Ling 403/603
Introduction to Phonology
DAY 11
CESAR KOIRALA
Review from last lecture
 The system of categories and rules involved in word formation and
interpretation is called morphology.
Review from last lecture
 The system of categories and rules involved in word formation and
interpretation is called morphology.
 Basic Idea:
- We store morphemes in the brain
- Morphemes are combined or changed via morphological processes
- The output of morphological processes are words
Review from last lecture
Morphemes
Free
Bound
Roots
Affixes
Derivational
Prefix
Suffix
Roots
Inflectional
Infix
Fig: Morpheme types
circumfix
Review from last lecture
 The system of categories and rules involved in word formation and
interpretation is called morphology.
 Basic Idea:
- We store morphemes in the brain
- Morphemes are combined or changed via morphological processes
- The output of morphological processes are words
Review from last lecture
Types of morphological processes
 Affixation
 Compounding
 Reduplication
 Alternations
 Suppletion
Review from last lecture
 The system of categories and rules involved in word formation and
interpretation is called morphology.
 Basic Idea:
- We store morphemes in the brain
- Morphemes are combined or changed via morphological processes
- The output of morphological processes are words
Review from the last lecture
Procedure of performing morphological analysis

Isolate and compare the forms that are partially similar
[nokali]
[ikali]

‘my house’
‘his house’
[kali] = house
If a single phonetic form has two distinct meanings (functions), it
must be analyzed as representing two different morphemes.
[worker]
[faster]

If the same function and meaning are associated with different
phonetic forms, these different forms all represent the same
morphemes( They are allomorphs of the same morpheme).
Imbalance
Incomplete
Illegible
[Imbæləns]
[Iŋkəmplit]
[IlɛdӡIbl]
Inability
Irresponsible
[InəbIləɾi]
[IrIspansIbl]
Review from the last lecture
Procedure of performing morphological analysis

Isolate and compare the forms that are partially similar
[nokali]
[ikali]

‘my house’
‘his house’
[kali] = house
If a single phonetic form has two distinct meanings (functions), it
must be analyzed as representing two different morphemes.
[worker]
[faster]

If the same function and meaning are associated with different
phonetic forms, these different forms all represent the same
morphemes( They are allomorphs of the same morpheme).
Imbalance
Incomplete
Illegible
[Imbæləns]
[Iŋkəmplit]
[IlɛdӡIbl]
Inability
Irresponsible
[InəbIləɾi]
[IrIspansIbl]
Review from the last lecture
Procedure of performing morphological analysis

Isolate and compare the forms that are partially similar
[nokali]
[ikali]

‘my house’
‘his house’
[kali] = house
If a single phonetic form has two distinct meanings (functions), it
must be analyzed as representing two different morphemes.
[worker]
[faster]

If the same function and meaning are associated with different
phonetic forms, these different forms all represent the same
morphemes( They are allomorphs of the same morpheme).
Imbalance
Incomplete
Illegible
[Imbæləns]
[Iŋkəmplit]
[IlɛdӡIbl]
Inability
Irresponsible
[InəbIləɾi]
[IrIspansIbl]
Review from the last lecture
Procedure of performing morphological analysis

Isolate and compare the forms that are partially similar
[nokali]
[ikali]

‘my house’
‘his house’
[kali] = house
If a single phonetic form has two distinct meanings (functions), it
must be analyzed as representing two different morphemes.
[worker]
[faster]

If the same function and meaning are associated with different
phonetic forms, these different forms all represent the same
morphemes( They are allomorphs of the same morpheme).
Imbalance
Incomplete
Illegible
[Imbæləns]
[Iŋkəmplit]
[IlɛdӡIbl]
Inability
Irresponsible
[InəbIləɾi]
[IrIspansIbl]
Review from the last lecture
 There are many interactions between phonological forms and
morphological structures and hence it is important to know the basics
of morphology in order to understand the Morphophonemic processes.
Practice Problem
 Consider the following data from an African language Maninka:
[bugo] hit
[dila]
repair
[don]
come in
[dumu] eat
[gwen] chase
1.
[bugoli]
[dilali]
[donni]
[dumuni]
[gwenni]
How do you represent “ing” in Maninka?
hitting
repairing
coming in
eating
chasing
Practice Problem
 Consider the following data from an African language Maninka:
[bugo] hit
[dila]
repair
[don]
come in
[dumu] eat
[gwen] chase
[bugoli]
[dilali]
[donni]
[dumuni]
[gwenni]
hitting
repairing
coming in
eating
chasing
How do you represent “ing” in Maninka?
2. Can you predict which phonetic from will appear? If so, state the rule.
1.
Practice Problem
 Consider the following data from an African language Maninka:
[bugo] hit
[dila]
repair
[don]
come in
[dumu] eat
[gwen] chase
[bugoli]
[dilali]
[donni]
[dumuni]
[gwenni]
hitting
repairing
coming in
eating
chasing
How do you represent “ing” in Maninka?
2. Can you predict which phonetic from will appear? If so, state the rule.
1.
Q. How do we write these morphological rules??
Morphological Structures
How are the words put together?
 Words with two morphemes: Simply by adding the two morphemes.
in+active=inactive
drink+able=drinkable
desk + lamp=desk lamp
The structure can be depicted using the tree
notation commonly used in syntax.
N
N
N
desk
lamp
Morphological Structures
How are the words put together?
 What about words with more than two morphemes?
un+use+able=unusable
Morphological Structures
How are the words put together?
 What about words with more than two morphemes?
un+use+able=unusable
Which affix gets attached first?
Morphological Structures
1.
The stems with which a given affix may combine (its input) normally
belongs to the same part of speech class.
Morphological Structures
1.
The stems with which a given affix may combine (its input) normally
belongs to the same part of speech class.
For e.g „able‟ attaches to verbs but not to adjectives or nouns.
verbs
adjust + able
debate + able
adjectives
asleep + able
happy + able
nouns
anger + able
student + able
Morphological Structures
2. The words that are formed when an affix attaches to the stem (its
output) also normally belong to the same class.
verbs
adjust + able
debate + able
adjectives
adjustable
debatable
Morphological Structures

