Morphophonology the interaction between morphology and phonology.pdf

Chapter 10 dives into morphophonology;
the area of linguistics that studies the interaction between morphology (word structure) and
phonology (sound systems). It focuses particularly on cases where morphemes appear in different
phonological forms, depending on their environment.

1. Presented by:
Hanan JARROUDI - Yasmine AIT DIHIM - Omnia RACHAD
MORPHOPHONOLOGY

2. HERE ARE SOME KEY AREAS
WE'LL BE EXPLORING
10.1 TYPES OF
ALTERNATIONS
10.4 Morphophonology
as phonology
10. INTRODUCTION
10.2THE PRODUCTIVITY OF
MORPHONOLOGICAL
ALTERNATIONS
10.3THE DIACHRONY OF
MORPHOPHONOLOGICAL
ALTERNATIONS
10.5
Morphophonology
as morphology

3. INTRODUCTION
Chapter 10 dives into morphophonology;
the area of linguistics that studies the interaction between morphology (word structure) and
phonology (sound systems). It focuses particularly on cases where morphemes appear in different
phonological forms, depending on their environment —
for example, how leaf becomes leaves [lif] → [li:v],
These variations, known as phonological allomorphs, reflect a complex interface where phonological
rules and morphological structure intersect.
This chapter lays out different types of sound alternations and how they behave — not only from a
theoretical standpoint but also by examining concrete linguistic data across multiple languages.
Presented by Hanan JARROUDI

4. SECTION 10.1: TWO TYPES OF
ALTERNATIONS
This section introduces a key distinction in morphophonology: automatic alternations versus
morphophonological alternations.
What is an Alternation?
AN ALTERNATION IS THE FORMAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PHONOLOGICAL ALLOMORPHS —
DIFFERENT SURFACE FORMS OF THE SAME MORPHEME.
For instance: leaf/leaves: [lif] vs [li:v]
Alternations can be thought of as "processes" in which a sound changes due to its environment.
Presented by Hanan JARROUDI

5. SECTION 10.1: TWO TYPES OF
ALTERNATIONS
English Flapping: /t/ or /d/ becomes a flap [ɾ]
between vowels in casual speech
(patting → [pæɾɪŋ])
These are purely
phonological. The alternation
occurs because of the sound
environment and not due to
morphological structure.
EXAMPLES:
These alternations depend on
morphological or lexical context — they
are not purely phonologically
conditioned.
English Trisyllabic Shortening: long vowels
shorten when followed by two syllables, the
first of which is unstressed
(divine/divinity)
EXAMPLES:
Type 1: Automatic Alternations TYPE 2: MORPHOPHONOLOGICAL
ALTERNATIONS

6. lexically or
morphologically
restricted
often don’t extend
to loanwords.
may not apply
in all
environments
TYPE 1:
AUTOMATIC
ALTERNATIONS
TYPE 2:
MORPHOPHONOLOGIC
ALTERNATIONS
Predictable
Phonetically
Morivated
often occur across word
boundaries and in
loanwords.

7. Presented by Hanan JARROUDI

8. SECTION# 2: THE PRODUCTIVITY OF
MORPHOPHONOLOGICAL ALTERNATIONS
THIS SECTION FOCUSES ON HOW MORPHOPHONOLOGICAL ALTERNATIONS VARY
IN HOW PRODUCTIVE THEY ARE — THAT IS, HOW LIKELY THEY ARE TO BE
APPLIED TO NEW WORDS OR BORROWINGS. UNLIKE AUTOMATIC
ALTERNATIONS, WHICH TYPICALLY APPLY ACROSS THE BOARD,
MORPHOPHONOLOGICAL ALTERNATIONS EXIST ON A CONTINUUM OF
PRODUCTIVITY:
Presented by Yasmine AIT DIHIM

9. SECTION# 2: THE PRODUCTIVITY OF
MORPHOPHONOLOGICAL ALTERNATIONS
THE THREE MAIN CATEGORIES ARE:
1) RELIC ALTERNATIONS
2) COMMON ALTERNATIONS
3) PRODUCTIVE ALTERNATIONS

10. ENGLISH EXAMPLE: “WAS” / “BEEN” ALTERNATION
RELATED ALTERNATIONS ALSO APPEAR IN FREEZE/FROST, BUT THERE'S NO
ACTIVE RULE SYNCHRONICALLY LINKING THEM.
→ FOR MOST ENGLISH SPEAKERS, THESE ARE JUST IRREGULARS TO MEMORIZE —
THEY DON’T “CREATE” NEW FORMS .
#1 ?????? RELIC ALTERNATIONS:
THESE ARE REMNANTS OF OLDER SOUND CHANGES AND APPEAR IN ONLY A FEW WORDS.
THEY'RE OFTEN NOT PRODUCTIVE ANYMORE, MEANING SPEAKERS DON'T EXTEND THEM TO
NEW WORDS — AND OFTEN DON’T EVEN REALIZE THEY’RE PART OF A PATTERN.

