Morphology:
Cross-linguistic variation
Linguistics 200
Spring 2002
Morphological competence
Which words are possible/impossible?
 What are the properties of words--how can
they be used?
 How are new words created? What is the
structure of existing words?

Some more word formation types
Simultaneous
 Reduplication
 Ablaut
 Affixation




Infixation
Portmanteau morphemes
Position class morphology
Simultaneous morphology
Arabic verbal morphology: ‘write’
I
II
perfective
active
passive
katab
kutib
kattab
kuttib
imperfective
active
passive
aktub
uktab
ukattib
ukattab
participle
active
kaatib
mukattib
III kaatab kuutib
ukaatib
ukaatab mukaatib
IV /akta /uktib u/aktib u/akta mu/akti
b
b
b
passive
maktuub
mukattab
mukaatab
mu/akta
b
V takattab tukuttib atakattab utakattab mutakattib mutakattab
VI takaatab tukuutib atakaatab utakaatab mutakaatib mutakaatab
VII nkatab nkutib
ankatib
unkatab munkatib munkatab
Arabic verbal morphology
‘write’
VIII
IX
perfective
active
passive
ktatab
ktutib
ktabab
imperfective
active
passive
aktatib
uktatab
aktabib
X
XI
XII
staktab
ktaabab
ktawtab
astaktib
aktaabib
aktawtib
XIII
XIV
ktawwab
ktanbab
aktawwib
aktanbib
muktawwib
muktanbib
XV
ktanbay
aktanbiy
muktanbiy
stuktib
participle
active
muktatib
muktabib
ustaktab mustaktib
muktaabib
muktawtib
passive
muktatab
mustaktab
Simultaneous morphology
Each Arabic verb contains 3 intercalated morphemes:
phonological component
semantic component
1. consonants
verb root, lexical verb
meaning
2. vowels
tense (imperfective,
perfective)/
voice (active, passive)/
participle or non-participle
3. syllable structure
“binyanim”: causative,
(arrangement of
reciprocal, reflexive, etc.
consonants and vowels)
Simultaneous morphology
1. Verb roots (consonants):
# of Cs
example
3
/ktb/
/ksb/
/lm/
2
/sm/
4
/dr/
1
/j/
‘to write’
‘to earn’
‘to know’
‘to poison’
‘to roll’
‘to write the letter y’
[] = voiceless pharyngeal fricative; [] = voiced pharyngeal fricative
Simultaneous morphology
2. Tense/voice/participle (vowels)
/a/
/u i/
/a/-, /a i/, /a u/, /a/
/u/-, /a/
/mu/-, /a i/
/mu/-, /a/
/u/)
perfective active
perfective passive
imperfective active
imperfective passive
active participle
passive participle (1st binyan: /ma/-,
Simultaneous morphology
3. “Binyanim”: causative, reciprocal, reflexive, etc.
(syllable structure: arrangement of consonants and
vowels)
Simultaneous morphology
/ktb/
/lm/
I
‘write’
‘know’
‘to do frequently or intensively, to
consider somebody as...’ (frequently
overlaps with Form IV)
III ‘to direct, strive to, act in conjunction
with...’
IV ‘to shape into..., induce, cause to do...’
‘cause to
write’
‘teach’
II
V
‘to become..., to do to oneself, to claim
to be...’
‘correspond’
‘cause to
write’
‘study,
learn, teach
oneself’
Simultaneous morphology
/ktb/
VI
‘to act mutually, to simulate’
‘to let action be done to oneself’
(reflexive)
VIII reflexive of I; may be used instead of VI
or VII ’
IX ‘to be or become a certain color, or
marked by a certain defect’
VII
X
‘write to
each other’
‘subscribe’
‘write, be
registered’
‘to ask somebody for something, to force ‘write, make
oneself, to do unto oneself’ (reflexive of write’
IV)
/lm/
Simultaneous morphology
Morphological structure of [kuutib] ‘was corresponded with’
ui
3
perfective passive
8
III binyan: ‘to direct, strive to, act in
conjunction with’
CVVCVC
9
g
ktb
2
‘write’
Reduplication
RED (reduplicant):
 a morpheme which copies the phonological
segments of the root it is attached to
 partial reduplication (affixational) vs. total
reduplication (compounding)
Total reduplication