What is the order for reusable?
Morphological Structures

What is the order for reusable?
use: stem
able: an affix that attaches to verbs and forms adjectives
re: (meaning: do again)attaches to verbs and creates verbs
1. re + usable
2. reuse + able
Morphological Structures

What is the order for reusable?
use: stem
able: an affix that attaches to verbs and forms adjectives
re: (meaning: do again)attaches to verbs and creates verbs
1. re + usable (usable is an adjective. re cannot attach to it)
2. reuse + able
Morphological Structures
Adj
verb
re
use(verb)
able
Morphological Structures
Adj
Conclusions:
verb
re
use(verb)
able
1. Morphological structures can be
depicted using tree structures.
2. The order in which the morphemes
combine is clearly captured by the
tree structures.
3. The different groupings of the
morphemes can produce
differences in the meanings
Morphological Structures
Adj
Conclusions:
verb
re
use(verb)
able
1. Morphological structures can be
depicted using tree structures.
2. The order in which the morphemes
combine is clearly captured by the
tree structures.
3. The different groupings of the
morphemes can produce
differences in the meanings
Morphological Structures
Adj
Adj
verb
un


Adj
lock(v) able
un
lock (v)
able
„un‟ can attach to verbs and form verbs …but it can also attach to adj to form adj
(e.g. untie, undo, undress etc)
(e.g. unaware, unwise etc)
Meaning: “able to be unlocked”
Meaning: “not able to be locked”
(Ambiguous morphemes and words)
Writing Morphological Rules


Rules for derivation
Rules for inflection
Rules for derivation

Lets take the example of the same suffix „able‟ . We saw it in the
words: usable, adjustable, debatable and lockable.
Rules for derivation


Lets take the example of the same suffix „able‟ . We saw it in the
words: usable, adjustable, debatable and lockable.
We concluded that it can attach to verbs (its input) and form
adjectives (its output).
Rules for derivation


Lets take the example of the same suffix „able‟ . We saw it in the
words: usable, adjustable, debatable and lockable.
We concluded that it can attach to verbs (its input) and form
adjectives (its output). So, the morphological structure for Washable
can be shown as follows.
Adjective
Verb
wɔʃ
əbəl
Rules for derivation


Lets take the example of the same suffix „able‟ . We saw it in the
words: usable, adjustable, debatable and lockable.
We concluded that it can attach to verbs (its input) and form
adjectives (its output). So, the morphological structure for Washable
can be shown as follows.
Adjective
Verb
əbəl
wɔʃ

-able affixation
Verb + əbəl  Adjective
Verb + əbəl means “able to be Verbed”
Rules for derivation


Lets take the example of the same suffix „able‟ . We saw it in the
words: usable, adjustable, debatable and lockable.
We concluded that it can attach to verbs (its input) and form
adjectives (its output). So, the morphological structure for Washable
can be shown as follows.
Adjective
Verb
əbəl
wɔʃ

-able affixation
Verb + əbəl  Adjective
Verb + əbəl means “able to be Verbed”
[[wɔʃ]Verb əbəl]Adj
wɔʃ - əbəl
Rules for derivation
 Lets try it for the prefix un: unfair, unkind, unspoken, unattested etc.
Rules for derivation
 Lets try it for the prefix un: unfair, unkind, unspoken, unattested etc.
un – Affixation
ʌn + Adjective  Adjective
ʌn + Adjective means “not Adjective”
Rules for derivation
 Lets try it for the prefix un: unfair, unkind, unspoken, unattested etc.
un – Affixation
ʌn + Adjective  Adjective
ʌn + Adjective means “not Adjective”
e.g., [ʌn [kaInd]Adj ]Adj
Rules for inflection
 For inflection, we assume that the words carry morphological features
like [+plural], [-past] etc.
 Then, rules refer to these features for determining what material to
add.
Rules for inflection
 For inflection, we assume that the words carry morphological features
like [+plural], [-past] etc.
 Then, rules refer to these features for determining what material to
add.
e.g., Plural Formation in English
X  Xz when
Noun
+plural
Practice Problem
 Page 187 (38 i and ii) -- Swahili
Practice Problem
 Page 187 (38 i and ii) – Swahili
a. [ni]
[lipa]
[a]
[ni]
[piga]
[tu]
I
pay
s/he
me
beat
us
[tu]
[penda]
[sumbua]
[m]
[wa]
[wa]
we
like
annoy
him/her
they
them
[li]
[na]
[ta]
[me]
[u]
[ku]
(past marker)
(present progressive)
(future marker)
(present perfect)
You (subject)
You (object)
Practice Problem
 Page 187 (38 i and ii) – Swahili
a. [ni]
[lipa]
[a]
[ni]
[piga]
[tu]
I
pay
s/he
me
beat
us
[tu]
[penda]
[sumbua]
[m]
[wa]
[wa]
we
like
annoy
him/her
they
them
b. subject + tense marker + object + verb
[li]
[na]
[ta]
[me]
[u]
[ku]
(past marker)
(present progressive)
(future marker)
(present perfect)
You (subject)
You (object)