Hybrid nouns have a morphological shape that doesn't match their semantic interpretation. Such nouns pose clear and interesting questions for the nature of grammatical features. For instance, how does a single feature contribute distinct information values to different components of the grammar? Furthermore, what does this observation reveal about the syntax, often taken to mediate between the morphology and the semantics? This book studies hybrid nouns and argues that a single grammatical feature is comprised of two halves, a semantic half and a morphological half, that coexist in the syntax before being sent to the respective interfaces. Viewing features in this way allows us a new look at numerous types of hybrid nouns, such as Imposter constructions, nouns of collection, as well as nouns like 'furniture' that straddle the mass-count distinction. Moreover, the study of the agreement patterns of hybrid nouns shows that semantic features behave differently to morphological features under agreement, providing a novel insight into the nature of the mechanism that underlies morphosyntactic agreement.

The first topical meeting on Photonic Switching was held March 18-20, 1987 in Incline Village, Nev., USA in conjunction with the second topical meeting on Optical Computing. It was sponsored by the IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society and the Optical Society of America with the co operation of the IEEE Communications Society. The attendance at these meetings was well in excess of 500 persons - a measure of the growing worldwide interest in optical techniques for switching and signal process ing. Our goal in organizing the Photonic Switching meeting was to provide a forum for the presentation of original papers on the subjects of devices and architectures suitable for switching, multiplexing or routing of optical signals. The purpose of the meeting was to foster and enhance interaction between two groups that share a common interest in exploring possible applications of photonic switching technology: people working on optical switching devices and components, and people working on future switching systems and networks."