Minding one's metatheory in doing morphology

Abstract

In this paper, I would like to address the question of (1) from a metatheoretica1 point of view: (1) Are syntax and word formation governed by similar rules or principles? In the past, many linguists believed that one could answer this question by letting the so-called facts speak for themselves. If the facts --- facts about syntactic phrases and morphological words --- did not speak sufficiently clearly at the outset, one simply had to get hold of some better, more articulate, facts. And one should not muffle the voice of the facts by resorting to theoretical speculation. Or so it was believed.