Difference between revisions of "Allomorph"

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(made discussion of example more theory-neutral; some clean-up of grammar and IPA)
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A particular [[morpheme]] is not represented everywhere by the same [[morph]], but by different morphs in different environments. These alternative representation of a [[morpheme]] is called '''allomorph'''s.
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When a particular [[morpheme]] is not represented everywhere by the same [[morph]], but by different morphs in different environments, these alternative representations of the [[morpheme]] are called '''allomorph'''s.
  
 
===Examples===
 
===Examples===
The [[plural]] morpheme in English is regularly represented by the allomorphs [s], [z] and [iz].
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The [[plural]] morpheme in English is regularly represented by the allomorphs [s], [z] and [ɨz].
 
The rule is as follows:
 
The rule is as follows:
  
(i) ''kicks'' [kiks];
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(i) if the noun stem ends in a voiceless consonant, the allomorph used is [s], as in ''kicks'' [kɪks];
  
(ii) if the morph ends in one of the voiced phonemes (including the [[vowel]]s), /s/ is represented by [z] (''cats'' [kats]);
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(ii) if the noun stem ends in a voiced phoneme (including a [[vowel]]), the allomorphed used is [z] (as in ''cats'' [kæts]);
  
(iii) if the morph representing the noun morpheme with which /s/ is combined to form the plural ends with a [[sibilant]] ([s], [z] etc.), /s/ is represented by [iz] (''sizes'' [saiziz]).
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(iii) if the noun stem ends with a [[sibilant]] ([s], [z] etc.), the allomorph used is [ɨz] (as in ''sizes'' [saizɨz]).
  
 
===Other languages===
 
===Other languages===

Revision as of 08:09, 19 June 2008

When a particular morpheme is not represented everywhere by the same morph, but by different morphs in different environments, these alternative representations of the morpheme are called allomorphs.

Examples

The plural morpheme in English is regularly represented by the allomorphs [s], [z] and [ɨz]. The rule is as follows:

(i) if the noun stem ends in a voiceless consonant, the allomorph used is [s], as in kicks [kɪks];

(ii) if the noun stem ends in a voiced phoneme (including a vowel), the allomorphed used is [z] (as in cats [kæts]);

(iii) if the noun stem ends with a sibilant ([s], [z] etc.), the allomorph used is [ɨz] (as in sizes [saizɨz]).

Other languages

German Allomorph (de) Chinese 语素变体

Reference

Lyons, John. 1968. Introduction to Theoretical Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.