Intro duction - Doreen Georgi fileIntro duction to Syntax Octob er 15, 2015 3 / 67. A rief b intro...

Introdu tion to Syntax

2. Basi morphology: Morphemes and morphosynta ti features

Doreen Georgi

ENS, Paris

O tober 15, 2015

Doreen Georgi (ENS, Paris) Introdu tion to Syntax O tober 15, 2015 1 / 67

Goals

learn more about the internal stru ture of words (and hen e also about the

basi building blo ks of syntax)

motivate morphosynta ti features

introdu e important morphologi al terminology


Outline

1 A brief introdu tion to morphology

Words ome in ategories

Words are not atomi : morphemes

Types of morphemes

Morphosynta ti features

Exponen e

Morphemes as feature bundles

Morphologi al analysis


A brief introdu tion to morphology

What is morphology

starting point: senten es are built up from words

observation: words are a tually not the smallest units, they have internal

stru ture; words onsits of morphemes whi h in turn an be hara terized

as sets of features.

Morphology: the subdis ipline of linguisti s that deals with the internal

stru ture of omplex words as well as with the rules and prin iples that

govern the generation of words out of smaller units

These prin iples are indeed very similar to what we will en ounter in syntax.

Although we have a ommon-sense idea of what a word is, it is surprisingly

di� ult to hara terize it pre isely.

We may not need the notion of �word� anyway; the notions morpheme and

morphosynta ti features are su� ient.


A brief introdu tion to morphology Words ome in ategories

Introdu tion

there are di�erent types of words: nouns, verbs, adje tives, et .

When linguists talk about the above mentioned types, they say that words

belong to di�erent ategories.

eviden e for the distin tion:

semanti s of the elements (traditional riterion)

distribution/behaviour of the elements in the lause



Open vs. losed lass ategories

Open lass ategories:

have a large number of members

new words an be reated rather freely in these ategories

examples:

noun [N℄: table, a tion, évènement, paix

verb [V℄: ourir, arriver, rire, penser, faire

adje tive [A℄: grand, jaune, intelligent, légal

adverb [Adv℄: lentement, normalement, souvent, hier



Open vs. losed lass ategories

Closed lass ategories:

have a limited number of members that speakers an enumerate

new members annot (easily) be reated in these ategories

examples:

preposition [P℄: à, de, hez, sur, pour, ave

determiner [D℄: le/la/les, un/une/des, e/ ette/ es, haque, quelques,

numeral [Num℄: un, deux, trois, quatre, ...

omplementizer [C℄: que (that), si (if), par e que, omme, bien que

onjun tion/ oordinator [Conj/Coord℄: et, ou, mais

auxiliaries [Aux℄: avoir, être, (some instan es of do in English)

modals [M, VMod ℄: pouvoir, devoir, will/would, an/ ould, may/might,

shall/should

negation [Neg℄: no, not, non, ne ... pas

⊲ This division is rather oarse grained, it will need to be re�ned in some ases

(sub ategories of ategories).



Category distin tions

Semanti riteria:

nouns refer to persons/obje ts, verbs to a tions, adje tives to qualities et .

while by and large true, this is too simple and hen e not a reliable test:

(1) a. raison → not a person or an obje t, abstra t on ept

b. Bill's betrayal of his friend → noun refers to an a tion

. that, à → meaning??




A more reliable test:

A ategory is a set of expressions that all behave in the same way in the

language.

⇒ distribution in the lause

⇒ in�e tion (variation in form depending on the synta ti ontext)

⇒ modi� ation

⇒ omplementary distribution

(to a ertain extent the riteria are language-spe i� )




In�e tional eviden e:

Verbs agree with the subje t of the lause, but e.g. omplementizers,

prepositions do not (in Fren h or English).

Nouns/pronouns an be pluralized (travail/travaux, book/books), but e.g.

prepositions or adverbs annot.

Tense is expressed on verbs (dans-ed), but other elements annot be

ombined with tense markers.

