The morphological structure of complex place names: the case of Dutch

Abstract In the theoretical literature, it is generally assumed that place names are morphologically simplex, at least from a synchronic perspective. This derives from the observation that constituents of complex place names often become opaque over time. Along these lines, place names like Dutch Amsterdam cannot be synchronically compositional because Amster- does not exist as an independent morpheme in Dutch. Contrary to this view, this paper argues that many (Dutch) place names are in fact synchronically complex, in spite of their semantic non-transparency. Evidence comes from the phonologi... Mehr ...