Morphology An Introduction to the Structure of Words Lori Levin and Christian Monson Grammars and Lexicons Fall Term, 2004

Goals Introduction to morphology, the structure of words –look at one interesting morphological phenomenon—allomorphy To help you read linguistic texts –What meanings can pieces of words have

What is a Word? There are no spaces in spoken language Hewenttotownonhishorse

What is a word? Welsh without spaces between words. Examples from Sadler (1988) Welsh Syntax Canithsiôn John will sing. Canithmair Mary will sing. Gweloddsiônddamwain John saw the accident. Gweloddsiônyllyfr John saw the book. Darllenoddsiônyllyfr John read the book.

What is a word? a)Jánosénekel John sings b)Máriaénekel Mary sings c)Máriafut Mary runs Hungarian examples from Christian Monson.

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 Affixes –Prefix, suffix, infix Other changes –Changes in vowels or consonants, reduplication of part of the word, etc.

Example of Morphemes (Hungarian again) keresekI seek kereselyou seek kereshe/she/it seeks hiszekI believe hiszelyou believe hiszhe/she/it believes

Example of Morphemes (Hungarian again) keresekI seek kereselyou seek keresØhe/she/it seeks hiszekI believe hiszelyou believe hiszØhe/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… szәzәz accidentsbedsfaces booksbagsprizes lollipopscrabschurches mapsnamesbrushes giraffestoesjudges deathsfliesgarages ә = reduced vowel

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. Allomorphszәzәz Environment???

English Plural Cont. Identify the allomorph environments Generalize if possible –may require phonology—not covered in this class. Allomorphszәzәz Word-Final Phoneme t, k, p, f, th(voiceless) d, g, b, m, v, l, r, and vowels s, z, ch, sh, dj, ž

English Plural Cont. Identify the allomorph environments Generalize if possible –may require phonology—not covered in this class. Allomorphszәzәz Word-Final Phoneme t, k, p, f, th(voiceless) d, g, b, m, v, l, r, and vowels s, z, ch, sh, dj, ž Generalize???

English Plural Cont. Identify the allomorph environments Generalize if possible –may require phonology—not covered in this class. Allomorphszәzәz Word-Final Phoneme t, k, p, f, th(voiceless) d, g, b, m, v, l, r, and vowels s, z, ch, sh, dj, ž Generalize voiceless non-sibilant consonants voiced non-sibilant sounds sibilants

Morphemes and Allomorphs English plural morpheme Call it S This is something abstract that has different sounds in different contexts Allomorphs of the English plural morpheme –s –z –әz

An analogy from chemistry Is H 2 0 a solid, liquid, or gas? It depends on the conditions: temperature, pressure, etc. Is the English plural morpheme pronounced with an s, a z, or a ә? It depends on the preceding sound.

Allomorph Environments Each allomorph has a separate environment Environments are complementary –Wrong: s occurs after consonants –Because: z and әz 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

Complementary Distribution

All Sounds (consonants + vowels)

Complementary Distribution All Sounds (consonants + vowels) Consonants (b, d, f, g, k, l, m, …)

Complementary Distribution All Sounds (consonants + vowels) Consonants (b, d, f, g, k, l, m, …) Sibilants (s, z, sh, ch, dj, …)

Complementary Distribution All Sounds (consonants + vowels) Consonants (b, d, f, g, k, l, m, …) Sibilants (s, z, sh, ch, dj, …) Voiced (b, d, dg, g, l, m, …)

Complementary Distribution All Sounds (consonants + vowels) Consonants (b, d, f, g, k, l, m, …) Sibilants (s, z, sh, ch, dg, …) Voiced (b, d, dg, g, l, m, …) *z

Complementary Distribution All Sounds (consonants + vowels) Consonants (b, d, f, g, k, l, m, …) Sibilants (s, z, sh, ch, dg, …) Voiced (b, d, dg, g, l, m, …) *z s

Complementary Distribution All Sounds (consonants + vowels) Consonants (b, d, f, g, k, l, m, …) Sibilants (s, z, sh, ch, dg, …) Voiced (b, d, dg, g, l, m, …) z *z s

Allomorphy Example: Hungarian Present Tense 1sg hoz-okvár-okszűn-ökhisz-ek bring-1sgPreswait-1sgPrescease-1sgPresbelieve-1sgPres keres-ektud-okisz-okkér-ek seek-1sgPresknow-1sgPresdrink-1sgPresask-1sgPres mos-okvesz-ekad-okhív-ok wash-1sgPresbuy-1sgPresgive-1sgPrescall-1sgPres köt-öküt-ökfőz-öktart-ok tie-1sgPreshit-1sgPrescook-1sgPreshold-1sgPres

