MORPHOLOGY

(Morphs ,Allomorph, Grammatical

and Phonological Conditioning)
 Morph
If we consider the elements in words like (she) works,
worked, worker, workhouse, we find in a first step in the
analysis recurrent forms: work, -s, -ed, -er, house. These
are called morphs, i.e. phonological representations of an
element.
e.g. /p/ and /f/, distinguish pin /pin/ from fin /fin/.
 Allomorph
Just as allophones are variants of a phoneme, so
allomorphs are realisations or variant of morphemes.
They occur in all types of morphemes: in lexical
morphemes such as official from office, in roots as in
reception from receive, in derivational morphemes as in
impossible vs. incorrect and in grammatical endings, such
as voiced /d/ in loved vs. unvoiced /t/ in walked.
ADDITIVEALLOMORPHS:
To signify some difference in meaning,
something is added to a word. For example, the
past tense form of most English verbs is formed
by adding the suffix –ed which can be
pronounced as either /–t/, /–d/ or /–ǝd/:
Eg. ask + –ed = /ӕsk/ + /–t/, liv(e) + –ed
=/lIv/ + /–d/, need + –ed =/nid/ + /–ǝd/.
THE ZERO ALLOMORPH
There is no change in the shape of a
word though some difference in
meaning is identified. For example, the
past tense form of hurt is formed by
adding the zero allomorph of {–D pt}
to this word.
REPLACIVE ALLOMORPHS
To signify some difference in meaning, a sound is
used to replace another sound in a word. For
example, the /Ι/ in drink is replaced by the /æ/ in
drank to signal the simple past. This is symbolized as
follows:

/drænk/ = /drΙnk/ + / Ι > æ /.

SUPPLETIVE ALLOMORPHS
To signify some difference in meaning, there is
a complete change in the shape of a word.
For example:
-go + the suppletive allomorph of {–D pt} =
went;
-be + the suppletive allomorph of {–S 3d} = is;
-bad + the suppletive allomorph of {–ER cp} =
worse;
-good + the suppletive allomorph of {–EST sp}
= best.
 Phonological conditioning
If these allomorphs are determined by a
preceding phoneme, they are called
phonologically conditioned allomorphs.
 Phonologically conditioned
Plural Past tense

[z] after voiced consonants [d] after voiced consonants and

and vowels: vowels:
beds, knees rubbed, judged, entered
[s] after voiceless consonants: [t] after voiceless consonants:
tulips, parents stopped, kicked, laughed
[Iz] after sibilants (Zischlaute): [Id] after [t, d]: wanted, decided
horses, bushes
 Morphologically conditioned
For cases like took or mice linguists suggested the term
portmanteau morphs, i.e. one morph realises more
than one morpheme or function. In these cases took
contains the meaning of ´take + the meaning of past
tense´ and mice contains both the morpheme ´mouse
+ the plural morpheme´. This is also the case in your
(cars), which has three morphemes (2nd person,
plural, possession)
 Morphologically conditioned

 Umlaut: feet, geese, teeth, mice

-en: oxen, children

 zero-allomorph: fish, deer

Latin/Greek loans: fungi, antennae, phenomena,

theses
 Grammatical conditioning
Grammatical conditioning, changes the bases
and not the affixes. This is the case in plural
or past tense forms knives, thieves, houses
and wept, slept, where the ending conditions
voiced word final consonant viz. shortening
of the basis. This can be demonstrated in the
English plurals and past tense morphemes.
Grammatically conditioned plurals
Eg. elves, dwarves, calves, knives, leaves,
loaves, lives, selves, sheaves, thieves, wolves,
woves; houses [ÈhaUzIz], blouses [ÈblaUzIz]
Regular plurals
Eg. beliefs, chiefs, proofs, safes
Alternatives
eg. wharf – wharves, hoofs – hooves, scarfs –
scarves, cloths – clothes (with difference in
meaning)