Morpho-semantic notes on unhappier

The aim of this paper is to propose a new approach to bracketing paradox phenomena in the framework of Distributed Morphology (Halle & Marantz 1993). Although in English, the comparative suffix -er does not attach to a trisyllabic adjective, unhappier is exceptionally possible. Focusing on the negative prefixes un- and in-, we argue that the exceptional comparative form is attributed to the timing of prefixation of un-. We give some suggestive empirical evidence from the perspectives of (morpho-)phonology and semantics.