Sahaptin inanimate plurals


[p’ú p’u] ‘teardrops’
English: ‘really, truly’



red red (vs. blue red)
home home
India Indian
Partial reduplication: suffixing
Chukchee (Chukotko-Kamchatkan, Russia)
RED- = absolutive singular (of noun)
[jil/e]
analysis
/jil/e/
‘gopher’
[jil/ejil] /jil/eRED/
[nute]
/nute/
‘gopher’ (absolutive singular)
[nutenut]
‘earth, ground’ (absolutive
singular)
/nute-RED/
‘earth, ground’
Partial reduplication: prefixing
Klamath (Penutian, Oregon)
RED- = plural subjects of verbs
phonetic
[pe:wa]
analysis
/pe:wa/
‘bathes’
[pepe:wa]
/RED-pe:wa/
‘bathe’
[smo:l’a]
/smo:l’a/
‘smokes a hide’
[smosmo:l’a]
/RED-smo:l’a/
‘smoke a hide’
[m’a:s?a]
/m’a:s/a/
‘is sick’
[m’am’a:s/a] /RED-
‘are sick’
Partial reduplication: Prefixing
Yoruba (Niger-Congo, Nigeria)
RED- nouns derived from verbs
Prespecification: part of RED is phonologically
fixed; part of RED copies the root
verb
[l] ‘to go’
[dùn] ‘to be tasty’
noun
[líl] ‘going’
[dídùn] ‘tastiness, sweetness’
[V] = high tone vowel, [V] = low tone vowel, [V] = mid tone
vowel
More on affixation
Infixation: Ulwa possessive forms
[su:lu]
[su:kilu]
[su:malu]
[su:kalu]
[su:nilu]
[su:kinalu]
[su:manalu]
[su:kanalu]
‘dog’
‘my dog’
‘your (sg.) dog’
‘his/her dog’
‘our (incl.) dog’
‘our (excl.) dog’
‘your dog’
‘their dog’
Ulwa Infixation
-[ki]-[ma]-[ka]-[ni]-[kina]-[mana]-[kana]-
‘my’
‘your (sg.)’
‘his/her’
‘our (incl.)’
‘our (excl.)’
‘your’
‘their’
Infixation: placement of the infix
-ka- ‘his/her’
[amak]
[sapa:]
[bas]
[ki:]
[su:lu]
[asna]
[siwanak]
[ana:la:ka]
‘bee’
‘forehead’
‘hair’
‘stone’
‘dog’
‘clothes’
‘root’
‘chin’
‘his/her...’
[amakka]
[sapa:ka]
[baska]
[ki:ka]
[su:kalu]
[askana]
[siwakanak]
[ana:kala:ka]
Infixation: placement of the infix

In Ulwa, possessive affixes follow the
stressed syllable (infixation as a special case
of suffixation)
Portmanteau morphemes
Single phonological representation corresponds to
two meanings.
McLeod L. Sekani (Athabaskan)
stsh
tstsh
wstsh
in- perfective tshè
i- ‘I/pf’
itshè
s- ‘I’
‘I’m crying’
‘I’ll cry’
‘let me cry’
‘he/she cried’
‘I cried’
Witsuwit’en

(Athabaskan, British Columbia)
labial
stop
alveolar palatal
p p p’ t t t’
c c c’
affricate
ts ts ts’
fricative
t t
t’
sz
çj
l
nasal
m
n
labiovelar
kw kw
kw’
uvular
xw w
X
glottal
q q /
q’
h
Witsuwit’en morphology

Morphological processes
 affixation
 compounding
 ablaut
Witsuwit’en morphology

Major (affixable) lexical categories
 nouns
 verbs
 postpositions
 directional adverbs
 adjectives
Ablaut
= Root-internal vowel substitution
English
present
past
past participle
sing
sang have sung
ring
rang
have rung
Ablaut in Witsuwit’en
verb root
imperfective/optative perfective future
-/qes/ ‘scratch hard’ –[qes]
–[qez]
–
[qs]
-/qz/ ‘do with arms’ –[qis]
[qs]
/i/ replaces // in the imperfective/optative
// replaces /e/ in the future
–[qz]
–
Affixation to nouns
[to]
[sto/]
[nto/]
[nxwto/]
[pto/]
[hpto/]
‘water’
'my water'
‘your (sg.) water’
‘your (pl.), our water’
‘his/her/its water’
‘their water’
Morphological analysis
to
‘water’
-/
possessed
s-
‘my’
n-
‘your (sg.)’
nxw-
‘our, your (pl.)’
p-
‘his, her, its’
hp-
‘their’
Prepositions and postpositions
Prepositions: preposition - noun
count for me
prep noun
Postpositions: noun - postposition
[s- pe c’otw]
me for you (sg.) count
noun postposition
‘count for me’
Affixation to postpositions
[spe]
‘for me’
[mpe]
‘for you (sg.)’
[nxwpe]
‘for us, you (pl.)’
[ppe]
‘for him, her, it’
[hppe]
‘for them’
Morphological analysis
-pe
‘for’
s-
‘me’
m-
‘you (sg.)’
nxw-
‘us, you (pl.)’
p-
‘him, her, it’
hp-
‘them’
Morphological analysis (revised)
Prefixes to nouns/postpositions:
1 person
sg
s-
pl
2 person
n/m-
nxw-
3 person
p-
hp-
Affixation to verbs

