Morphological Types of Languages

1 Morphological TypologyLing 100 Introduction to Linguistic ScienceGuest Lecture Jonathan Manker26 February 2016 What is Typology?Linguistic typology is a branch of linguistics that attempts to categorize Languages based on similarities in structure (phonological inventories, grammatical constructions, word order, etc.)Typological Map of Consonant Inventory SizesMorphological TypologyLanguages have a wide variety of Morphological processes available ( different Types of affixation, etc.) for creating words and word forms. However, Languages vary with respect to what Morphological processes are available, how frequently they are used, and what Types of information can be encoded in these this lecture, we ll look at differences in morphology among a variety of Languages and learn to categorize these Languages based on their Morphological is a word?Before we discuss properties of word structure in different Languages , we have to define what it is we mean when we refer to something as a word.

2 Question: Think about the two strings of sounds below. How many words are in each? [ kw kb a nfaksd mpso v le zid g][ nta d s st bl m nte i n zm ] So what makes [ kw kb a nfaksd mpso v le zid g] a sentence, but[ nta d s st bl m nte i n zm ] a word? (Both have 7-8 morphemes)There is no universal expectation for what words should be like in different Languages . We will see examples in other Languages that are structurally similar to the first, but areconsidered a single Phonological WordEven for speakers of non -written Languages there seems to be a concept of the word which is in some ways psychologically intuitions about what words are often coincide with the domain of certain phonological rules which are sensitive to word boundaries and the word as a unit of structure and organization. These are usually language In English, each content word will have exactly one primary stress. Do the following examples all seem like single words?

3 Where is their primary stress?dehumidifier recapitulation antidisestablishmentarianism Phonological Evidence for the word Some Languages have vowel harmonythat applies to entire words---for example, in Turkish all the vowels in most words must be all front vowels or all back vowels. We never find vowel harmony occurring over entire sentences. /el-ler-in/ hand -PLR-gen. vs. /at-lar- n/ horse, -PLR-gen. We ve also discussed phonotacticconsiderations: certain sequences of sounds cannot occur within syllables, but may be permissible over word boundaries ( [dzm], above in words must ) Morphological Evidence for the Word Positional mobility ---word form as a whole can be moved. Eg. I love plums, Plums I love. vs. I love dehumidifiers, de I love humidifiers. (!) Uninterruptability---extraneous material cannot be introduced into the middle of a word-form. Eg. A dehumidifier, a, well, dehumidifier, a de, well, humidifer(!) Internal stability ---fixed order of morphemes within word forms Dehumidifiers, ifyshumiderde(!)

4 Morphological Types across the world s languagesLinguists can categorize Languages based on their word -building properties and usage of different affixation broadest distinction among Languages is whether or not affixation is allowed at all, or if every word must be a single morpheme. For Languages that allow affixation, we can further categorize these according to their Morphological characteristicsAnalytic and Isolating LanguagesAnalytic Languages have sentences composed entirely of freemorphemes, where each word consists of only one morpheme. Isolating Languages are purely analytic and allow no affixation (inflectional or derivational) at all. Sometimes analytic Languages allow some derivational morphology such as compounds (two free roots in a single word)A canonically analytic language is Mandarin Chinese. Note that properties such as plural and past comprise their own morphemes and their own words. [w m ntan t inl ] 1st PLRplaypianoPST weplayedthepiano Synthetic Languages Synthetic Languages allow affixation such that words may (though are not required to) include two or more morphemes.

5 These Languages have bound morphemes, meaning they must be attached to another word (whereas analytic Languages only have free morphemes). Synthetic Languages include three subcategories: agglutinative, fusional, and Language Type 1: Agglutinative Agglutinative Languages have words which may consist of more than one, and possibly many, morphemes. The key characteristic separating agglutinative Languages from other synthetic Languages is that morphemes within words are easily parsed or loosely arranged; the morpheme boundaries are easy to identify. 1:many word to morpheme ratio; 1:1 morpheme to meaning We often use the metaphor beads on a string to describe agglutinative languagesExamples of canonical agglutinative Languages include Turkish, Swahili, Hungarianel -ler-imiz-in (Turkish)hand case, of our hands ni -na-soma(Swahili) I-present-read I am reading (also u -na-soma you read, ni-li-soma I read, etc.)Synthetic Language Type 2: FusionalFusional Languages , like other synthetic Languages , may have more than one morpheme per wordHowever, fusionallanguages may have morphemes that combine multiple pieces of grammatical information; that is, there is not a clear 1 to 1 relationship between grammatical information and morphemesFor example, in Spanish: [ abl-o] I am speaking -[o] suffix means 1stperson sng.

