Morphology
An Introduction to
the Structure of Words
By Christian Monson
Goals
• Introduction to morphology
– look at one interesting morphological
phenomenon—allomorphy
• To help you read linguistic texts
– what features can morphemes realize
What is a Word?
• There are no spaces in spoken language
Hewenttotownonhishorse
Hew entt otow non hi shor se
He went to town on his horse
Example of Words (Hungarian)
a) Jánosénekel
John sings
b) Máriaénekel
Mary sings
c) Máriafut
Mary runs
Example of Words (Hungarian)
a) Jánosénekel
John sings
b) Máriaénekel
Mary sings
c) Máriafut
Mary runs
What is a Word?
• Possible Criteria
– Recurring units of form and meaning
– The smallest things you can say in isolation
– Pauses are not possible inside a word
• There are many exceptions to these rules
– Linguists always qualify what they mean by a word
• In this class words will be separated by spaces.
– Even if the orthography of the language does not use spaces
Morphemes
• Smallest unit of form and meaning
– Here too there are exceptions but most linguists
pretend that morphemes really do exist
Example of Morphemes
(Hungarian again)
keresek
keresel
keres
I seek
you seek
he/she/it seeks
hiszek
hiszel
hisz
I believe
you believe
he/she/it believes
Example of Morphemes
(Hungarian again)
keresek
keresel
keresØ
I seek
you seek
he/she/it seeks
hiszek
hiszel
hiszØ
I believe
you believe
he/she/it believes
Allomorphs
• Same meaning
• Different form
• Complementary distribution
Allomorphy Example:
English Plural
bags, crabs, accidents, names, lollipops, brushes, churches,
maps, toes, faces, beds, books, prizes, flies, giraffes,
deaths, judges, garages…
Allomorphy Example:
English Plural
bags, crabs, accidents, names, lollipops, brushes, churches,
maps, toes, faces, beds, books, prizes, flies, giraffes,
deaths, judges, garages…
s
z
*z
accidents
books
lollipops
maps
beds
bags
crabs
names
faces
prizes
churches
brushes
giraffes
deaths
toes
flies
judges
garages
* = reduced vowel
Allomorph Environments
• Each allomorph has a separate environment
• Environments are complementary
– Wrong: s occurs after consonants
– Because: z and *z also occur after consonants
• Environments are complete
– Wrong: z occurs after vowels
– Because: z also occurs after voiced non-sibilants
• No unused environments
– Wrong (usually): The plural of words ending in the
phoneme p do not exist
English Plural Cont.
• Identify the allomorph environments
• Generalize if possible
– may require phonology—not covered in this class.
English Plural Cont.
• Identify the allomorph environments
• Generalize if possible
– may require phonology—not covered in this class.
Allomorph
Environment
s
?
z
?
*z
?
English Plural Cont.
• Identify the allomorph environments
• Generalize if possible
– may require phonology—not covered in this class.
Allomorph
Word-Final
Phoneme
s
z
*z
t, k, p, f,
d, g, b, m, v, l, s, z, ch,
th(voiceless) r, and vowels sh, dg, ž
English Plural Cont.
• Identify the allomorph environments
• Generalize if possible
– may require phonology—not covered in this class.
Allomorph
Word-Final
Phoneme
Generalize
s
z
*z
t, k, p, f,
d, g, b, m, v, l, s, z, ch,
th(voiceless) r, and vowels sh, dg, ž
?
?
?
English Plural Cont.
• Identify the allomorph environments
• Generalize if possible
– may require phonology—not covered in this class.
