Morpho-phonology

On meaning-form mapping

In building complex words, we (usually) do these two things:

I we combine meanings
I we combine forms

(1) form: [bUk] + [s]

meaning: ‘book’ + plurality
On meaning-form mapping

I The mapping between meaning and form is almost never

one-to-one!

What does 1:1 meaning-form mapping mean?

I a given form always means the same thing.
&
I a given meaning is always expressed by the same form.

meaning ⇐⇒ form
On meaning-form mapping

(2) form: [bUk] + [s]

meaning: ‘book’ + plurality

If the meaning-form mapping here were 1:1, we could say this:

I (form → meaning)
whenever we hear [s] after a noun, the noun is plural
I (meaning → form)
whenever a noun is plural , we hear an [s] after it

→ BUT THIS IS NOT THE CASE!

On meaning-form mapping

It is not true that

whenever a noun is plural , we hear an [s] after it.

I We have irregular forms that block [s]

(3) children = ‘child+plural’

(4) a. *childrens
b. *childs
On meaning-form mapping
It is not true that
whenever a noun is plural , we hear an [s] after it.
because: plural is not always [s]

I We have regular morpho-phonological rules that give us

[z] , [s], or [@z] for plural

(5) a. patch + plural

[. . . tS] + [@z]
after sibilants
b. book + plural
[. . . k] + [s]
after (non-sibilant) voiceless consonants
c. bag + plural
[. . . g] + [z]
elsewhere
Allomorphy

one bit of meaning can be mapped to more than one form

meaning

form1 form2 . . . formn

e.g. English plural on nouns:

Variant forms are called
plural allomorphs

[s] [z] [@z] . . .

Allomorphy

Blame phonology for some allomorphs.

(6) a. kolonya-lar (7) a. maske-ler

b. sabun-lar b. koronavirüs-ler
c. kellepaça-lar c. gen-ler

This is called phonologically-conditioned allomorphy.

plural → This is a kind of allomorphy,

which is rule-governed, i.e. can
-ler -lar be explained in terms of regular
phonological rules.
Allomorphy

Turkish ‘simple present’: non-high or high vowel in the suffix

(8) a. dal-ar (dive+s) (9) a. kal-ır (stay+s)

b. sal-ar (release+s) b. al-ır (take+s)

(10) kur-ar (set+s up) (11) vur-ur (shoot+s)

Allomorphy

Turkish ‘simple present’: non-high or high vowel in the suffix

(12) a. dal-ar (dive+s) (13) a. kal-ır (stay+s)

b. sal-ar (release+s) b. al-ır (take+s)

(14) kur-ar (set+s up) (15) a. vur-ur (shoot+s)

b. dur-ur (stop+s)

(16) what do you do with ‘bur’ ?

a. bur-ar?
b. bur-ur?

This is called morphologically-conditioned allomorphy.

i.e. allomorphy that phonology can’t explain!
Allomorphy

plural allomorphs in English

phonologically-conditioned morphologically-conditioned

-s -z -@z -en ‘zero’

(17) -en plural: ox-en
(18) zero plural: fish, sheep

(I set aside irregular forms like geese, children, etc.)

Portmanteau

Some forms contain/combine TWO (or more) meaning bits

(19) a. go+past = went

b. foot+plural = feet
c. bad+comparative = worse
d. take+past = took

These are called portmanteau morphemes.

(20) git -ti -k

go -past -1person+plural

do you think better is

a portmanteau for good+comparative?
Data analysis
Data analysis
Data analysis

Questions for the Zoque data.

I Identify the Past and Present tense morphemes.
I Identify the alternating roots (i.e. roots = the base for the
tense markers) and describe the alternation in your words.
I What explains the root allomorphy in Zoque? Is it
morphologically-conditioned or phonologically-conditioned?
Data analysis

(21) a. ken-u ‘he looked’

b. ken-pa ‘he looks’
(22) alternating roots
a. sihk ≈ sik
b. wiht ≈ wit
c. cihc ≈ cic
d. sohs ≈ sos
(23) Phonological Rule:
hCC → CC
simplify all consonant clusters of the form hCC into CC by
deleting [h]
(24) sohs + pa = /sohspa/ → [sospa]
Data analysis
Data analysis

Q1. Identify the suffix that means ‘with’ and the suffix that means
‘without’.
Q2. Identify the roots that exhibit allomorphy.
Q3. Provide a general phonological rule that accounts for the
instances of root allomorphy.
Q4. If tespa meant ‘with milk’, what would be the forms for
‘without milk’ and ‘milk’ ?
Data analysis
Data analysis

In the left column that shows the singular forms, we have 6 distinct
forms. In the plural forms marked with [-i] (in the right column),
we have only 3 distinct forms. Explain why we end up with 3 forms
in the plural.