The status of so-called linking elements in German: Arguments in favor of a non-functional analysis

Abstract

Linking elements are typically regarded as such segments occurring within complex words (predominantly in compounds) that belong neither to the basic form of the first nor to that of the second constituent. It is a truism in morphological theory that linking elements have some function. In this article, several functions assumed in the pertinent literature are reviewed, based on a clarification of the notion ‘function in linguistics’. This review shows that a valid functional analysis of linking elements has not been given yet. The consequence drawn from this situation is that linking elements should be analyzed in a non-functional way. A viable approach is sketched, based on the well-established concept of stem form paradigms. As a result, it turns out that so-called linking elements can be reanalyzed as being part of a more comprehensive concept. Thus, linking elements are not a primary category in morphological theory.