Morphology
Class 8
Templates
FS 2014
Rik van Gijn
Structures I: Templates
You will learn
√ What a template is
√ About different types of templates in linguistics
√ About factors interacting with templatic positions of morphemes
√ About linear and hierarchical relations within a template
Goal of this class
Structures I: Templates
What is a template?
An abstract specification of the linear arrangement of subconstituents
of some larger constituent (what goes where?), [independent of specific
semantic, syntactic, or phonlogical considerations.]
Templates
A template has slots or positions,
where (groups of) subconstituents can
be positioned.
The basic principle of a slot is that the subconstituents that can go in
that slot cannot occur at the same time, they are in paradigmatic
opposition to each other.
Structures I: Templates
Syllable templates
CV
CVC
CCVC
CVVC
...
For each element in the template there may be constraints.
Examples of templates in linguistics
Structures I: Templates
Word order in syntax
Categories for transitive clause A (subject), V (verb), P (object)
(Alternative S (subject), V, O (object))
Language-specific templates
AVP / SVO
VAP / VSO
PAV / OSV
APV / SOV
VPA / VOS
PVA / OVS
Examples of templates in linguistics
Structures I: Templates
What about morphology?
Morpheme slots of a grammatical word of a particular class
prefix slots root slot(s) suffix slots
Examples of templates in linguistics
-4
e.g. a verbal template in Fictivese
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
Structures I: Templates
What about morphology?
Morpheme slots of a grammatical word of a particular class
prefix slots root slot(s) suffix slots
Examples of templates in linguistics
-4
e.g. a verbal template in Fictivese
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
root (V)
Aspect
Valency
Subject agreement
Mood Intensity Tense
Object agreement
Structures I: Templates
A template is a linear statement, but many of the templates in
linguistics can be contrasted with a hierarchical structure.
Templates and hierarchy
clause
A VP
V P
syllable
onset rhyme
nucleus coda
V
clause
A VP
P
A
clause
VP
V P
A
clause
VP
P V
In principle the linear and
hierarchical structures are
independent from each
other, as can be seen in
the syntactic templates
CC V C
Structures I: Templates
Hierarchy in morphology
Morphologists usually do not consider complex words to be just a linear
string of morphemes. A comparison to the structure of an onion is often
made.
Structures I: Templates
Hierarchy in morphology
Morphologists usually do not consider complex words to be just a linear
string of morphemes. A comparison to the structure of an onion is often
made.
un happy ness + +
Linear analysis
Structures I: Templates
Hierarchy in morphology
Morphologists usually do not consider complex words to be just a linear
string of morphemes. A comparison to the structure of an onion is often
made.
un happy ness + +
Selection restriction un- attaches to adjectives (and some verbs)
Selection restriction ness- attaches to adjectives
A linear analysis potentially ignores certain generalizations, such as
selection restrictions of affixes.
Structures I: Templates
Hierarchy in morphology
Morphologists usually do not consider complex words to be just a linear
string of morphemes. A comparison to the structure of an onion is often
made.
un happy ness
Lieber, Rochelle (2009) Introducing morphology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 37
Structures I: Templates
Hierarchy in morphology
These kinds of non-linear relations are hierarchical in nature,
un happy ness
Lieber, Rochelle (2009) Introducing morphology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 37
Structures I: Templates
Hierarchy in morphology
These kinds of non-linear relations are hierarchical in nature,
un happy ness
A
A
N
Lieber, Rochelle (2009) Introducing morphology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 37
Structures I: Templates
Hierarchy in morphology
These kinds of non-linear relations are hierarchical in nature,
un happy ness
A
A
N
Morphological head
Lieber, Rochelle (2009) Introducing morphology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 37
Structures I: Templates
Hierarchy in morphology
These kinds of non-linear relations are hierarchical in nature,
hond je
N[non-neut]
N[neut]
Morphological head
Structures I: Templates
Bracketing paradoxes
Scope
un do able
Haspelmath, Martin & Andrea Simms (2010) Understanding morphology. London: Hodder, 145
V
V
A
un do able
A
V
A
which cannot be undone which cannot be done
Structures I: Templates
Category-changing morphology causes a switch between templates
Examples of templates in linguistics
-4
e.g. a verbal template in Fictivese
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
e.g. a nominal template in Fictivese
-2 -1 0 1 2
root (N) Possessor
agreement number
case
evaluation
Structures I: Templates
Category-changing morphology causes a switch between templatic
possibilities
Examples of templates in linguistics
-4
e.g. a verbal template in Fictivese
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3
e.g. a nominal template in Fictivese
-2 -1 0 1 2
Possessor agreement
number
case
evaluation
NLZ ni-ya-pe-li go-fut-ag.nlz-dir ‘to the one who will go.’
Structures I: Templates
Factors in shaping affix ordering principles
Just as not every logically possible syntactic order is encountered with
equal frequency, there are certain tendencies in morphological
templates cross-linguistically
Matthew S. Dryer. 2013. Order of Subject, Object and Verb. In: Dryer, Matthew S. & Haspelmath, Martin (eds.) The World Atlas of Language Structures Online. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. (Available online at http://wals.info/chapter/81, Accessed on 2014-04-09.)
Structures I: Templates
Proposed factors in shaping affix ordering principles
Remember these?
English neutral (+) versus non-neutral (#) affixes
base neutral affix non-neutral affix 'curious 'curious#ness curi'os+ity pro'ductive pro'ductive#ness produc'tiv+ity 'patriarch 'patriarch#y patri'arch+al 'finite non#'finite 'in+finite
Structures I: Templates
Proposed factors in shaping affix ordering principles
Remember these?
