A working typology of multiple exponence
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Gabriela Caballero
Abstract
The authors present the results of a preliminary investigation of the range of cross-linguistic variation of Multiple Exponence (ME), the occurrence of multiple realizations of a single feature, bundle of features, or derivational category in more than one position in a domain. Their survey of ME patterns documented in 95 language varieties belonging to 25 language families reveals that while there is great diversity in terms of the properties that ME patterns may display, ME is more common and less constrained than commonly believed. Specifically, the survey reveals the following generalizations: (i) while exuberant ME, the repetition of several identical markers, may be uncommon, ME patterns involving stem alternation are quite common; (ii) while occurrence of three or more markers seems to be uncommon, occurrence of two is quite frequent; and (iii) there do not seem to be many constraints on the types of ME attested, in either formal or semantic terms, though there are very few documented cases of contiguous stacking of surface identical allomorphs in ME.
Abstract
The authors present the results of a preliminary investigation of the range of cross-linguistic variation of Multiple Exponence (ME), the occurrence of multiple realizations of a single feature, bundle of features, or derivational category in more than one position in a domain. Their survey of ME patterns documented in 95 language varieties belonging to 25 language families reveals that while there is great diversity in terms of the properties that ME patterns may display, ME is more common and less constrained than commonly believed. Specifically, the survey reveals the following generalizations: (i) while exuberant ME, the repetition of several identical markers, may be uncommon, ME patterns involving stem alternation are quite common; (ii) while occurrence of three or more markers seems to be uncommon, occurrence of two is quite frequent; and (iii) there do not seem to be many constraints on the types of ME attested, in either formal or semantic terms, though there are very few documented cases of contiguous stacking of surface identical allomorphs in ME.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword & acknowledgments vii
- Editors’ introduction ix
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Part I. Regularity, irregularity, and analogy
- Arguments from Lovari loan-verb adaptation for an analogy-based analysis of verbal systems 3
- Possible and impossible variation in Hungarian 23
- Variation in the possessive allomorphy of Hungarian 51
- Revisiting exocentricity in compounding 65
- A constructionist account of the Modern Dutch adnominal genitive 83
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Part II. The role of frequency in morphological complexity, morphological change and language acquisition
- Perspectives on morphological complexity 107
- Morphological complexity and unsupervised learning 135
- A working typology of multiple exponence 163
- Linguistic self-regulation 189
- Suffix predictability and stem transparency in the acquisition of German noun plurals 217
- Acquisition of German diminutive formation and compounding in a comparative perspective 237
- Index 265
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword & acknowledgments vii
- Editors’ introduction ix
-
Part I. Regularity, irregularity, and analogy
- Arguments from Lovari loan-verb adaptation for an analogy-based analysis of verbal systems 3
- Possible and impossible variation in Hungarian 23
- Variation in the possessive allomorphy of Hungarian 51
- Revisiting exocentricity in compounding 65
- A constructionist account of the Modern Dutch adnominal genitive 83
-
Part II. The role of frequency in morphological complexity, morphological change and language acquisition
- Perspectives on morphological complexity 107
- Morphological complexity and unsupervised learning 135
- A working typology of multiple exponence 163
- Linguistic self-regulation 189
- Suffix predictability and stem transparency in the acquisition of German noun plurals 217
- Acquisition of German diminutive formation and compounding in a comparative perspective 237
- Index 265