Unusual features


Position class morphology: (prefix order
restrictions)
prefix-prefix-prefix-...-verb root-suffix
Discontinuous morphemes
Some verbs (dictionary entry)
-jin 'sg./du. stand'
 -tseq ‘be lightweight’
 -/as ‘du./group goes, walks


O-u-jin ‘pick O (berries) while stationary’
Some verbs (actual words)
Minimally: dictionary form of verb+‘tense’
 [sa n/a] ‘the sun/moon is going’





sa ‘sun, moon’
-/a 'sun, moon goes'
n- continuative (‘round-trip’)
[sa i/a] ‘the sun/moon is moving'

E/i-...- progressive
Position class morphology
Verb prefix positions: postposition/adverbial – iterative – multiple plural
– negative – incorporated root – inceptive – distributive plural –
pronominal object/subject – qualifier – tense/neg – subject – valence
Root
Suffix positions: negative - tense
[sa i/a] ‘the sun/moon is moving'
i- tense + -/a root + -  tense
Some more verb words
1. [tci ujin]
'he/she is picking huckleberries'
O-u-jin
'pick O (berries) while stationary‘
O(object required)
- imperfective
u
- jin
qualifier –root
(tense position)
  0 / u ___
Prefix positions: postposition/adverbial – iterative – multiple plural –
negative – incorporated root – inceptive – distributive plural –
pronominal object/subject – qualifier – tense/neg – subject – valence
Root
Suffix positions: negative - tense
2. [c'ojin]'he/she is picking'
c'- unspecified object (pronominal object/subject
position)
(c’ + u  c’o)
Prefix positions: postposition/adverbial – iterative – multiple plural –
negative – incorporated root – inceptive – distributive plural –
pronominal object/subject – qualifier – tense/neg – subject – valence
Root
Suffix positions: negative - tense
3. [c'onjin]
'he/she is picking (round things)'
n- round object (optional) (qualifier position)
Prefix positions: postposition/adverbial – iterative – multiple plural –
negative – incorporated root – inceptive – distributive plural –
pronominal object/subject – qualifier – tense/neg – subject – valence
Root
Suffix positions: negative - tense
4. [wec'onsji'n] 'he/she isn't picking (round
things)'
we- negative
(negative position)
snon-perfective negative (tense position)
-/
(negative position)
n + /  ‘n
Prefix positions: postposition/adverbial – iterative – multiple plural –
negative – incorporated root – inceptive – distributive plural –
pronominal object/subject – qualifier – tense/neg – subject – valence
Root
Suffix positions: negative - tense
5. [wec'onzsji'n] 'I'm not picking (round things)'
s- 1sg. subject
(subject position)
/s/  [z] / ___ V
Prefix positions: postposition/adverbial – iterative – multiple plural –
negative – incorporated root – inceptive – distributive plural –
pronominal object/subject – qualifier – tense/neg – subject – valence
Root
Suffix positions: negative - tense
6. [wec'onthzisjit]
things)‘
'I won't pick (round
th future (qualifier position)
i(tense position)
-
(tense position)
// + /  t
/n/  0 / ___ C]syllable
Prefix positions: postposition/adverbial – iterative – multiple plural –
negative – incorporated root – inceptive – distributive plural –
pronominal object/subject – qualifier – tense/neg – subject – valence
Root
Suffix positions: negative - tense
Morphological structure
'I'm not going to pick (round) things'
negative
round
1 sg. subject
[we- c‘- o- n- th- [] z- i- s- ji -t
]
unspecified object
‘pick (berries)
while stationary’
future
-
English
Affixational past tense and past participle:
present
past
past participle
work
worked
have worked
play
played
have played
English ablaut in verbal morphology
Ablaut past tense and/or past participle:
present
past
past participle
ring
rang
have rung
sink
sank
have sunk
run
ran
have run
come
came
have come
sit
sat
have sat
sneak
snuck
have snuck
Portmanteau morphemes
single phonological representation corresponds to
two meanings
McLeod L. Sekani (Athabaskan) first person singular
subject prefix
s- ‘I’
i- ‘I/pf’
stsh
tstsh

