The plural morpheme in English, usually written as '-s', has at least three allomorphs:

• [-s] as in [hQts] 'hats'

• [-z] as in [d&u0254;gz] 'dogs'
• [«z] as in [bŒks«z] 'boxes'

• A morpheme is manifested as one or more morphs (surface forms) in different

environments. These morphs are called allomorphs.
•
• A phoneme is manifested as one or more phones (phonetic sounds) in different
environments. These phones are called allophones.

English has several morphemes that vary in sound but not in meaning. Examples include the past
tense and the plural morphemes.
For example, in English, a past tense morpheme is -ed. It occurs in several allomorphs depending
on its phonological environment, assimilating voicing of the previous segment or inserting a
schwa when following an alveolar stop:
• as /əd/ or /ɪd/ in verbs whose stem ends with the alveolar stops /t/ or /d/, such as
'hunted' /hʌntəd/ or 'banded' /bændəd/

• as /t/ in verbs whose stem ends with voiceless phonemes other than /t/, such as
'fished' /fɪʃt/

• as /d/ in verbs whose stem ends voiced phonemes other than /d/, such as 'buzzed' /bʌzd/

Notice the "other than" restrictions above. This is a common fact about allomorphy: if the
allomorphy conditions are ordered from most restrictive (in this case, after an alveolar stop) to
least restrictive, then the first matching case usually "wins". Thus, the above conditions could be
re-written as follows:
• as /əd/ or /ɪd/ when the stem ends with the alveolar stops /t/ or /d/

• as /t/ when the stem ends with voiceless phonemes

• as /d/ elsewhere
The fact that the /t/ allomorph does not appear after stem-final /t/, despite the fact that the latter is
voiceless, is then explained by the fact that /əd/ appears in that environment, together with the
fact that the environments are ordered. Likewise, the fact that the /d/ allomorph does not appear
after stem-final /d/ is because the earlier clause for the /əd/ allomorph takes priority; and the fact
that the /d/ allomorph does not appear after stem-final voiceless phonemes is because the
preceding clause for the /t/ takes priority.
Irregular past tense forms, such as "broke" or "was/ were", can be seen as still more specific
cases (since they are confined to certain lexical items, like the verb "break"), which therefore
take priority over the general cases listed above.

Definition

An allomorph is an alternative manifestation of a morpheme (a set of meaningful

linguistic units). Allomorphs vary in shape or pronunciation according to their conditions
of use, but not as to meaning.

Examples

Here are some examples of allomorphs. In English, the negative prefix in has several
allomorphs:

• In-capable
• Il-logical
• Im-probable
Ir-reverent

: one of a set of forms that a morpheme may take in different contexts <the -s of cats, the -en of
oxen, and the zero suffix of sheep are allomorphs of the English plural morpheme>
D. Allomorph
Allomorph is variant form of a morpheme but it doesn’t change the meaning. Allomorph has
different in pronunciation and spelling according to their condition. It means that allomorph will
have different sound, pronunciation or spelling in different condition. The condition depends on
the element that it attaches to. Example:
Allomorph Root/ stem Meaning
A teacher A Teacher Countable noun
An egg An egg Countable noun
Mengejar Meng- Kejar Doing action
Mencari Men- Cari Doing action
Memberi Mem- Beri Doing action
Menulis Men- Tulis Doing action
Memangkas Mem- Pangkas Doing action
Menari Men- tari Doing action
Incapable In- Capable Negative
Illogical Il- Logical Negative
Impossible Im- Possible Negative
irregular Ir- Regular negative

At the table of examples above, we can see that allomorph is a variant sound, of one morpheme.
It has different pronunciation and spelling, but it still has same meaning. See the example
bellow:
Incapable
Illogical
Impossible
“In-”, “Il-” and “Im-” at the words above are the variant sound of “In-”. Although it has different
sound and spelling, it is still similar in meaning that is negative.
In conclusion, can you differ between morpheme and allomorph now?
Morpholigical is relating to or concerned with the formation of admissible words in a language