Distributional eviden e (possibility to o ur in ertain frames):

This is my most book. → ok: interesting, re ent; *John, slept, arefully

the is here → ok: book, at, milk; *big, grow, very, from

When will John ? → ok: arrive, leave; *red, books, badly, above




Note

Sometimes a test returns a negative result, but this does not ne essarily falsify

your hypothesis about the ategory of the word (e.g.: *This is my most alleged

book.). There might always be independent reasons for why a test fails. Still,

other test may lead to the expe ted result. ⇒ Do as many tests as possible!




Modi� ation:

Words of a ertain ategory an only be modi�ed by ertain elements

A word that modi�es a verb is an adverb.

A word that modi�es a noun is an adje tive.

A word that modi�es an adje tive/adverb is a degree expression: very

sad(ly), too sad, more sad(ly)




Complementary distribution:

Words that have the same ategory are in omplementary distribution.

Complementary ditsribution

Two elements are in omplementary distribution if they an o ur in the same

ontext but, ru ially, they annot o-o ur, i.e. if one appears, the other annot.

De�nite arti les and demonstrative pronouns are of the same ategory (and

of a di�erent ategiory than e.g. adje tives). Eviden e:

(2) a. books / livres

b. the books; les livres

. these books; es livres

d.*the these books; *les es livres

e. the/these old books; les/ es vieux livres


A brief introdu tion to morphology Words are not atomi : morphemes

Outline




Types of morphemes


Exponen e





Complex words

Intuitively, the words in (1) are simple words; they annot in any obvious

way be broken down into smaller (meaningful) units.

The words in two are omplex; they are ombined of what seem to be simple

words

(3) simple words:

a. table

b. joy

. bottle

d. with

e. go

(4) omplex words:

a. babysit

b. kit hen towel ra k

. writer lub address list

d. ouvre-bouteille

e. hau�e-eau



Complex words

Words an also be omplex even though the not ea h of the individual parts

would be alled a word, but still ontributes meaning to the whole word:

1. Every lause of the form Y is X-able roughly has the meaning �It is possible

to X/one an X Y.�, see (5). -able has a �x form and meaning

(5) Y is drink-able ; One an drink Y.

Y is solv-able ; One an solve Y.

Y is hear-able ; One an hear Y.

Y is eat-able ; One an eat Y.

2. In (6), the 2nd part has an even more abstra t meaning, a so- alled

grammati al meaning.

(6) a. books → book-s

b. boats → boat-s

. raining → rain-ing

d. drinking → drink-ing

e. assignment → assign-ment

f. establishment → establish-ment



Morphemes

The smallest units of morphology, the units of whi h words are built, are alled

morphemes:

De�nition of morpheme

A morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit of a language, i.e. a unit with a

ertain phonologi al shape that orresponds to a �x (lexi al or grammati al)

meaning.



Morphemes

On the notion of meaning in the de�nition of morpheme:

1 lexi al meaning ( ontent features, refers to something in the world)

2 grammati al meaning (formal features, marks a grammati al ategory, e.g.

the plural -s on nouns in English).



Morphemes

Words an also be broken down into other units, e.g. into syllables or the

individual sounds of whi h they onsist, see (7) for segmentations of table:

(7) a. te�.b@l

b. t + e + � + b + @ + l

These units might also be �useful� in linguisti s (→ phonology) but they are not

morphemes sin e they do not have a meaning on their own.

Note: Usually simple sounds do not have a meaning, but sometimes a morpheme

an indeed onsist of just a single sound (see Fren h ÷ufs, English a)



Morphemes

Side note:

Although sounds do not have a meaning, they an distinguish meanings:

(8) Sounds that distinguish meanings in Fren h:

a. vont [v�O℄

b. font [f�O℄

. bon [b�O℄

d. son [s�O℄

This separation of units into those that have meaning (morphemes) and

those that distinguish meanings but do not bear meaning (phonemes) is one

of the entral properties of human language. It is alled double arti ulation

(Martinet 1960).



