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Chapter 6. Stem constancy under the microscope

A systematic language comparison of types and limitations of stem spelling
  • Caroline Hettwer and Nanna Fuhrhop
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All Things Morphology
This chapter is in the book All Things Morphology

Abstract

Writing systems show variation in stem spellings, for example with double consonant letters. In German, the double consonant is always preserved (e.g., rennen – rennt, “to run – runs”), while in Dutch it is not (rennen – rent). In English <nn> is normally not preserved (running – run), though in French it varies: bonne – bon (“well” feminine – masculine), donner – donne (“to give – (I) give”). There are different regularities for double consonant spellings in all four languages; thus, stem constancy varies in strength depending on the language. In order to develop a typology of writing systems, language-specific types and limitations of stem constancy need to be described in greater detail. This chapter will do this by examining the above-mentioned four languages. It will compare the strength and degree of systematicity of stem constancy, as well as issues of frequency. Mark Aronoff was always interested in spelling systems and he is a morphologist – so this chapter is dedicated to Mark.

Abstract

Writing systems show variation in stem spellings, for example with double consonant letters. In German, the double consonant is always preserved (e.g., rennen – rennt, “to run – runs”), while in Dutch it is not (rennen – rent). In English <nn> is normally not preserved (running – run), though in French it varies: bonne – bon (“well” feminine – masculine), donner – donne (“to give – (I) give”). There are different regularities for double consonant spellings in all four languages; thus, stem constancy varies in strength depending on the language. In order to develop a typology of writing systems, language-specific types and limitations of stem constancy need to be described in greater detail. This chapter will do this by examining the above-mentioned four languages. It will compare the strength and degree of systematicity of stem constancy, as well as issues of frequency. Mark Aronoff was always interested in spelling systems and he is a morphologist – so this chapter is dedicated to Mark.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Chapter 1. All things morphology 1
  4. Part I. Paradigms
  5. Chapter 2. Making sense of morphology 17
  6. Chapter 3. A formal restriction on gender resolution 41
  7. Part II. Words, stems, and affixes
  8. Chapter 4. Signs and words 57
  9. Chapter 5. Leaving the stem by itself 81
  10. Chapter 6. Stem constancy under the microscope 99
  11. Chapter 7. Major lexical categories and graphemic weight 117
  12. Chapter 8. Word formation in the brain 127
  13. Chapter 9. The suffixing preference 147
  14. Part III. Competition, inheritance, and defaults
  15. Chapter 10. Feature-based competition 171
  16. Chapter 11. Competition in comparatives 199
  17. Chapter 12. Multi-layered default in Ripano 215
  18. Part IV. Morphomes
  19. Chapter 13. Morphomes all the way down! 239
  20. Chapter 14. Conditional exponence 255
  21. Chapter 15. My favorite morphome 279
  22. Chapter 16. In further pursuit of the adjective 289
  23. Chapter 17. Two-suffix combinations in native and non-native English 305
  24. Part V. Interfaces
  25. Chapter 18. A short history of phonology in America 327
  26. Chapter 19. Realization Optimality Theory 349
  27. Chapter 20. A-prefixing in the ex-slave narratives 377
  28. Chapter 21. Trajectory of children’s verb formation in Hebrew as a heritage language 395
  29. Chapter 22. A primer for linguists on the reading wars 415
  30. Index of languages 431
  31. Index of names 433
  32. Index of terms 435
https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.353.06het

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Chapter 1. All things morphology 1
  4. Part I. Paradigms
  5. Chapter 2. Making sense of morphology 17
  6. Chapter 3. A formal restriction on gender resolution 41
  7. Part II. Words, stems, and affixes
  8. Chapter 4. Signs and words 57
  9. Chapter 5. Leaving the stem by itself 81
  10. Chapter 6. Stem constancy under the microscope 99
  11. Chapter 7. Major lexical categories and graphemic weight 117
  12. Chapter 8. Word formation in the brain 127
  13. Chapter 9. The suffixing preference 147
  14. Part III. Competition, inheritance, and defaults
  15. Chapter 10. Feature-based competition 171
  16. Chapter 11. Competition in comparatives 199
  17. Chapter 12. Multi-layered default in Ripano 215
  18. Part IV. Morphomes
  19. Chapter 13. Morphomes all the way down! 239
  20. Chapter 14. Conditional exponence 255
  21. Chapter 15. My favorite morphome 279
  22. Chapter 16. In further pursuit of the adjective 289
  23. Chapter 17. Two-suffix combinations in native and non-native English 305
  24. Part V. Interfaces
  25. Chapter 18. A short history of phonology in America 327
  26. Chapter 19. Realization Optimality Theory 349
  27. Chapter 20. A-prefixing in the ex-slave narratives 377
  28. Chapter 21. Trajectory of children’s verb formation in Hebrew as a heritage language 395
  29. Chapter 22. A primer for linguists on the reading wars 415
  30. Index of languages 431
  31. Index of names 433
  32. Index of terms 435
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