STRATUM 2 word formation rules for
‘#’ affixes
STRATUM 1 Word-formation
rules for ‘+’ affixes
application of phonological
rules
Root - Stratum 1 - Stratum 2
Structures I: Templates
Proposed factors in shaping affix ordering principles
Syntax
Givón: Yesterday’s syntax is today’s morphology, so affix order
reflects (earlier) syntactic order.
Baker: Mirror principle
Morphological derivations must directly reflect syntactic
derivations (and vice versa).
Anderson: Inflection is external to derivation because it is
spelled out after transformation, whereas derivation before.
Structures I: Templates
Proposed factors in shaping affix ordering principles
Bybee’s relevance principle
“A meaning element is relevant to another meaning
element if the semantic content of the first directly affects
or modifies the semantic
content of the second” (Bybee 1985:13).
The more relevant one element is to another element
semantically, the closer these elements are to each other
structurally.
Semantics
Bybee, Joan 1985. Morphology: A study of the relation between meaning and form. Amsterdam:
Benjamins.
Structures I: Templates
Proposed factors in shaping affix ordering principles
ROOT
valency
voice
aspect
tense
mood
number
person
gender
Semantics
Bybee, Joan 1985. Morphology: A study of the relation between meaning and form. Amsterdam:
Benjamins.
Structures I: Templates
Proposed factors in shaping affix ordering principles
Semantic scope
If affix p has scope over affix q, it is external with respect to affix q.
(external meaning further away from the root)
Structures I: Templates
Factors in shaping affix ordering principles
Adjacency condition
If the affixation of a is dependent on the presence of b (an affix or a
feature), the b must be contained in the cycle adjacent to a
b
X
a
b
X
a
c √ x
X
b
a
X
b
c
a
Structures I: Templates
Alternative placement principles
Moving morphemes I: semantics
Yup‘ik (Mithun 1999) Yug-pag-cuar Person-big-little ‚little giant‘ Yug-cuar-pag Person-little-big ‚big midget‘
Rice, Keren. 2011. Principles of affix ordering. Word Structure 4.2, 169-200
Structures I: Templates
Alternative placement principles
Moving morphemes I: semantics
Quechuan (S. America; Muysken 1986:636) riku - na - chi - ku - n - ku see-RECIP-CAUS-REFL-3-PL ‘Theyi caused them to see each otheri.’ riku - chi - na - ku - n - ku see-CAUS-RECIP-REFL-3-PL ‘Theyi caused each otheri to see them.’ riku - na - ku - chi - n - ku see-RECIP-REFL-CAUS-3-PL ‘They caused themi to see each otheri.’
[[see each other] cause] themselves
[[see cause] each other] themselves
[[see each other] themselves] cause
Rice, Keren. 2011. Principles of affix ordering. Word Structure 4.2, 169-200
Structures I: Templates
Factors in shaping affix ordering principles
Phonology
Tiene (Hyman 2006) (a) lε ‘eat’ lees-ε ‘feed’ (b) mat-a ‘go away’ maas-a ‘cause to go away’ kal-a ‘be’ kaas-a ‘cause to be, become’ taan-a ‘get thin’ taas-a ‘cause to get thin’ (c) lab-a ‘walk’ lasab-a ‘cause to walk’ lók-a ‘vomit’ lósek-ε ‘cause to vomit’ yóm-a ‘become dry’ yóseb-ε ‘make dry’
Rice, Keren. 2011. Principles of affix ordering. Word Structure 4.2, 169-200
Structures I: Templates
Factors in shaping affix ordering principles
Phonology
Leti kakri ‘cry’ kniakri ‘the act of crying’ pali ‘float’ pniali ‘the act of floating’ sai ‘climb’ sniai ‘the act of climbing’ teti ‘chop’ tnieti ‘the act of chopping’ vaka ‘ask (for)’ vniaka ‘the act of asking’ va-nunsu ‘knead’ vnianunsu ‘massage’ / ‘the act of kneading’
atu ‘know’ niatu ‘knowledge’ / ‘the act of knowing’ odi ‘carry’ niodi ‘the act of carrying’ osri ‘hunt’ niosri ‘hunt’ / ‘the act of hunting’
Lieber, Rochelle (2009) Introducing morphology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Structures I: Templates
Clitic clusters
Often languages have more than one clitic that ends up in a particular
position (e.g. 2nd position). This may lead to clusters, which are usually
rigidly ordered (reminiscent of affixal templates) and often idiosyncratic.
Order of auxiliary and pronominal clitics in Serbian/Croatian:
AUX - DAT - ACC - REFL - je (3rd person auxiliary)
Onaj les mi je vrlo drag that forest 1SG.DAT 3SG.AUX very dear That forest is very dear to me’
Ova polja su nam vrlo draga these fields 3PL.AUX 1PL.DAT very dear ‘There fields are very dear to us’
Spencer, Andrew & Ana Luís. 2012. Clitics: an introduction. Cambridge: CUP.
Structures I: Templates
Summary
Larger structures containing morphological material have a linear
dimension and often a hierarchical dimension as well.
The hierarchical structure allows us to speak of morphological heads
(which determine the category of the entire construction)
It also allows us to analyze major tendencies in affix order, and explain
mobile affixes.
A major factor in affix order is semantic scope relations.
Phonology may also be a determining factor for affix order, either by
cyclicity, or by (sometimes ideosyncratic) requirements.
If more than one clitic can land on a position (e.g. second position) their
order is often fixed, templatic.