Morphemes

The orresponden e between the phonologi al shape of a morpheme and its

meaning is arbitrary (de Saussure 1916), i.e. it is a oin iden e, a histori al

�a ident�.

The same on ept is expressed through the sequen e of sounds [aKbK℄ in

Fren h, [tôi:℄ in English and [baUm℄ in German.

The relation between form and meaning is not ne essarily a one-to-one

mapping:

1 Homophony: same sequen e of sounds, di�erent meaning

Fr: dans / d'en / dent

Fr: pris / prix

2 Synonymy: di�erent sequen e of sounds but same meaning

Engl: lift / elevator



Morphemes

(9) Synonymy:

meaning X

/aba/

/bab/

/gom/

(10) Homophony:

/aba/

meaning 1

meaning 2

meaning 3


A brief introdu tion to morphology Types of morphemes

Outline




Types of morphemes


Exponen e





Types of morphemes

Morphemes an be distinguished by the position they o upy relative to a base.

stem: a morpheme to whi h another morpheme atta hes

(11) a. nation-al

b. lis-ible

simple stem: onsists of a single morpheme

omplex stem: the stem onsists of several morphemes

(12) a. nation-al-ité

b. lis+ible+ité = lisibil-ité

A simple stem is also alled a root.



The dire tion of atta hment

Question: How do we know that morpheme X atta hes to morpheme Y?

Couldn't it just be the other way around?

Answer: X atta hes to Y (but not vi e-versa), if Y an o ur alone in the

lause, i.e. without an element of ategory X, but X annot o ur without

(an element of the ategory) Y.



Bound vs. free morphemes

Given this asymmetry, we distinguish between

1 bound morphemes and

2 free morphemes

A morpheme M is free if M an o ur in a lause without the need to

ombine with another morpheme.

A morpheme M is bound if M is not free.

Example: national : -al is bound, nation is free.



Bound roots

Usually, bound morphemes are a�xes and free morphemes are roots/stems. But

there are also languages in whi h roots are bound morphemes.

Example 1 (Spanish):

habl-ar �speak� viv-ir �live�

habl-o �I speak� viv-o �I live�

habl-as �You speak� viv-es �You live�

habl-ábamos �We spoke� viv-íamos �We lived�

habl-aríamos �We would speak� viv-iríamos �We would live�

habl-a �Speak!� viv-e �Live!�

*habl- *viv-

Example 2 (Ojibwa; Algonquian, USA/Canada):

(13) nidoon �my mouth� nigwis �my son�

gidoon �your mouth� gigwis �your son�

*-doon �mouth� *-gwis �son�



A�xes

Morphemes that atta h to a stem are alled a�xes. There are di�erent types of

a�xes:

1 pre�xes: pre ede the stem

2 su�xes: follow the stem

3 in�xes: are �inside� the root, they split the root up

4 ir um�xes: embra e the stem (simultaneous pre�xation + su�xation)



A�xes

Su�xes:

(14) English:

a. -ity : profan-ity, omplex-ity, brev-ity

b. -er : kill-er, dry-er, driv-er

Pre�xes:

(15) English:

a. ir -: ir-relevant, ir-regular

b. de-: de-hydrate, de-nationalize

Exer ise

Provide examples for pre�xes and su�xes in Fren h!



A�xes

Cir um�xes in Chi kasaw (Muskogean, North Ameri a): negation

(16) a. hokm-a,

�he is good�

ik- hokm-o

�he is not good�

b. lakn-a,

�it is yellow�

ik-lakn-o

�it is not yellow�

In�xes in Tagalog (Austronesian, Philippines): past tense is expressed by an in�x

(17) a. sulat,

�write�,

s-um-ulat

�the one who wrote�

b. gradwet,

��nish�

gr-um-adwet

�the one who �nished�


A brief introdu tion to morphology Morphosynta ti features

Outline




Types of morphemes


Exponen e





In�e tional features

Morphemes an have a grammati al meaning. What exa tly does that

mean?

