On the boundaries of morphology and phonology: a case study from Modern Greek

There has been a great deal of discussion recently concerning the rôle that morphological and paradigmatic considerations play in the phonological structure of languages (e.g. Kiparsky, 1972, 1974; Anderson, 1974, 1975; Hooper, 1974; Harris, 1973; Kisseberth & Abasheikh, 1974). However, although it has generally been accepted that such factors play a part in determining the phonological properties of morphemes and words, the precise characterization of the interplay between phonology and morphology is not at present very clear. In this paper, I will examine two of the most interesting problems of Modern Greek (MG) that fall on the boundary line between morphology and phonology and thus provide a test case in the present debate. Moreover, since these problems have been previously examined both outside the transformational generative model (Householder, 1964) and within it (Warburton, 1970a, 1970b; Newton, 1972a, 1972b, 1973; Adams, 1972), the facts are fairly clear and, consequently, they offer excellent ground for arguing theoretical points.