11. ?????? ENGLISH EXAMPLE: TRISYLLABIC SHORTENING
EXTREME → EXTREMITY
THIS ALTERNATION SHORTENS LONG VOWELS OR DIPHTHONGS WHEN A SUFFIX CREATES A
TRISYLLABIC ENVIRONMENT (WITH STRESS PATTERN CONSTRAINTS).
BUT IT’S NOT PRODUCTIVE:
GLOBALIZE DOESN’T BECOME GLOBELIZE
NOTIONAL (FROM NOTION) DOESN’T SHORTEN THE VOWEL
SO WHILE COMMON, THE RULE DOESN’T APPLY PRODUCTIVELY TO NEWLY FORMED WORDS.
#2.?????? COMMON ALTERNATIONS:
THESE OCCUR FREQUENTLY IN A LANGUAGE, AND ACROSS MULTIPLE MORPHOLOGICAL
ENVIRONMENTS, BUT THEY ARE NOT ACTIVELY APPLIED TO NEW WORDS. SPEAKERS RECOGNIZE
THE PATTERN BUT DON’T NECESSARILY GENERALIZE IT TO COIN NEW FORMS.

12. ?????? ENGLISH EXAMPLE: STRESS SHIFT WITH -ITY AND -IC SUFFIXES
ELECTRIC → ELECTRICITY
HISTORIC → HISTORICITY
THESE SUFFIXES CAUSE CONSISTENT STRESS SHIFT AND CAN BE APPLIED TO NEW ADJECTIVES TO
FORM ABSTRACT NOUNS:
FUTURISTIC → FUTURICITY (HYPOTHETICAL, BUT MORPHOLOGICALLY POSSIBLE)
ANOTHER EXAMPLE IS -IZE/-IZATION:
FINAL → FINALIZE → FINALIZATION
HOSPITAL → HOSPITALIZE → HOSPITALIZATION
→ THESE AFFIXES TRIGGER PREDICTABLE ALTERNATIONS (LIKE STRESS SHIFT, SOMETIMES VOWEL
REDUCTION), AND READILY ATTACH TO NEW BASES.
#3.??????⚙️ PRODUCTIVE ALTERNATIONS :
THESE ARE NOT ONLY FREQUENT, BUT ACTIVELY APPLIED TO NOVEL WORDS, NEOLOGISMS, AND
EVEN LOANWORDS.
SPEAKERS USE THEM CREATIVELY AND UNCONSCIOUSLY.

14. Q:
How do morphophonological
alternations come to exist in
the first place?
?????? SECTION 10.3 – THE DIACHRONY OF
MORPHOPHONOLOGICAL ALTERNATIONS
A:
ALL MORPHOPHONOLOGICAL
ALTERNATIONS START AS
AUTOMATIC ALTERNATIONS.

15. STEP (1) Sound Change Happens
STEP (2) The Alternation Becomes Automatic
STEP (3) Morphology Takes Over
?????? SOUND CHANGE → AUTOMATIC ALTERNATION
→ MORPHOPHONOLOGICAL ALTERNATION

16. 1. SOUND CHANGE HAPPENS
A PHONETICALLY MOTIVATED
CHANGE OCCURS.
FOR EXAMPLE:
IT MIGHT BE HARD TO PRONOUNCE
CERTAIN SOUNDS IN A SPECIFIC
POSITION (LIKE VOICED
OBSTRUENTS AT THE END OF
WORDS), SO SPEAKERS START
ADJUSTING PRONUNCIATION.
THIS CREATES AN
AUTOMATIC ALTERNATION.
IT'S PHONOLOGICAL AND
BASED ON EASE OF
ARTICULATION OR
PERCEPTION.

17. FOR EXAMPLE:
IN OLD HIGH GERMAN, UMLAUT
BEGAN AS AN AUTOMATIC PROCESS:
A BACK VOWEL IN THE ROOT (U)
BECAME FRONTED (Ü) IF THERE
WAS AN [I] OR [J] IN THE
FOLLOWING SYLLABLE.
JUDE (JEWISH MAN) →
JÜDIN (JEWISH WOMAN)
2. THE ALTERNATION BECOMES AUTOMATIC
THE SOUND CHANGE SPREADS
ACROSS THE LANGUAGE AND
BECOMES A REGULAR
ALTERNATION — PURELY
CONDITIONED BY
PHONOLOGICAL CONTEXT.

18. 3. MORPHOLOGY TAKES OVER
OVER TIME, THE ORIGINAL
PHONOLOGICAL TRIGGER
DISAPPEARS (LIKE THE [I] OR
[J] BEING LOST OR REDUCED),
BUT THE VOWEL ALTERNATION
REMAINS.
NOW:
THE SOUND CHANGE CAN
NO LONGER BE EXPLAINED
BY PHONOLOGY ALONE.
SPEAKERS START
ASSOCIATING THE VOWEL
CHANGE WITH
MORPHOLOGICAL
PATTERNS (LIKE FORMING
THE FEMININE OR
PLURAL).

