Simple and complex word spans as measures of working memory capacity.
A higher total score indicates more complex word combinations than a lower score.
This criterion demands that the constituent structure reflect the meaning of the complex word.
A similar reasoning applies to all cases in which the morphemes that make up a complex word are of different category.
When the source free-word is neither lost nor rendered unrecognizable, the complex word containing it is typically to be analyzed as a compound.
This line of treatment can correctly predict the final output form of a morphologically complex word (3).
If this relation is reflected syntactically, the head of the complex word will occupy the structurally higher head position, and the other morpheme will project the complement to this head.
This is in keeping with the assumptions of the rest of this paper in generalizing the operations and constraints of syntax to complex word-formation wherever possible.
