Introduction to Word Structure
(continued)
1.
Grammatical
conditioning, Lexical conditioning, and Suppletion
A.
grammatical
conditioning is when the selection of a particular allomorph is determined by
a certain grammatical class--irregular verbs in English.
i.
see, saw, seen determined by the present, tense, past
tense, and the non-progressive participle (these are grammatical features).
B.
lexical
conditioning is when an irregular morph is used with a specific lexical item or
a small group of lexical items:
i.
e.g. the noun plural “-en”; it is
determined by child, ox, brother (in
the religious sense) (these are lexical items).
B.
There is so little
differentiation between grammatal and lexical conditioning that I won’t hold
the class responsible for this. However, I will hold the class responsible for
phonological contioning and lexical condition redefined.
C.
Lexical condioning:
if the form of a grammatical affix is determined by a special property of a
lexical item (irregular form), then the conditioning is called lexical conditing.
D.
Phonological
conditioning. If the conditioning factor is determined by phonological
contexts, then the allomorphic conidition is phonological.
i.
ditch, ditches (/ˆz/ is inserted between
two sibilants (see 2 below)
ii.
cat, cats /s/, /s/
assimilates the a preceding voiceless consonant.
iii.
bird, birds /z/,
this is the default form (see 2 below).
B.
Suppletion is when
two or more allomorphs are not phonologically related.
i.
go, went, gone
ii. Note: went is probably /wœn+t/. See later for
discussion verb inflection.
2.
Underlying
Representations
A.
This topic is very
controversial!
B.
Given a set of
allomorphs, is there one such allomorph such that all other can be derived from
it?
i.
“z” -> “ˆz” / [+Sibilant] ____.
ii.
“z” -> “s” /
[-Voice] ____.
B.
No one really
knows.
i.
Some just think they do.
B.
An alternative
solution
i.
set theory
(a).
a morpheme is a set
of allophones which share a common set of grammatical features.
(b).
One of these
allomorphs is selected by
(i). lexical
selection
(ii). phonological
selection
B.
The prefix {INneg} is a
case-in-point.
i.
speakers are not normally aware of
allophonic variants.
ii.
some evidence that
the phoneme might be an underlying form which the subparts are derived.
iii.
But how do speakers
of English process this information?
iv.
Really uncertain.
v.
The variations of
{IN-} — the rules for these differ from the normal rules of English.
(a).
in+operative,
in+ability, in+controllable, in+grate, in+justice, in+civility,
in+destructible, in+violable, in+tolerable, in+fertile, in+visible.
(b).
im+material,
im+pure,
(c).
il+logical
(d).
ir+regular
(i). The
assimilation pattern is not from English but borrowed from Latin.
ii.
There may be a
default form, but are the allomorphs derived direct from this form? No!
iii.
These forms may be
learned as is, but with an invisible logic that keeps this stuff straight.
iv.
Initial observation
here is to determine the pattern of {IN-}
2.
The Nature of
Morphemes.
A.
portmanteau (I):
bundle of grammatical features: [+Voice, -Cons].
B.
portmanteau (ii):
two or more syntagmatic grammatical morphs pushed into one morph. Fr: “au”
<- “a le”. /ø/ <- /a/ /l´/.
C.
/ø/ contains all
the features of ‘a’ (to) and ‘le’ (masculine singular definite article.
D.
empty or formative
morph
i.
must have a function.
B.
zero morph
(depending on the theory), perhaps a false notion, perhaps not.
i.
best dispense with trashing zero morphs
and leave the problem for advanced morphology.
ii. In set theory, zero morphs are allowable;
they are called an empty set,
written {}.(or º).
_
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Keywords -
L323.1
Keywords - L323.3
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This page last updated 26 JA 2004
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