Answer: Morphemes express morphosynta ti features. These features play

a entral role in in�e tion, i.e. the modi� ation of a word su h that it �ts

into the synta ti environment it o urs in.

We an distinguish between

1 nominal in�e tion (de lension)

number

person

gender

ase

2 verbal in�e tion ( onjugation)

tense

aspe t

mode

voi e

. . .



Number

In the languages of the world one an �nd the following numbers:

singular (referen e to a single entity)

plural (referen e to more than one / to everything else but a single entity?)

dual (referen e to exa tly two entities)

trial (referen e to exa tly three entities)

pau al (referen e to a small group of entities)

minimal vs. augmented systems (similar to singular/plural opposition but

with di�eren es in the treatment of 1st person in lusive)

Note: Pau al and trial o ur mainly in Austronesian languages;

minimal-augmented systems an be found in Australian languages.



Person

three persons in the languages of the world: 1st, 2nd, 3rd person

Meaning of person:

1st: refers to the speaker

2nd: refers to the addressee

3rd: refers to individuals that are neither the speaker nor the addressee

Note: 1st and 2nd person are frequently referred to as spee h a t

parti ipants (SAP) or lo al persons

Nouns are always 3rd person, only pronouns an be 1st or 2nd person.



Person

Person marking in Italian (regular verbs in -are, indi ative, present, singular),

e.g. antare `to sing'

(18)

io ant-o `I sing'

tu ant-i `you sing'

lui/lei ant-a `s/he sings'

Person marking in Yavapai (Yuman, intransitive verb)

(19)

1st P- / Ø-

2nd m-

3rd Ø-



Person

Some languages distinguish morphologi ally between two forsm of the 1st

person plural (�we�)

1 ex lusive

2 in lusive

1 ex lusive: �I and some others, but not you without the addressee

2 in lusive = �I and you (and some others)� in luding the addressee

Example: Walmajarri (Pama-Nyungan, Australia)

(20)

dual plural

1st ex l. ngayarra nganimpa

1st in l. ngaliyarra ngalimpa



Gender

In many languages nouns have a feature alled gender.

There is a ru ial distin tion between a morpho-synta ti and a semanti

variant of gender

Terminology:

The relevant morphosynta ti feature is alled gender (feminine,

mas uline, neuter).

The relevant feature in the semanti s is alled natural gender or sex

(female, male, neuter).

Gender and sex often diverge:

(21) a. la table vs. la �lle

b. die Frau (the woman, f.) vs. der Dra he (the dragon)



Gender

Indo-European languages usually have only two or three genders

1 feminine

2 mas uline

3 neuter

Not all languages have gender distin tions for nouns (e.g. English - but it

does have them in pronouns!).

Some languages have a lot more than 3 genders: in the Niger-Congo family,

there are languages whi h are laimed to have about 25 di�erent genders

(e.g. Fula)



Gender

Very often gender annot be dete ted by looking at the noun � there is no

spe ial gender marking or no one-to-one- orresponden e between a marker

and a gender.

(22) Latin: -us often orreponds to mas . gender, but not ne essarily

a. asinus (mas .) � donkey

b. dominus (mas .) � master

. domus (fem.) � house

(23) Italian: -a usually orresponds to feminine gender, but not always

a. amera (fem.) � room

b. porta (fem.) � door

. problema (mas .) � problem

⇒ Gender on nouns is (at least to a ertain degree) arbitrary, it must be

stored with the noun in the mental lexi on



Gender

Usually, the gender of a noun only be omes visible on other elements that

agree with the noun in gender (adje tives, arti les).

(24) Gender in Latin:

a. magn-us [mas ℄ asinus �big donkey�

*magn-a [fem℄ asinus

b. *magn-us [mas ℄ domus �big house�

magn-a [fem℄ domus

(25) Gender in Italian:

a. la [fem℄ amera �the room�

*il [mas ℄ amera

b. *la [fem℄ problema �the problem�

il [mas ℄ problema

(26) Gender in Fren h:

a. la vieille haise �the old hair�

*le vieux haise

b. *la vielle fauteuil �the old arm hair �

le vieux fauteuil



Phi-features

Person, number and gender form a group that is alled φ-features (phi).

