In linguistics, an alternation is the phenomenon of a morpheme exhibiting variation in its phonological realization. Each of the various realizations is called an alternant. The variation may be conditioned by the phonological, morphological, and/or syntactic environment in which the morpheme finds itself.
Alternations provide linguists with data that allow them to determine the allophones and allomorphs of a language's phonemes and morphemes and to develop analyses determining the distribution of those allophones and allomorphs.
The term "sound change" refers to diachronic changes, which occur in a language's sound system. On the other hand, "alternation" refers to changes that happen synchronically (within the language of an individual speaker, depending on the neighbouring sounds) and do not change the language's underlying system.
An example of a phonologically conditioned alternation is the Englishplural marker commonly spelled s or es.[1] This morpheme is pronounced /s/, /z/, or /ᵻz/,[note 1] depending on the nature of the preceding sound.
If the preceding sound is a sibilant consonant (one of /s/,/z/,/ʃ/,/ʒ/), or an affricate (one of /tʃ/,/dʒ/), the plural marker takes the form /ᵻz/. Examples:
mass/ˈmæs/, plural masses/ˈmæsᵻz/
fez/ˈfɛz/, plural fezzes/ˈfɛzᵻz/
mesh/ˈmɛʃ/, plural meshes/ˈmɛʃᵻz/
mirage/mɪˈrɑːʒ/, plural mirages/mɪˈrɑːʒᵻz/
church/ˈtʃɜːrtʃ/, plural churches/ˈtʃɜːrtʃᵻz/
bridge/ˈbrɪdʒ/, plural bridges/ˈbrɪdʒᵻz/
Otherwise, if the preceding sound is voiceless, the plural marker takes the likewise voiceless form /s/. Examples:
mop/ˈmɒp/, plural mops/ˈmɒps/
mat/ˈmæt/, plural mats/ˈmæts/
pack/ˈpæk/, plural packs/ˈpæks/
cough/ˈkɒf/, plural coughs/ˈkɒfs/
myth/ˈmɪθ/, plural myths/ˈmɪθs/
Otherwise, the preceding sound is voiced, and the plural marker takes the likewise voiced form /z/.
French has an example of morphologically conditioned alternation. The feminine form of many adjectives ends in a consonant sound that is missing in the masculine form. In spelling, the feminine ends in a silent e, while the masculine ends in a silent consonant letter:[2]
Syntactically conditioned alternations can be found in the Insular Celtic languages, where words undergo various initial consonant mutations depending on their syntactic position.[3] For example, in Irish, an adjective undergoes lenition after a feminine singular noun:
unmutated mór[mˠoːɾˠ] "big", mutated in bean mhór[bʲanwoːɾˠ] "a big woman"
^The vowel of the inflectional suffix -⟨es⟩ may belong to the phoneme of either /ɪ/ or /ə/ depending on dialect, and ⟨ᵻ⟩ is a shorthand for "either /ɪ/ or /ə/". This usage of the symbol is borrowed from the Oxford English Dictionary.
Referencesedit
^Cohn, Abigail (2001). "Phonology". In Mark Aronoff; Janie Rees-Miller (eds.). The Handbook of Linguistics. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. pp. 202–203. ISBN0-631-20497-0.
^Steriade, Donca (1999). "Lexical conservatism in French adjectival liaison" (PDF). In Jean-Marc Authier; Barbara E. Bullock; Lisa A. Reed (eds.). Formal Perspectives in Romance Linguistics. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. pp. 243–70. ISBN90-272-3691-7.
^Green, Antony D. (2006). "The independence of phonology and morphology: The Celtic mutations" (PDF). Lingua. 116 (11): 1946–1985. doi:10.1016/j.lingua.2004.09.002.
