

     ,
     where:
     Abacus, ... , Zygote
     abacus, ... , zygote

     e.g. [ Lemma = Bus]

   • ID rule of construction for noun inflection. In order to define the properties of inflected simplex words, the properties of roots and inflections need to be combined. The construction rule can be abbreviated as a function which we will call ` ':

     

     For example, applying the function to and , and applying to the result, will give :

     
     
     
     = [ Lemma = Buses, Number=plural, Case=nongenitive ])

4. ID unification.

   When applied to feature structures, the construction function is defined as the unification operation, which requires that the resulting feature structure must contain all the feature specifications of the operands and be a permissible feature structure. A permissible feature structure requires that each of the features it contains may only be specified once. This excludes contraditions, such as [ Number = singular, Number = plural ]. The notion of feature structure requires further definition, but this will not be given here.

5. Further discussion: Which morphosyntactic categories are involved in the inflection of Verbs, Articles and Pronouns?