They have a spe ial status as they are prominently involved in agreement.

(27) Gender agreement in Russian

past tense:

`read' mas . fem. neut.

sg £ita-l £ita-l-a £ita-l-o

pl £ita-l-i £ita-l-i £ita-l-i

(28) Gender (and number) agreement

in Standard Arabi :

a. Al-'awlaaduu

art-boy.mas .pl

qadim-uu

ame-mas .pl

`The boys ame.'

b. Al-bintaani

art-girls.fem.du

qadim-ataa

ame-fem.du

`The two girsl ame.'

.*Al-'awlaaduu

art-boy.mas .pl

qadim-ataa

kam-fem.du

`The boys ame.'

d.*Al-bintaani

art-girls.fem.dl

qadim-uu

ame-mas .pl

`The two girsl ame.'



Phi-features

Exer ise

Whi h φ-features are involved in Fren h subje t-verb-agreement (present tense,

indi ative, a tive)? Give examples to illustrate this.

(29) Conjugation of her her :

1st sg je her he

/SEKS/2nd sg tu her hes

3rd sg il her he

1st pl nous her hons /SEKS�O/

2nd pl vous her hez /SEKSe/

3rd pl ils her hent /SEKS/

(30) a. Paul her he /SEKS/.

b. Marie her he /SEKS/.

. Nous, Paul et Ja ques,

her hons /SEKS�O/.

d. Nous, Claire et Marie,

her hons /SEKS�O/.

⇒ person and number, not gender



Case

Case is a grammati al tool used mainly to identify the grammati al fun tion of an

element (subje t vs. obje t)

(Note: This is not totally a urate as we will see, but as a �rst approximation this

working hypothesis is su� ient.)

(31) Case in English

a. He saw me.

b. I saw him.

. I gave him a book.

d. I gave him to Mary.

e. my book

f. his/her/its book

g. the girl's book

Nominative/a usative are only

distinguished in pronouns, not in full

nouns. The prenominal genitive (Saxon

genitive) is expressed on nouns and

pronouns.



Case

Other languages like e.g. Latin and Russian have ase markers on nouns:

(32) Case on nouns in Latin:

a. Puer

boy.nom

homin-em

man-a

vidit.

saw

`The boy saw the man.'

b. Puer-um

boy-a

homo

man.nom

vidit.

sah

`Der Mann sah den Jungen.'

Latin distinguishes 6 ases: nominative, a usative, dative, genitive,

ablative, vo ative.

There are languages that have even more distin tions (Urali languages, for

example, tend to have more than 10 di�erent ases).

Exer ise

What about Case in Fren h? How many ases an be distinguished and whi h

elements show ase marking?



Tense

Tense marks when an event happened with respe t to the time of utteran e.

Three tenses:

1 present (at the time of utteran e)

2 past (before the time of utteran e)

3 future (after the time of utteran e)

Tense in Fren h:

je vais � j'allais � j'irai

En oding of tense:

syntheti : in a �single word�

Fren h: see ex. above, distinguished by the stem form and the endings

analyti /periphrasti : en oded by the ombination of an in�e ted

auxiliary (have, be) + a non-�nite form of the main verb

analyti future in Fren h: je vais aller

also: present/past perfe t, future perfe t, ...



Aspe t

Aspe t allows for more �ne-grained distin tions wrt. the internal temporal

stru ture of events and a tions (in the same tense)

a prominent distin tion in the languages of the world

1 perfe tive: a bounded, unitary event, a ompleted a tion

2 imperfe tive: ontinuous or repetitive events, a tions that are not

omplete

Fren h: j'ai fait vs. je faisais

(33) Perfe tive/imperfe tive in Cze h:

imperfe tive perfe tive meaning

psát na-psat �to write�

d¥kovat po-d¥kovat �to thank�

vítat p°i-vítat �to re eive�

jíst s-níst �to eat�

volat za-volat �to all�



Other features / oppositions

polarity (a�rmative vs. negative)

voi e / diathesis (a tive, passive, antipassive, middle)

de�niteness (de�nite, inde�nite, spe i� , non-spe i� )

anima y (human, animate, inanimate)

...


