Scribd
Upload
15 views16 pages

File 000 1639929727

The document discusses different types of conditioning of allomorphs including phonological conditioning, morphological conditioning, and grammatical conditioning. Phonological conditioning occurs when the form of an allomorph depends on adjacent phonemes. Morphological conditioning occurs when variation cannot be explained by phonetic environment and each morpheme must be learned separately. Grammatical conditioning occurs when the selection of an allomorph is determined by a grammatical class.

Uploaded by

Hawbir Omer Hamarashid
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
15 views16 pages

File 000 1639929727

The document discusses different types of conditioning of allomorphs including phonological conditioning, morphological conditioning, and grammatical conditioning. Phonological conditioning occurs when the form of an allomorph depends on adjacent phonemes. Morphological conditioning occurs when variation cannot be explained by phonetic environment and each morpheme must be learned separately. Grammatical conditioning occurs when the selection of an allomorph is determined by a grammatical class.

Uploaded by

Hawbir Omer Hamarashid
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 16

Week Three

Nov. 9th, 2021


Allomorph is said to be conditioned when its form is
dependent on the adjacent phonemes. The three
allomorphs of the plural marker /–s/ are /-s, -z, -iz/, and
they said to be phonological conditioned since their
occurrence is dependent on the preceding phonemes.
1- /-s/ occurs with morphs ending with voiceless sounds except
‘sibilants’ and ‘affricates’.
For instance- cats, hats, books, caps etc. (-s sound)

2- /-z/ occurs with morphs ending with voiced sounds except


‘sibilants’ and ‘affricates’
For instance- birds, dogs, beds, songs etc. (-z sound)

3- /-iz/ occurs with morphs ending with sibilants (s, z) and


affricates (ch , j).
For instance- roses, churches, judges etc.( -iz sound)
Another example of phonological conditioning of allomorphs can be seen in the
past tense morpheme in English (-ed). The three allomorphs of the past tense
morpheme in English (-ed) are / -t,-d,-id/. And the
phonological conditioning of these allomorphs can be as follows-

1- /-t/ occurs after voiceless sound excepts /t,d/.


For instance- helped /helpt/, walked / walkt/ etc.

2- /-d/ occurs after voiced sounds except alveolar stops such as /t,d/.
For instance- killed, loved etc.

3- /-id/ occurs after morphs ending with alveolar stops.


For instance- wanted, wedded, granted etc.
When the conditioning factor is not determined by any phonological feature but it
is determined by the specific morph to which it is attached. In pairs such as
‘man-men’, ‘child-children’, which seem to contain the ‘plural morpheme’, we
cannot state the variation in terms of phonetic environment. Instead we must refer
to each morpheme separately. This kind of variation among allomorphs is known
as ‘morphological conditioning’. Some other examples of morphological
conditioning are
ox – oxen
sheep – sheep
goose – geese
These words do not follow any specific rule, each one has to be learnt separately.
So this kind of conditioning is known as ‘morphological conditioning’. There is
nothing phonological about it. These selections are specific to the words.
Grammatical conditioning is when the selection of a
particular allomorph is determined by a certain
grammatical class--irregular verbs in English.
Morphological Tree

You might also like