wstsh
itshè
‘I’m crying’
‘I’ll cry’
‘let me cry’
‘I cried’
Zero derivation
No overt affix (a.k.a. “conversion”)
Zero derivation
Noun-verb pairs
the bite, to bite
the fall, to fall
the freeze, to freeze
the steal, to steal
the tread, to tread
the bridge, to bridge
the put-down, to put down
the kick-off, to kick off, etc.
Relatively new verbs
to office ‘to work in an office’(?):
‘Kinko’s---the new way to office’
to Sequim ‘to visit Sequim’:
'Thanks for Sequimming‘
to apple(s) and orange(s) ‘to compare unlike
objects, make an inappropriate comparison’:
‘You're apples and orangeing it.’
Denominal verbs
lack ablaut or irregular verbal inflection
Ablaut:
ring (a bell), rang, rung
drink, drank, drunk
Lack of ablaut:
a ring (worn on finger), ringed (*rang) X ('put a
ring on X'), has ringed
the ink, inked (*ank) the drawing, has inked
a wing, winged (*wang) it, has winged it
Denominal verbs
Verb-noun-verb:
to fly: the bird flew, the bird has flown
a fly (ball)
to fly (to hit a fly ball): flied, to have flied
___ has twice flied (*flown) to center field
tonight.
Morphological paradigms
= set of related words
Some Latin nominal (noun) paradigms
case
puella ‘girl’
nominative
genitive
accusative
dative
sg.
puella
puellae
puellam
puellae
plural
puellae
puellarum
puellas
puellis
Morphological paradigms
equ- ‘horse’
nominative
genitive
accusative
dative
sg.
equus
equi
equum
equi
Publius Mariam vidit
Publium Maria vidit
plural
equi
equorum
equos
equis
Publius saw Maria
Maria saw Publius
Some Irish “conjugated prepositions”
le Máire
with Mary
liom
leat
leis
léithi
linn
libh
leofa
‘with me’
‘with you (sg.)’
‘with him’
‘with her’
‘with us’
‘with you (pl.)’
‘with them’
Suppletion
A member of a paradigm may be filled in an
irregular way:
talk (not suppletive):
I talk
you talk
he/she talks
we talk
you guys talk
they talk
Suppletion
say (suppletive in third person singular):
I say
we say
you say [sej]
you guys say
they say
he/she says [sEz]
be (suppletive throughout):
I am
we are
you are
you guys are
he/she is
they are
Other types of morphology
Ablaut =
change in root vowel as phonological part
of morpheme
English ablaut in verbal morphology
Suffixal past tense and past participle:
present
past
past participle
work
worked
have worked
play
played
have played
English ablaut in verbal morphology
Ablaut past tense and/or past participle:
present
past
past participle
ring
rang
have rung
sing
sang
have sung
run
ran
have run
come
came
have come
sit
sat
have sat
sneak
snuck
have snuck
German
Some past indicative verbs formed with ablaut
Past subjunctive (only used in formal language)
formed from past indicative via umlaut (change of
vowel from back to front)
present
past indicative past subjunctive
(ablaut)
(umlaut)
tragtrugtrüg- [y]
‘carry’
verlierverlorverlör- [ö]
‘lose’
kommkam‘come’
käm- [E]
sitzsasshave come
‘sit’
Zero derivation
No overt affix (a.k.a. “conversion”)
Zero derivation
Noun-verb pairs
the bite, to bite
the fall, to fall
the freeze, to freeze
the steal, to steal
the tread, to tread
the bridge, to bridge
the sample, to sample
the puncture, to puncture, etc.
Zero derivation
Nouns-verb compound pairs
the kickoff, to kick off
the show-off, to show off
the put-down, to put down
the push-over, to push over
the hang-up, to hang up
etc.
Relatively new verbs
to tanker ‘to carry freight by tanker’:
'Do they want to cut off all tankers or do we
just want to do our level best to make
tankering safe?‘
to office ‘to work in an office’(?):
‘Kinko’s---the new way to office’
to Sequim ‘to visit Sequim’:
'Thanks for Sequimming'
Relatively new verbs
to apple(s) and orange(s) ‘to compare unlike
objects, make an inappropriate comparison’:
‘You're apples and orangeing it.’
to bare hand ‘to catch with bare hands’:
'I wouldn't want to bare hand that one.'
(said of fly ball hit into stands)
General note on productivity:
Which binyanim a root appears in is largely
an idiosyncratic property of that root, and
meanings are not totally predictable.
On the other hand, neologisms and
loanwords are incorporated into this system.
General note on productivity:
I: possible for nearly all roots; semantically
unmarked
IX-XI: limited to verbs of color or bodily defect
XI-XV: rare
thus, ‘write’ actually appears in only 8 binyanim; the
other forms in this table are attested with other
triliteral roots
ASL kin terms
MALE
FEMALE
location
forehead
chin
MOTHER
GRANDMOTHER
NIECE
DAUGHTER
SISTER
FEMALE COUSIN
FATHER
GRANDFATHER
NEPHEW
SON
BROTHER
MALE COUSIN
ASL kin terms
MOTHER =
DAUGHTER =
location
PARENT
g
FEMALE
OFFSPRING
gG
FEMALE