Masdars and Mixed Category Constructions

In Arabic grammar the term MASDAR is applied to a variety of noun forms derived from verb and other stems according to a set of partially regular but largely irregular morphological patterns (Ryding 2005). Three deverbal masdar forms allow complex event interpretations in which the verbal argument structure is inherited, but at the same time, they display a range of nominal properties. In both transformational and LFG treatments, these phrases have been assumed to have both verbal and nominal syntax. We propose instead that verbal functions be permitted inside what is categorially an NP from top to bottom.