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Chapter 14. Conditional exponence

  • Gregory T. Stump
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All Things Morphology
This chapter is in the book All Things Morphology

Abstract

In inferential-realizational theories of morphology, the content realized by the application of a rule of exponence is customarily assumed to be invariant across the range of contexts in which that rule applies. Yet, there are morphomic exponents whose content is sensitive to context; Breton verb inflection presents striking examples of exponents of this sort. I argue that the patterns of context dependency presented by such exponents are an effect of the phenomenon of rule combination, by which simple rules of morphology may combine to form more complex rules. Some rule combinations involve ordinary rule composition; the properties of a combination of this sort are deducible from those of its component rules. Other rule combinations are supplementational; a combination of this sort possesses one or more properties that are not deducible from those of its component rules. As I show, the Breton examples of conditional exponence involve supplementational rule combination. I elucidate this claim formally and discuss its wider implications for morphological theory.

Abstract

In inferential-realizational theories of morphology, the content realized by the application of a rule of exponence is customarily assumed to be invariant across the range of contexts in which that rule applies. Yet, there are morphomic exponents whose content is sensitive to context; Breton verb inflection presents striking examples of exponents of this sort. I argue that the patterns of context dependency presented by such exponents are an effect of the phenomenon of rule combination, by which simple rules of morphology may combine to form more complex rules. Some rule combinations involve ordinary rule composition; the properties of a combination of this sort are deducible from those of its component rules. Other rule combinations are supplementational; a combination of this sort possesses one or more properties that are not deducible from those of its component rules. As I show, the Breton examples of conditional exponence involve supplementational rule combination. I elucidate this claim formally and discuss its wider implications for morphological theory.

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.353.14stu

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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