Introduction to Morphology

Description

Course Description:

This course provides an introduction to morphology, the study of word structure in language. It covers fundamental concepts such as morphemes, word formation processes, inflection, derivation, compounding, and morphological typology. Students will explore how words are constructed, how they vary across languages, and the role of morphology in the broader linguistic system. Through examples from different languages, students will develop analytical skills to break down and analyze word structures.

Course Objectives:

• Understand basic morphological concepts, including morphemes, allomorphs, and word formation processes.
• Analyze and decompose words into their constituent morphemes.
• Understand inflectional and derivational morphology.
• Explore morphological typology across languages.
• Gain insight into the interaction between morphology and other linguistic components (syntax, phonology, semantics).
• Develop skills in identifying and describing morphological patterns in various languages.

Weekly Outline:

Week 1: Introduction to Morphology

• Definition of morphology and its place in linguistics.
• What are morphemes? Types of morphemes (free vs. bound).
• Lexemes, words, and paradigms.
• Practice: Basic morpheme identification exercises.

Week 2: Morphemes and Allomorphy

• Understanding allomorphs: phonologically conditioned, lexically conditioned, and grammatically conditioned allomorphy.
• Examples of allomorphs from English and other languages.
• Practice: Analyzing examples of allomorphy across languages.

Week 3: Inflectional Morphology

• Difference between inflectional and derivational morphology.
• Inflectional categories: tense, case, number, gender, person, etc.
• How inflection interacts with syntax.
• Practice: Identifying inflectional morphemes in various languages.

Week 4: Derivational Morphology

• Understanding derivation and how new words are formed.
• Derivational affixes and their role in creating new lexemes.
• Semantic effects of derivation.
• Practice: Analyzing derivational processes and identifying affixes.

Week 5: Word Formation Processes I: Compounding

• Definition of compounding and types of compounds (e.g., noun-noun, verb-noun).
• Endocentric vs. exocentric compounds.
• Cross-linguistic perspectives on compounding.
• Practice: Identifying and analyzing compounds in different languages.

Week 6: Word Formation Processes II: Other Processes

• Reduplication: full and partial.
• Clipping, blending, and acronym formation.
• Backformation and conversion.
• Practice: Analyzing these processes in English and other languages.

Week 7: Morphological Typology I: Agglutination and Fusional Languages

• Overview of language typology based on morphological structures.
• Characteristics of agglutinative languages (e.g., Turkish, Swahili).
• Characteristics of fusional languages (e.g., Latin, Russian).
• Practice: Analyzing agglutinative and fusional structures.

Week 8: Morphological Typology II: Isolating and Polysynthetic Languages

• Characteristics of isolating languages (e.g., Chinese, Vietnamese).
• Characteristics of polysynthetic languages (e.g., Inuktitut, Mohawk).
• Practice: Analyzing examples of isolating and polysynthetic morphology.

Week 9: Morphology and Phonology

• The interaction between morphology and phonology (morphophonology).
• Phonological alternations caused by morphological processes (e.g., vowel harmony, consonant mutation).
• Practice: Analyzing morphophonological alternations in different languages.

Week 10: Morphology and Syntax

• The relationship between morphology and syntactic structure.
• How morphology can provide clues to syntactic relationships (e.g., agreement, case marking).
• Head-marking vs. dependent-marking languages.
• Practice: Identifying syntactic relations based on morphological cues.

Week 11: Morphology and Semantics

• The role of morphology in conveying meaning.
• Compositionality: how morphemes combine to create meaning.
• How morphology interacts with lexical semantics (e.g., agentive suffixes, diminutives, augmentatives).
• Practice: Analyzing morphological meaning in context.

Week 12: Advanced Topics in Morphology

• Non-concatenative morphology (e.g., root-and-pattern morphology in Semitic languages).
• Word-internal recursion and complex morphological structures.
• Overview of current research trends in morphology.
• Final review and preparation for assessments.
• Practice: Analyzing complex morphological systems across different languages.

Assessment Methods:

• Weekly exercises analyzing morphological structures from various languages.
• Midterm exam focusing on key concepts such as morphemes, word formation processes, and typology.
• Final exam or project involving the morphological analysis of an unfamiliar language or a detailed study of a specific morphological phenomenon.

Recommended Texts:

• Aronoff, Mark & Fudeman, Kirsten. What is Morphology? (2nd edition). Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.
• Haspelmath, Martin & Sims, Andrea D. Understanding Morphology (2nd edition). Routledge, 2010.
• Spencer, Andrew. Morphological Theory: An Introduction to Word Structure in Generative Grammar. Wiley-Blackwell, 1991.