Descriptive grammar
28.10.2008
1. Morphemes
-abstract category
-has a meaning
-has a form (morph)
*English plural:
-cup meaning: small glass
-cups cup (meaning: small glass) + s (meaning: more than one)
-mouse meaning: small animal
-mice mouse (small animal) + {plural} (more than one) form: change of vowel
-sheep wooly animal
-sheep sheep (wooly animal) + {plural} (more than one) form: zero morph
2. Allomorphs – different morphs (forms) representing the same morpheme
a) English plural: change of vowel, zero morph. /s/
lips, books, cats, moths /s/
ribs, pens, cabs, seas /z/
watches, glasses, bushes, judges /iz/
*more allomorphs:
Plural morphemes:
-change of vowel
-zero
-/s/
-/z/
-/iz/
What does the form of English plural depend on /s/ /z/ /iz/ ?
-/s/ when the word ends on a voiceless sound
-/z/ when the word ends on a voiced sound
-/iz/ after certain sounds
the last sound in a word:
-/s/ after voiceless consonant
-/z/ after voiced consonant or a vowel
-/iz/ after /s/ /z/ /ʒ /dʒ/ (sibilants)
b) phonological conditioning (English plural) – it depends on the individual word (the plural form has to be learned)
teeth feet oxen sheep fish plural
tooth foot ox sheep fish irregular
c) lexical conditioning (English plural vs. Saxon Genitive)
wife + s-plural wives
wife + ‘s (Saxon Genitive)
d) grammatical conditioning (reversative verbs – undoing action) – it depends on the grammatical form
centralize – decentralize
humanize – dehumanize
criminalize – decriminalize
qualify – disqualify
approve – disapprove
charge – discharge
-de: is attached to verbs ending in –ise
-it depends on the morphological structure of a word
e) morphological conditioning (causative verbs/reversative verbs) –
nationalize
crystalize
centralize
humanize
-the suffix –ise can be attached only to an adjective
-it depends on the syntactic category
f) syntactic conditioning (negative adjectives)
honest – dishonest
kind – unkind
pleasant – unpleasant
polite – impolite
happy – unhappy
blue?
-it depends on the meaning of the word, there is no opposite to blue
g) semantic conditioning (gender)
actor – actress
waiter – waitress
poet – poetess
count – countess
blocking:
monk – nun
nephew – niece
king – queen
-formation of a word is blocked by the existence of another word with the same meaning e.g. nun.
3. morphemes: meaning vs. form
*relation between form and meaning:
simplex words:
a) table, chair, apple, water arbitrary relation
b) hiss, bang, rustle, sizzle, squeak: relation is motivated: the words imitate meaning of a sound
complex words:
a) achievable, translation, rewrite, driver relation is motivated: the meaning can be predicted from the structure
*troubles with morphemes:
cranberry morphemes – morphs which appear in only one word in the language
cranberry (żurawina): cran + berry
huckleberry (czarna jagoda): huckle + berry
strawberry, gooseberry (agrest)
simplex:
but Would you like strawberry or gooseberry? No, I don’t want any berries at all
complex:
but What is the meaning of straw (słomka) or goose (gęś) ?