19. 3. MORPHOLOGY TAKES OVER
THIS REANALYSIS TURNS THE ALTERNATION INTO A
MORPHOPHONOLOGICAL ONE — TRIGGERED BY
MORPHOLOGICAL STRUCTURE, NOT PHONOLOGY.

20. ?????? SUMMARY FLOW:

21. ?????? WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
UNDERSTANDING DIACHRONY GIVES INSIGHT INTO:
HOW THE GRAMMAR OF A LANGUAGE CHANGES
HOW NEW MORPHOLOGICAL RULES ARE BORN FROM OLDER PHONETIC
PROCESSES
WHY SOME ALTERNATIONS SEEM IRREGULAR OR “RANDOM” SYNCHRONICALLY?
— THEY OFTEN WEREN’T RANDOM HISTORICALLY
THIS HISTORICAL PROCESS HELPS EXPLAIN WHY CERTAIN MORPHOPHONOLOGICAL
ALTERNATIONS FEEL ARBITRARY TODAY, EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE ONCE
PREDICTABLE.

22. Do automatic and
morphophonological 
alternations reflect
morphological structure or
phonological structure?
By Omnia Rachad

23. MORPHOPHONOLOGY
 AS PHONOLOGY
1.

24. BOTH AUTOMATIC AND MORPHOPHONOLOGICAL ALTERNATIONS ARE 
GENERATED BY PHONOLOGICAL STRUCTURE
The Level Ordering Hypothesis states that word formation occurs in sequential stages,
with phonological rules applying after each stage.
LEVEL ORDERING HYPOTHESIS
Level 1 Affixes (integrated): -ity, -ion, -ive...
Trigger stress shifts, cause sound changes (e.g., Trisyllabic
Shortening: sane [eɪ] → sanity [æ]), and attach closer to the root.
Level 2 Affixes (neutral): -ness, -able, -ly...
No stress shifts (hápily → happiness), no sound changes, and
attach farther from the root
Rule Order: Affix → Phonology → Next affix → Phonology

25. EXAMPLES
divine → divinity
Level 1: -ity triggers trisyllabic shortening and stress shift
divine [dɪˈvaɪn] → divinity [dɪˈvɪnɪti]
govern→ government
Level 2: -ment attaches without phonological change
govern [ˈɡʌvərn] → government [ˈɡʌvərnmənt]
photograph → photographic → photographically
Level 1: adding -ic → photographic→stress shifts to the second syllable
[ˈfoʊtəˌɡræf] → photographic [ˌfoʊtəˈɡræfɪk]
Level 2: add -ally → photographically→ no additional stress or vowel changes
photographic [ˌfoʊtəˈɡræfɪk] → photographically [ˌfoʊtəˈɡræfɪkli]

26. EXCEPTIONS
Readable (Level II -able) + -ity (Level I) → readability (allowed,
but Level Ordering predicts this shouldn’t happen)
RULE OVERLAP
Velar Softening is a Level I rule, but some Level II affixes
trigger it:
Public (Level II -ize) → publicize [k → s]
STRESS
PATTERNS
Both Level I (in-) and Level II (un-) prefixes can have similar
stress (ùnnatural vs. ìnactive), blurring the distinction
PRODUCTIVITY
Many Level I affixes (-ity, -ive) are unproductive ( chivalry →
*chivalrity)
LIMITATIONS!

27. 2. MORPHOPHONOLOGY
AS MORPHOLOGY

28.  MORPHOLOGICAL ALTERNATIONS PROPERLY BELONG TO 
THE DOMAIN OF MORPHOLOGY ( WORD-BUILDING RULES NOT
JUST SOUND RULES)
Examples:
Record (noun: RE-cord) vs. record (verb: re-CORD) uses stress shift
without affixes.
Irregular plurals: foot → feet (vowel change marks plurality)
SOUND
CHANGES
REPLACE
AFFIXES
SOUND CHANGES ALONE SIGNAL MEANING!!!!
back-formationirregularities

29. MIDDLE GROUND: PHONOLOGY & MORPHOLOGY
INTERACT
PHONOLOGY?????? MORPHOLOGY ??????
SOUND RULES WORD-BUILDING
RULES
??????+??????
STRESS SHIFTS
,TRISYLLABIC
SHORTENING ,VELAR
SOFTENING

30. Morphophonology sits at the interface of sound and structure.
While the debate continues, both components likely interact in
complex ways. Some alternations fit a phonological model (like
Level Ordering), while others clearly rely on morphology. English
shows both patterns, suggesting morphophonology lives at the
intersection of these two systems.
CONCLUSION

31. Thank you