A brief introdu tion to morphology Exponen e

Outline




Types of morphemes


Exponen e





Exponents

The phonologi al realization (shape) of a morphosynta ti feature X is

alled the exponent of X.

There are three types of exponents.

If an exponent expresses exa tly one feature, it is alled a simple exponent.

Example: The past tense forms of (regular) verbs in English is always -ed

(/d/); this morpheme doesn't express anything else su h as person or

number

(34) singular plural

1st wait-ed wait-ed

2nd wait-ed wait-ed

3rd wait-ed wait-ed



Exponents

If a morpheme expresses more than one morphosynta ti feature, the

exponent is alled a umulative exponent.

Example 1: The su�x -o in verb forms of Latin expresses the features 1st

person, singular, indi ative, present, a tive, see (35-a).

(35) a. ant-o

sing-1sg.ind.pres.a t

�I sing.�

b. ant-as

sing-2sg.ind.pres.a t

�You sing.�

. ant-at

sing-3sg.ind.pres.akt

�He sings.�

d. ant-amus

sing-1pl.ind.pres.a t

�We sing.�

e. ant-abam

sing-1sg.ind.pst.a t

�I sang.�

f. ant-em

sing-1sg. ond.pres.a t

�I would sing.�



Exponents

Example 2: In Cherokee (Iroquoian, USA) verbal pre�xes indi ate features of

the subje t and the obje t of the verb (wrt. anima y, person, number).

A single pre�x an express both subje t and obje t properties simultaneously.

(36) a. ski-, skw- 2sg.subj/1.sg.obj

b. sti:- 2du.subj/3.sg.inanim.obj

. ka i:y- 1sg.subj/3pl.anim.obj

d. i:y- 1sg.subj/3sg.anim.obj

(37) a. sv:kthv

apple

ka i:-

1sg.subj/3pl.anim.obj

ne:lv:Pi

give.perf

�I gave them an apple.�

b. i:-

1sg.subj/3sg.anim.obj.

ko:wthiha

see.pres

�I see him.�



Exponents

If a single morphosynta ti feature is realized by more than one exponent,

this is a ase of extended exponen e.

Example 1: An ient Greek. In (38-b) the perfe t is expressed by

1 the long vowel vowel in the stem (-ly- vs. -lý-)

2 redupli ation of parts of the stem (le-)

3 the in�x -k-

(38) a. -ly- �solve�

b. e-le-lý-k-ete �You solved.�



Exponents

Example 2: In Swahili, negative forms of the past tense are expressed by the

pre�x ha- (negation) and the marker -ku- (past in the ontext of negation)

(li- = Pst., tu- = 1st person plural).

(39) a. tu-li-taka �We wanted.�

b. ha-tu-ku-taka �We didn't want.�

Example 3: Latin. In (40) the perfe t is expressed by extended exponen e as

well as by umulative exponen e:

1 perfe tive stem (rex- instead of reg-)

2 a su�x that expresses

1 perfe tive as well as

2 person, number, mode and voi e

(40) a. reg-es �You reign.�

b. reg-ent �They reign.�

. rex-isti �You reigned.�

d. rex-erunt �They reigned.�



Portmanteau morphemes

A notion that is losely related to umulative exponen e is the term

portmanteau morpheme (introdu ed by Ho kett 1947).

A portmanteau also expresses several morphosynta ti features.

However � traditionally at least � it has been assumed that a morpheme is a

portmanteau only if the features involved are expressed by separate

morphemes in other ontexts.

