Difference between revisions of "Allomorph"
| Line 2: | Line 2: | ||
===Examples=== | ===Examples=== | ||
| − | The plural morpheme in English is regularly represented | + | The [[plural]] morpheme in English is regularly represented by the allomorphs [s], [z] and [iz]. |
The rule is as follows: | The rule is as follows: | ||
| − | (i) kicks | + | (i) ''kicks'' [kiks]; |
| − | (ii) if the morph ends in one of the voiced phonemes (including the | + | (ii) if the morph ends in one of the voiced phonemes (including the [[vowel]]s), /s/ is represented by [z] (''cats'' [kats]); |
| − | (iii) if the morph representing the noun morpheme with which s is combined to form the plural ends with a [[sibilant]] ( | + | (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]). |
===Other languages=== | ===Other languages=== | ||
Revision as of 18:34, 15 June 2008
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 allomorphs.
Examples
The plural morpheme in English is regularly represented by the allomorphs [s], [z] and [iz]. The rule is as follows:
(i) kicks [kiks];
(ii) if the morph ends in one of the voiced phonemes (including the vowels), /s/ is represented by [z] (cats [kats]);
(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]).
Other languages
German Allomorphe Chinese 语素变体
Reference
Lyons, John. 1968. Introduction to Theoretical Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
