Abstract

In this paper, based on the empirical data from the Pazar dialect of Laz (PL), the status of roots in event composition is revisited. The basic proposal is that the event structure building mechanism in Ramchand (2008) can be incorportated into the cyclic spell-out system of Pantcheva (2011) in the framework known as Nanosyntax (Starke 2009). The association model in Ramchand (2008) that does not recognize root as a syntactic node is shown to undergenerate. In particular, the aspectual system of PL, which appears to provide the lexical match for the event heads/features, creates a theory-internal problem with respect to the root whose potential matching nodes are already lexically occupied. If cyclic phrasal spell-out is adopted and the root is acknowledged as a syntactic node elligible for lexical matching, not only the theory-internal problem is solved but also an interesting case of root allomorphy is accounted for. The proposal appears to be in line with the emprical facts in that all attested patterns of allomorphy are allowed whereas unpredicted lexicalization patterns are outlawed.