Example: Fren h de�nite arti les and prepositions

(41) a. à la plage �at tge bea h�

b. de la plage �from the bea h�

(42) a. *a le mar hé �at the market�

b. au mar hé

. *de le mar hé �from the market�

d. du mar hé


A brief introdu tion to morphology Morphemes as feature bundles

Morphemes as bundles of features

A morpheme M an be hara terised as a set of three types of features:

phonologi al features P (determine how the morpheme is pronoun ed)

semanti features S (determine the meaning of the morpheme)

morphosynta ti features MS (determine morphosynta ti properties, e.g.

the distribution in the word/ lause)

⇒ M { P / S / MS },This information is stored in the mental lexi on.


A brief introdu tion to morphology Morphologi al analysis

Outline




Types of morphemes


Exponen e






Morphologi al analysis � step 1: segmentation of words into morphemes

A few remarks / hints:

1 A onstant string of sounds that has the same meaning in all its o urren es

onstitutes a morpheme.

(43) Superlatives in Spanish:

bueno (�good�)

buen-ísimo (�very good�)

ri o (�deli ious�)

riqu-ísimo (�very deli ious�)

útil (�useful�)

util-ísimo (�very useful�)

⇒ ísimo is a morpheme




2. allomorphy: If two exponents (a) have the same meaning, but (b) a di�erent

phonologi al shape, and (iii) are in omplementary distribution, they are

allomorphs of the same morpheme.

Re all : omplementary distribution means that they o ur in di�erent

ontexts (di�erent e.g. in terms of phonologi al, semanti or lexi al features)

(44) Allomorphy in the English plural:

a. house- s

b. �sh-Ø

. ox-en

⇒ -s, -Ø and -en all mean [plural℄ but have di�erent phonologi al shapes;

they are in omplementarydistribution (*house-en, *�sh-es, *ox-en-s, et )

⇒ they are allomorphs of the plural morpheme

⇒ ontexts: lexi ally distinguished, i.e. the hoi e depends on the on rete

noun (stored in the mental lexi on, probably not predi table on independent

grounds)




(45) Allomorphy in Kujamaat Jóola (Niger-Congo)

Verbs fall into di�erent lasses. The lasses are indi ated by verbal pre�xes.

Criterion for lass membership: the number of syllables of the stem

monosyllabi stems: lass-3-pre�x E-

polysyllabi stems: lass-7-pre�x ka-

(46) lass 3, E-

E-ga �throw�

E-is �show�

(47) lass 7, ka-

ka-tundo �keep omatose�

k@-ti¯k@r �be without�

If a monosyllabi stem be omes polysyllabi through a�xation, the verb

swit hes to lass 7.

(48) a. e-yem (�be red�)

b. -En ( ausative a�x)

. k@-yem-en, *e-yem-en (�redden / ause to be ome red�)




3. A feature an be expressed by a phonologi ally zero exponent, a so- alled

zero morpheme Ø.

Common assumption: A zero morpheme for a feature M an be postulated

if M has an overt, i.e. a non-zero realization in a di�erent ontext in the

same language.

(49) English number:

sg pl

house house-s

�sh �sh-Ø

sheep sheep-Ø

(50) German ase exponents on nouns (Grund `reason'):

nominative: Grund-Ø

a usative: Grund-Ø

genitive: Grund-es

dative: Grund(-e)




4. Morphemes an be non-segmental.

A morpheme is segmental if it an be represented by a ontinuous string of

sounds.

Non-segmental: The morpheme onsists (also) of exponents that are

subsegmental, i.e. smaller than a segment (a sound).

Example: irregular past and past parti iple forms in English with hanges in

quality of the stem vowel (ablaut)

(51) a. sing � sang � sung

b. run � ran � run

. bring � brought � brought

Possible analysis: There is a zero allomorph of the past su�x (-ed) that

arries a feature that is shifted to the stem (a �oating feature) where it

triggers a phonologi al pro ess, resulting in ablaut.



