Proposes naming as a criterion for classifying and evaluating theories of morphology Gives an overview of current morphological theories Compares the theories on the basis of their approach to naming Develops a framework for the evaluation of morphological theories from the naming perspective Gives examples from English, German, Dutch and Slovak to illustrate the theoretical points Suitable for PhD students, teachers of university courses on morphology, and researchers from adjacent fields Ten Hacken and Panocová present a systematic overview of how different current morphological theories account for the naming function of word formation. Naming is an essential preliminary step for the effective use of language. In most linguistic theories, word formation is covered as a part of morphology. However, morphological theories, especially those in generative linguistics, tend to focus on the form and structure of words, rather than on their naming function. As a result, it is often not made explicit how naming is accounted for.In this book, the authors cover new ground in describing and comparing theories from this perspective. They highlight the relevance of the naming perspective in both generative and functionalist approaches and in doing so challenge the way morphological theories are received and developed. The authors develop a framework for identifying which aspects of naming have been or can be covered in each theory and evaluate the success of the resulting account.

The results of this comparison can be used for the selection of theories in research and teaching.