6 , present tense [ abl-a] s/he is speaking -[a] suffix means 3rdperson sng. present tense [abl- o] s/he spoke -[ o] suffix with stress means 3rdsingular past tense FusionalLanguages Latin fusion: [re:ksisti] you all ruled There are four pieces of grammatical information and four morphs, however the perfective meaning is shared among several morphs. Synthetic Language Type 3: Polysynthetic Polysynthetic Languages often display a high degree of affixation (high number of morphemes per word) and fusion of morphemes, like agglutinative and fusionallanguages. Additionally, however, polysynthetic Languages may have words with multiple stems in a single word(which are not compounds). This may be achieved by incorporating the subject and object nouns into complex verb forms. For example: anin- am-j -te-n (Sora) he-catch-fish-nonpast-do he is fish-catching This is called noun incorporation, where the object fish is incorporated in the verb catch.

7 Polysynthetic LanguagesSome of the most extreme examples come from Eskimo Languages such as West Greenlandic:tusaa -nngit-su-usaar-tuaannar-sinnaa-nngi-vip -putit hear pretend - all the time - can really You simply cannot pretend not to be hearing all the time But in we ve looked at canonical examples of four Types of Languages : analytical, agglutinative, fusional, and Languages often show elements of different Morphological Types . If a language is hard to classify as one of the four main Types , it may be considered mixed. The properties that distinguish these Types may in fact be gradient rather than Languages into Morphological Types Ask yourself the following questions: 1) How many morphemes can occur in a single word? If the answer is one, or usually one, the language is analytical. Otherwise, it is probably synthetic. A language with a few might be fusional, agglutinative, or polysynthetic; A language with many is probably agglutinative or polysynthetic (since fusionalmorphemes may contain multiple bits of grammatical information).

8 Classifying Languages into Morphological Types 2) If the language allows affixation, are the morphemes easy to divide? Is each piece of grammatical information contained in a single morpheme (and the reverse)?Classifying Languages into Morphological Types 3) Does the language allow words with multiple roots (such as noun incorporation)? If yes, the language is likely Languages may also have a high degree of fusion and may contain many morphemes in one word (see Greenlandic example) .Practice categorize the languageAncient Greek [lu-o:] I release release -1stperson singular present active indicative [lu-e:] You should release release -2nd person singular present middle subjunctive [lu:-etai] he is being released release -3rdperson singular present passive indicative Ancient Greek-fusional! Each word contains only two morphemes (so it s not analytical), but the suffix contains information about person, number, tense, mood, and voicePractice categorize the languageAztecan [ni-ki-ta] I see it I-it-see [ni-ki-ta-k] I saw it I-it-see-past Aztecan -Agglutinative!

9 Morphemes each contain one bit of information and are easily divisiblePractice categorize the languageEnglish The boy will play with the dog. John s cat eats mice. antidisestablishmentarianism English mixedThe first example is mostly analytical The second demonstrates some fusionalpropertiesThe third shows a word that seems agglutinative Generally speaking, English has very little inflection left and has been becoming increasingly analytical, although words may contain many derivational categorize the language Han (Athabascan) we re starting to work we will hook-catch (fish) Han polysynthetic! (noun incorporation. Also a high degree of fusion) (Although interestingly enough, while verbs tend to be polysynthetic, nouns are almost analytical and can only have a single possessive prefix---no case, number, gender, definiteness, etc. is indicated).Typological Overview of the World s Languages WALS mapsLooking across the world s Languages , we see groups of Languages in common geographical regions that have similar Morphological characteristics.

10 Inflectional synthesis of the verb(modern day Languages )Is this evidence of Languages sharing a language family? Sometimes, but not always. Language families are defined by having a genetic relationship, where elements of the language are passed down(through time). Sometimes features, even Morphological characteristics, can spread among Languages that are spoken near each other, even when unrelated. We call these areal features ( , see southeast Asia, N. America).