Some languages express a morphologi al distin tion by the reversal of two

sounds = metathesis

(52) Mutsun (Penutian,

USA) a. [to:her℄ �the ough� [tohre℄ �to ough�

b. [lullup℄ �the �ute� [lulpu℄ �to play the �ute�

. [posol℄ �a stew� [poslo-℄ �prepare a stew�

d. [la:lak℄ �goose� [lalka-℄ �to herd geese�

In other languages morphologi al distin tions are expressed by the removal

of sounds = subtra tive morphology

(53) Imperfe tive and perfe tive in Tohono O'odham (Uto-Azte an, USA)

Imperf Perf

Sg Pl Sg Pl

him �running� hihim hi: �run� hihi

hi:nk �barking� hihink hi:n �barked� hihin

gatwid �shooting� gagtwid gatwi �shot� gagtwi

'elpig �peeling� 'e'elpig 'elpi �peeled� 'e'elpi

hehem �laughing� hehem hehe �laughed� hehe



Subtra tive morphology in Fren h?

If subtra tive morphology seems �exoti � to you, look at the gender alternation of

Fren h adje tives in (54):

(54)

mas uline feminine

gros [gKo℄ grosse [gKos℄

mauvais [movE℄ mauvaise [movEz℄

heureux [øKø℄ heureuse [øKøz℄

petit [p@ti℄ petite [p@tit℄

grand [gK�A℄ grande [gK�Ad℄

froid [fKwa℄ froide [fKwad℄

soûl [su℄ soûle [sul℄

bon [bõ℄ bonne [bOn℄

frais [fKE℄ fraî� he [fKES℄

long [lõ℄ longue [lõg℄

permier [pK÷mje℄ première [pK÷mjEK℄

entier [�Atje℄ entière [�AtjEK℄

gentil [Z�Ati℄ gentille [Z�Atij℄

net [nEt℄ nette [nEt℄



Segmentation

Another strategy to express morphosynta ti features is redupli ation =

opying of stem material + a�xation of this material to the stem

full redupli ation: a whole morpheme/word is opied

(55) Warlpiri (Pama-Nyungan, Australia)

Sg Pl

kurdu kurdu-kurdu � hildren�

kamina kamina-kamina �girls�

mardukuja mardukuja-mardukuja �women�

partial redupli ation: a part of a morpheme/word is opied

(56) Ilokano (Austronesian, Philippines)

Sg Pl

kaldiN kal-kaldiN �geese�

púsa pus-púsa � ats�

kláse klas-kláse � lasses�

róPot ro:-róPot �rubbish(Pl.)�

talon tal-talon ��elds�



Segmentation: Inuktitut (Eskimo-Aleut, Greenland)

(57) igluga �my house�

iglumi �in a house�

igluNa �her house�

iglutut �like a house �

uiga �my husband�

uitut �like a husband�

uiNa �her husband�

tupiqtut �like a tent�

nunaga �my ountry�

paniktut �like a daughter�

qukiutiga �my gun�

aggagtut �like a dog�

iglurjuaq `big house�

umiarjuag �big boat�

umialik �someone with a boat�

uilik �someone with a man�

umilik �someone with a beard�



Segmentation: Inuktitut (Eskimo-Aleut, Greenland)

Note: The inde�nite arti le is not present in the Inuktitut data in (57), it is

in luded in the English translation to make them grammati al!

The �rst 4 lines express the meaning �house�. The onstant string of sounds

that all four examples share is iglu ⇒ iglu means �house�

Now you an subtra t iglu from the omplex words.

Examples:

igluga �my house� → ga means �my�

iglumi �in a house� → mi means �in� et .

Now you an subtra t the new morphemes ga and mi from other words to

dis over new morphemes.

Example:

uiga �my husband� → ui means �husband�

et .



Summary: important terminology

morphology

open vs. lose lass ategories

eviden e for di�erent ategories (noun, verb, et .)

omplementary distribution

morpheme

allomorph

types of morphemes (root, stem, a�x, types of a�xes, zero morphemes,

bound vs. free morphemes)

morphosynta ti features

exponen e / types of exponents (simple, umulative, extended;

portmanteaux)


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