Nonconcatenative morphology

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Diagram of one version of the derivation of the Arabic word muslim, with root consonants associating (shown by dotted grey lines).
Diagram of one version of the derivation of the Arabic word muslim, with root consonants associating (shown by dotted grey lines).

Nonconcatenative morphology is a form of word-formation in which the root is modified in a way other than by stringing morphemes together.[1] In English, for example, plurals are usually formed by adding the suffix /z/:

dog ↔ dog+/z/

However, certain words use non-concatenative processes for their plural forms:

foot ↔ feet

This specific form of non-concatenative morphology is known as base modification, a form in which part of the root undergoes a phonological change without necessarily adding new phonological material. Other forms of base modification include lengthening of a vowel, as in Hindi:

/mar-/ "die" ↔ /maːr-/ "kill"

or tonal change, as in Chalcatongo Mixtec:

/káʔba/ "filth" ↔ /káʔbá/ "dirty".

Another form of non-concatenative morphology is known as transfixation, in which vowel and consonant morphemes are interdigitized. For example, depending on the vowels, the Arabic consonantal root k-t-b can have different but semantically-related meanings. Thus, [katab] 'he wrote' and [kita:b] 'book' both come from the root k-t-b. In the analysis provided by McCarthy's account of nonconcatenative morphology, the consonantal root is assigned to one tier, and the vowel pattern to another.[2]

Yet another common type of non-concatenative morphology is reduplication, a process in which all or part of the root is reduplicated. In Sakha, this process is used to form intensified adjectives:

/k̠ɨhɨl/ "red" ↔ /k̠ɨp-k̠ɨhɨl/ "flaming red".

A final common type of non-concatenative morphology is variously referred to as truncation, deletion, or subtraction. This process removes phonological material from the root, as in Murle:

/oɳiːt/ "rib" ↔ /oɳiː/ "ribs".

Nonconcatenative morphology is extremely well-developed in the Semitic languages, where it forms the basis of virtually all higher-level word formation (as with the example given in the diagram). This is especially pronounced in Arabic, where it is also used to form approximately 90% of all plurals; see broken plural.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Haspelmath, Martin (2002). Understanding Morphology. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-340-76026-5. 
  2. ^ McCarthy, John J. (1981). "A Prosodic Theory of Nonconcatenative Morphology". Linguistic Inquiry 12: 373–418. 

[edit] See also

Languages