Re: Clitics

Matt Pearson wrote:
> Also, technically speaking, articles are not attached to the beginning
> of the noun phrase.  They are *internal* to the noun phrase, albeit at
> the left edge of the constituent.  Clitics like possessive -'s in English,
> by contrast, are *external* to the noun phrase (at least on some
> analyses).
I really don't see how -'s is external to the noun phrase, while "the"
isn't.  In my usage of "clitic", it's most definitely a clitic.  I use
the definition that it's a bound morpheme, that is, cannot be used
alone, but can be separated from the word it belongs to.  In other
words, halfway between an affix and a word.  I had thought that that was
the generally accepted definition, but apparently I was wrong.

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