2. INFLECTION IN LEXICAL MORPHOLOGY
Frozen historical relics:
– Ablaut : change in a root vowel which indicates a
change in grammatical function, e.g. /aɪ/ alternates
with /əʊ/ to mark the change from present to past
tense
Present tense
Drive /draiv/
Write /rait/
Dive /daiv/
-
Ride /raid/
-
Past tense
Drove /dreuv/
Wrote /reut/
Dove /deuv/ (American),
/daivd/ (British)
Rode /reud/
3. – Umlaunt : Fronting of a vowel if the next
syllable contains a front vowel
Example:
Nominative Singular
fÕt
‘foot’
Nominative plural
fÕtiz
‘feet’
(where Õ = long vowel /o:/ )
There are very few nouns that use umlaut for
plural formation.
4. There is also some irregural plural inflection with
loanwords borrowed from Latin and Greek
For example:
Singular
• Addendum
• Stratum
• Datum
• Medium
Plural (Latin)
addenda
strata
data
media
6. The suffix –en is another irregular plural ending
found at stratum 1,
For Example:
Singular
• ox
• brother
• child
Plural
oxen
brethren (change /a/
and suffixation of -en )
children (change /ai/
suffixation of –en )
/e/
/i/ and
7. LEXICAL RULES
Morphological rules are formalized it is
necessary to specify:
– the class of bases affected
– the affix that is attached
– where the affix is attached
– the class which the resulting word
belongs to
– the level or stratum to which the affix
belongs
8. Morphological rules that attach
affixes to bases
Form :
insert A in environment [Y _______ Z]x
Output: word
Example:
Insert /ə/ in environment [dɛɪt_]
Output:/dɛɪtə/
Noun + Plural
10. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN LEXICAL
AND POST-LEXICAL
Post-lexical rules can apply in any context
lexical rules are cyclic
lexical rules are structure-preserving
Post-lexical rules are automatic
11. Quiz 1
Please match the correct Past form of these vebs below!
Present tense
stride
strive
arise
over-ride
smite
write
smote
over-rode
wrote
strove
arose
strode
12. Quiz 2
PLEASE FILL THE BLANK WITH THE CORRECT SINGULAR OR PLURAL
FORM.
SINGULAR
PLURAL
KNIFE
.......
........
THESIS
..........
WOMAN
.......
DIE
..........
LICE
CALVES
.........
BABIES
......
MEN
.........