Meeting 3: Allomorphs

Morphology
 Are all the prefixes negative?

Let’s take a look on these examples:

1. Amoral
2. Ex-president
3. Mistranslate
4. Counteract
5. Declassify
6. Premature , Pre-flight
7. Undercooked, Underwear, Underachieve
8. Redefine, rename, reschedule
Find the meaning of each prefix by scrutinizing them!
A same bound morpheme can act both as Prefix
and Suffix, can’t it?

Bound morpheme -En

1. En- as prefix (to put into or onto something, to
cause to be something)
e.g. Enslave, Encase, Encircle
Enable, Enlarge, Enrich

2. En- as suffix (to increase the stated quality )

e.g. Sweeten, loosen

Note: Prefix and Suffix En- is used to form Verbs

 A same bound morpheme can acts both as
Prefix and Suffix, can’t it?

Bound morpheme -In

1. In- as prefix (to add the meaning 'not', ' lacking ', or
'the opposite of' to adjectives )
e.g. Incomplete, Inaccuracy, indescribable

2. In- as suffix (describes an activity in which many

people take part )
e.g. A sit-in, phone-in

Note: Prefix In- is used to add negative meaning to

Adjectives. Suffix –in is used to create Nouns.
Allomorph

• Prefix en- becomes em-

before ‘B’ or ‘P’.
• Thus, prefix em- is the
allomorph of prefix en-
• Example: Empower
 Allomorph
Prefix in- becomes:
• il- before L
• im- before B, M, or, P
• Ir- before R
Thus, prefix il-, im- and ir- are the
allomorphs of prefix in-
Example: illegal, impossible,
irresponsible
• An allomorph is a phonetic
variant of a morpheme.
• Sometimes morphemes change
their sound or their spelling but
not their meaning.
• Each of these different forms is
classed as an allomorph.

What is Allomorph?
 Different Types of Allomorphs
• There is some debate about the different types of
allomorphs.
• For the sake of clarity, we will take you through some
examples of the three most common types of
allomorphs in the English language:
past tense allomorphs, plural allomorphs
and negative allomorphs
• In English, we add the morpheme '-ed' to the
end of regular verbs to show the action was
completed in the past.
• For example, 'planted', 'washed', and 'fixed'.

Type 1: Past Tense Allomorph

• '-ed' always has the same function (making
a verb past), but is pronounced slightly
differently depending on the verb it is bound
to.
• For example, in 'washed' it is pronounced as
a /t/ sound (i.e. wash/t/), and in 'planted' it's
pronounced as a /ɪd/ sound (i.e. plant /ɪd/).
Type 1: Past Tense Allomorph
 Practice
• Struggling to notice the difference? Say
these past tense verbs out loud, focusing on
the 'ed' morphemes:
1. wanted
2. rented
3. rested
4. printed
• In each of these words, the 'ed' morpheme is
pronounced as /ɪd/.
 Practice

• Now do the same with this set of words:

1. touched
2. fixed
3. pressed
• Notice how the 'ed' morpheme is
pronounced as /t/.
 Practice

• How about these words:

1. Cleaned
2. Described
3. Bribed

• Notice how the ‘ed' morpheme is

pronounced as /d/.
 Remember!

• Each different pronunciation of the

'ed' morpheme is an allomorph, as
it varies in sound, but not function
• The allomorphs of ‘ed’ are /t/, /d/
and /Id/
Type 2: Plural Allomorphs
• We typically add 's' or 'es' to nouns
to create their plural form. These
plural forms always have the same
function, but their sound changes
depending on the noun.
• The plural morpheme has three
common allomorphs: /s/,
/z/ and /ɪz/. Which one we use
depends on the phoneme that
precedes it.
 Remember!
• A phoneme is the smallest unit of
sound in a language - this could
be a consonant, vowel,
or diphthong.
• Some phonemes are voiced
(meaning we use our voice box to
make the sound) and some
are unvoiced (meaning we don't
use our voice box).
 Type 2: Plural Allomorphs
Type 2: Plural Allomorphs
• When a noun ends in a voiceless
consonant (i.e. ch, f, k, p, s, sh, t or
th), the plural allomorph is spelt '-
s' or '-es', and is pronounced as
a /s/ sound.
• For example, books,
chips, and churches
 Type 2: Plural Allomorphs
Type 2: Plural Allomorphs
• When a noun ends in a
voiced phoneme (i.e. b, d, g, j, l, m,
n, ng, r, sz, th, v, w, y, z, and the
vowel sounds a, e, i, o, u), the plural
form spelling remains '-s' or '-es', but
the allomorph sound changes to /z/.
• For example, bees, zoos, and dogs.
 Type 2: Plural Allomorphs
Type 2: Plural Allomorphs
• When a noun ends in a sibilant
(i.e, s, ss, z), the sound of the
allomorph sound becomes /ɪz/.
• For example, busses,
houses, and waltzes.
 Type 2: Plural Allomorphs
Type 2: Plural Allomorphs
• Other plural allomorphs include
the '-en' in words such
as oxen, the '-ren' in children, and
the '-ae' in words such as formulas
and antennae.
• These are all plural allomorphs as
they serve the same function as
the more common '-s' and '-
es' suffixes.
• Think of the prefixes we use to make a
negative version of a word,
• e.g. informal (not formal), impossible (not
possible), unbelievable (not believable),
and asymmetrical (not symmetrical).
• The prefixes '-in', '-im', '-un', and '-a' all serve
the same function but are spelt differently,
therefore, they are allomorphs of the same
morpheme.

Type 3: Negative Allomorphs