January 19, 2024
alternation, linguistics, this, article, about, morphophonological, alternations, syntactic, alternations, diathesis, alternation, this, article, contains, phonetic, transcriptions, international, phonetic, alphabet, introductory, guide, symbols, help, distinc. This article is about morphophonological alternations For syntactic alternations see Diathesis alternation This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet IPA For an introductory guide on IPA symbols see Help IPA For the distinction between and see IPA Brackets and transcription delimiters In linguistics an alternation is the phenomenon of a morpheme exhibiting variation in its phonological realization Each of the various realizations is called an alternant The variation may be conditioned by the phonological morphological and or syntactic environment in which the morpheme finds itself Alternations provide linguists with data that allow them to determine the allophones and allomorphs of a language s phonemes and morphemes and to develop analyses determining the distribution of those allophones and allomorphs The term sound change refers to diachronic changes which occur in a language s sound system On the other hand alternation refers to changes that happen synchronically within the language of an individual speaker depending on the neighbouring sounds and do not change the language s underlying system Contents 1 Phonologically conditioned alternation 2 Alternation related to meaning 2 1 Morphologically conditioned alternation 2 2 Syntactically conditioned alternation 3 See also 4 Notes 5 ReferencesPhonologically conditioned alternation editSee also Allomorph An example of a phonologically conditioned alternation is the English plural marker commonly spelled s or es 1 This morpheme is pronounced s z or ᵻz note 1 depending on the nature of the preceding sound If the preceding sound is a sibilant consonant one of s z ʃ ʒ or an affricate one of tʃ dʒ the plural marker takes the form ᵻz Examples mass ˈmaes plural masses ˈmaesᵻz fez ˈfɛz plural fezzes ˈfɛzᵻz mesh ˈmɛʃ plural meshes ˈmɛʃᵻz mirage mɪˈrɑːʒ plural mirages mɪˈrɑːʒᵻz church ˈtʃɜːrtʃ plural churches ˈtʃɜːrtʃᵻz bridge ˈbrɪdʒ plural bridges ˈbrɪdʒᵻz Otherwise if the preceding sound is voiceless the plural marker takes the likewise voiceless form s Examples mop ˈmɒp plural mops ˈmɒps mat ˈmaet plural mats ˈmaets pack ˈpaek plural packs ˈpaeks cough ˈkɒf plural coughs ˈkɒfs myth ˈmɪ8 plural myths ˈmɪ8s Otherwise the preceding sound is voiced and the plural marker takes the likewise voiced form z dog ˈdɒɡ plural dogs ˈdɒɡz glove ˈɡlʌv plural gloves ˈɡlʌvz ram ˈraem plural rams ˈraemz doll ˈdɒl plural dolls ˈdɒlz toe ˈtoʊ plural toes ˈtoʊz Alternation related to meaning editMain article Apophony Morphologically conditioned alternation edit French has an example of morphologically conditioned alternation The feminine form of many adjectives ends in a consonant sound that is missing in the masculine form In spelling the feminine ends in a silent e while the masculine ends in a silent consonant letter 2 masculine petit peti feminine petite petit small masculine grand ɡʁɑ feminine grande ɡʁɑ d tall masculine gros ɡʁo feminine grosse ɡʁos big masculine joyeux ʒwajo feminine joyeuse ʒwajoz merry masculine franc fʁɑ feminine franche fʁɑ ʃ sincere masculine bon bɔ feminine bonne bɔn good Syntactically conditioned alternation edit Syntactically conditioned alternations can be found in the Insular Celtic languages where words undergo various initial consonant mutations depending on their syntactic position 3 For example in Irish an adjective undergoes lenition after a feminine singular noun unmutated mor mˠoːɾˠ big mutated in bean mhor bʲan woːɾˠ a big woman In Welsh a noun undergoes soft mutation when it is the direct object of a finite verb unmutated beic beik bike mutated in Prynodd y ddynes feic ˈprenod e ˈdenɛs veik The woman bought a bike See also editApophony Sandhi AllophoneNotes edit The vowel of the inflectional suffix es may belong to the phoneme of either ɪ or e depending on dialect and ᵻ is a shorthand for either ɪ or e This usage of the symbol is borrowed from the Oxford English Dictionary References edit Cohn Abigail 2001 Phonology In Mark Aronoff Janie Rees Miller eds The Handbook of Linguistics Oxford Blackwell Publishers pp 202 203 ISBN 0 631 20497 0 Steriade Donca 1999 Lexical conservatism in French adjectival liaison PDF In Jean Marc Authier Barbara E Bullock Lisa A Reed eds Formal Perspectives in Romance Linguistics Amsterdam John Benjamins pp 243 70 ISBN 90 272 3691 7 Green Antony D 2006 The independence of phonology and morphology The Celtic mutations PDF Lingua 116 11 1946 1985 doi 10 1016 j lingua 2004 09 002 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Alternation linguistics amp oldid 1176834547, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