Allomorphy Example: Hungarian Present Tense 1sg okekök ad-okisz-okvesz-ekköt-ök give-1sgPresdrink-1sgPresbuy-1sgPrestie-1sgPres tart-okhív-okkeres-ekfőz-ök hold-1sgPrescall-1sgPresseek-1sgPrescook-1sgPres vár-okhoz-okkér-eküt-ök wait-1sgPresbring-1sgPresask-1sgPreshit-1sgPres tud-okmos-okhisz-ekszűn-ök know-1sgPreswash-1sgPresbelieve-1sgPrescease-1sgPres

Allomorphy Example: Hungarian Present Tense 1sg Allomorphokekök Environment???

Allomorphy Example: Hungarian Present Tense 1sg Allomorphokekök Stem Vowela, á, (i), í, o, ó, u, úe, é, (i)ö, ő, ü, ű

Allomorphy Example: Hungarian Present Tense 1sg Allomorphokekök Stem Vowela, á, (i), í, o, ó, u, úe, é, (i)ö, ő, ü, ű Generalized ???

Allomorphy Example: Hungarian Present Tense 1sg Allomorphokekök Stem Vowela, á, (i), í, o, ó, u, úe, é, (i)ö, ő, ü, ű Generalized backfrontfront-rounded

Allomorphy Example: Hungarian Present Tense 1sg Allomorphokekök Stem Vowela, á, (i), í, o, ó, u, úe, é, (i)ö, ő, ü, ű Generalized backfrontfront-rounded All Vowels

Allomorphy Example: Hungarian Present Tense 1sg Allomorphokekök Stem Vowela, á, (i), í, o, ó, u, úe, é, (i)ö, ő, ü, ű Generalized backfrontfront-rounded All Vowels Front Vowels

Allomorphy Example: Hungarian Present Tense 1sg Allomorphokekök Stem Vowela, á, (i), í, o, ó, u, úe, é, (i)ö, ő, ü, ű Generalized backfrontfront-rounded All Vowels Front Vowels Front Rounded Vowels

Allomorphy Example: Hungarian Present Tense 1sg Allomorphokekök Stem Vowela, á, (i), í, o, ó, u, úe, é, (i)ö, ő, ü, ű Generalized backfrontfront-rounded All Vowels Front Vowels Front Rounded Vowels

Allomorphy Example: Hungarian Present Tense 1sg Allomorphokekök Stem Vowela, á, (i), í, o, ó, u, úe, é, (i)ö, ő, ü, ű Generalized backfrontfront-rounded All Vowels Front Vowels Front Rounded Vowels

Allomorphy Example: Hungarian Present Tense 1sg Allomorphokekök Stem Vowela, á, (i), í, o, ó, u, úe, é, (i)ö, ő, ü, ű Generalized backfrontfront-rounded All Vowels Front Vowels Front Rounded Vowels

Stem Allomorphy Allomorphy can affect the stem as well as the affixes: Wolf/wolves Knife/knives Life/lives Leaf/leaves

Meanings of morphemes Inflectional morphemes: –Have something to do with grammar Agreement, tense, etc. –Generally do not change the part of speech or the meaning of the stem. Derivational morphemes: –May change part of speech or meaning. Happy (adj) happiness (noun) Construct (verb) construction (noun) Child (noun) childhood (different noun)

Inflection of Verbs Tense Aspect Mood Voice Causative Agreement

Three line example format Most of the linguistic examples you see in this class will be in a three-line format. Please use this format in your homework. Juan corría. Juan run-3 SG.IMP “Juan was running.” Los niños corrían. the. PL child- PL run-3. PL.IMP “The children were running.”

Three line example format Los niños corrían. The. PL child- PL run-3. PL.IMP “The children were running.” Sentence in the original language. Interlinear gloss. Fluent translation or explanation of the meaning.

Rules for glossing

Rules for glossing Each meaning is identified separately: – the, child, run – plural, 3rd person, imperfective A dash means that there is a morpheme boundary. – niño + s = niños –The morpheme boundary may appear in the original language and the gloss, or just in the gloss. A dot means that two or more meanings are carried by one morpheme: –ían carries three meanings Third person subject Plural subject Imperfective mood The main meaning of the word is in regular font. The meanings of other morphemes are in small caps. Meanings of morphemes are usually abbreviated. –The author might include a list of abbreviations. –The author might expect the abbreviations to be obvious.

Agreement

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