PROJECT SUMMARY

The current project aims to conduct experiments on the use and understanding of non-existent denominal verbs derived from existing nouns (such as to cherry/a cireşi) on  Romanian adults and young children and English adults. It is hoped that such half-“nonce” experiments will reveal interesting aspects and generalizations related to noun incorporation and help settle the issue whether the meaning of denominal verbs is fixed in lexical syntax (Hale & Keyser 2002), by means of a contextual root (Distributed Morphology) or by means of a pragmatic rule (Canonical Use Constraint-Kiparsky 1997).  While most of the previous research has focused on existing denominal verbs, the current research takes the experiments in Kelly (1998) as inspiration and delves into the realm of innovative uses. Such a move allows a clearer picture of the mechanisms involved in the comprehension of denominals, stripped away from the already fixed uses of existing denominal verbs. Moreover, such experiments offer insights into acquisition, making it possible to compare adult and child behaviour.