Allomorph
Word-Final
Phoneme
s
z
*z
t, k, p, f,
d, g, b, m, v, l, s, z, ch,
th(voiceless) r, and vowels sh, dg, ž
Generalize
voiceless
non-sibilant
consonants
voiced
non-sibilant
sounds
sibilants
Complementary Distribution
Complementary Distribution
All Sounds
(consonants + vowels)
Complementary Distribution
Consonants (b, d, f, g, k, l, m, …)
All Sounds
(consonants + vowels)
Complementary Distribution
Sibilants (s, z, sh, ch, dg, …)
Consonants (b, d, f, g, k, l, m, …)
All Sounds
(consonants + vowels)
Complementary Distribution
Sibilants (s, z, sh, ch, dg, …)
Consonants (b, d, f, g, k, l, m, …)
All Sounds
(consonants + vowels)
Voiced (b, d, dg, g, l, m, …)
Complementary Distribution
Sibilants (s, z, sh, ch, dg, …)
Consonants (b, d, f, g, k, l, m, …)
All Sounds
(consonants + vowels)
*z
Voiced (b, d, dg, g, l, m, …)
Complementary Distribution
Sibilants (s, z, sh, ch, dg, …)
Consonants (b, d, f, g, k, l, m, …)
All Sounds
(consonants + vowels)
*z
s
Voiced (b, d, dg, g, l, m, …)
Complementary Distribution
Sibilants (s, z, sh, ch, dg, …)
Consonants (b, d, f, g, k, l, m, …)
All Sounds
(consonants + vowels)
*z
s
z
Voiced (b, d, dg, g, l, m, …)
Allomorphy Example:
Hungarian Present Tense 1sg
hoz-ok
vár-ok
szűn-ök
hisz-ek
bring-1sgPres
wait-1sgPres
cease-1sgPres
believe-1sgPres
keres-ek
tud-ok
isz-ok
kér-ek
seek-1sgPres
know-1sgPres
drink-1sgPres
ask-1sgPres
mos-ok
vesz-ek
ad-ok
hív-ok
wash-1sgPres
buy-1sgPres
give-1sgPres
call-1sgPres
köt-ök
üt-ök
főz-ök
tart-ok
tie-1sgPres
hit-1sgPres
cook-1sgPres
hold-1sgPres
Allomorphy Example:
Hungarian Present Tense 1sg
ok
ek
ök
ad-ok
isz-ok
vesz-ek
köt-ök
give-1sgPres
drink-1sgPres
buy-1sgPres
tie-1sgPres
tart-ok
hív-ok
keres-ek
főz-ök
hold-1sgPres
call-1sgPres
seek-1sgPres
cook-1sgPres
vár-ok
hoz-ok
kér-ek
üt-ök
wait-1sgPres
bring-1sgPres
ask-1sgPres
hit-1sgPres
tud-ok
mos-ok
hisz-ek
szűn-ök
know-1sgPres wash-1sgPres
believe-1sgPres cease-1sgPres
Allomorphy Example:
Hungarian Present Tense 1sg
Allomorph
Environment
ok
?
ek
?
ök
?
Allomorphy Example:
Hungarian Present Tense 1sg
Allomorph
ok
ek
Stem Vowel a, á, (i), í, o, ó, u, ú e, é, (i)
ök
ö, ő, ü, ű
Allomorphy Example:
Hungarian Present Tense 1sg
Allomorph
ok
ek
Stem Vowel a, á, (i), í, o, ó, u, ú e, é, (i)
Generalized
?
?
ök
ö, ő, ü, ű
?
Allomorphy Example:
Hungarian Present Tense 1sg
Allomorph
ok
ek
ök
Stem Vowel a, á, (i), í, o, ó, u, ú e, é, (i)
ö, ő, ü, ű
Generalized
back
front front-rounded
Allomorphy Example:
Hungarian Present Tense 1sg
Allomorph
ok
ek
ök
Stem Vowel a, á, (i), í, o, ó, u, ú e, é, (i)
ö, ő, ü, ű
Generalized
back
front front-rounded
All Vowels
Allomorphy Example:
Hungarian Present Tense 1sg
Allomorph
ok
ek
ök
Stem Vowel a, á, (i), í, o, ó, u, ú e, é, (i)
ö, ő, ü, ű
Generalized
back
front front-rounded
All Vowels
Front Vowels
Allomorphy Example:
Hungarian Present Tense 1sg
Allomorph
ok
ek
ök
Stem Vowel a, á, (i), í, o, ó, u, ú e, é, (i)
ö, ő, ü, ű
Generalized
back
front front-rounded
All Vowels
Front Vowels
Front Rounded Vowels
Allomorphy Example:
Hungarian Present Tense 1sg
Allomorph
ok
ek
ök
Stem Vowel a, á, (i), í, o, ó, u, ú e, é, (i)
ö, ő, ü, ű
Generalized
back
front front-rounded
All Vowels
Front Vowels
Front Rounded Vowels
Allomorphy Example:
Hungarian Present Tense 1sg
Allomorph
ok
ek
ök
Stem Vowel a, á, (i), í, o, ó, u, ú e, é, (i)
ö, ő, ü, ű
Generalized
back
front front-rounded
All Vowels
Front Vowels
Front Rounded Vowels
Allomorphy Example:
Hungarian Present Tense 1sg
Allomorph
ok
ek
ök
Stem Vowel a, á, (i), í, o, ó, u, ú e, é, (i)
ö, ő, ü, ű
Generalized
back
front front-rounded
All Vowels
Front Vowels
Front Rounded Vowels
Features
• Nouns
Features
• Nouns
– number
• singular, dual, plural
– case
• nominative, accusative, dative, …
– gender/class
• male, female, neuter
• animate, inanimate, man-made object, shape, …
Features
• Verbs
Features
• Verbs
– Person
• first, second, third, third person far removed, …
– Number
– Tense
• present, past, future, remote past, ...
– Aspect
• perfective, imperfective, habitual, repetitive, …
– Mood
• indicative, conditional, subjunctive (doubt or possibility), …
Other Parts of Speech
• Adjectives
• Adverbs
• Determiners and Specifiers
Other Parts of Speech
• Adjectives
– Degree
• positive, comparative, superlative, etc.
– Number, Gender, Case
• Adverbs
– Degree, …
• Determiners and Specifiers
– Case
– Who knows!
• This is what Linguists try to elicit and categorize