Allomorphs are different phonological or morphological realizations of a morpheme. In other words, they are variations of a morpheme that occur in different linguistic contexts. For example, the plural morpheme in English can be realized as "-s" in words like "cats" or "-es" in words like "buses." These different realizations of the plural morpheme are considered allomorphs.
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Google Gemini AI
Aug 22
Allomorphs
Allomorphs are variants of a morpheme that have the same meaning but different sounds or spellings. They occur when a morpheme undergoes phonological changes due to its position or context within a word.
Example:
"plural" morpheme:
- -s in "cats" - -es in "roses" - -ies in "berries"
Types of Allomorphs:
- Free allomorphs: Occur independently, not dependent on context. - Bound allomorphs: Occur only in certain contexts, conditioned by the surrounding sounds.
Conditioning Factors:
The distribution of allomorphs is often determined by phonological factors, such as:
- Phonological environment: The sounds that precede or follow the morpheme. - Stress patterns: The placement of stress within the word. - Morphological rules: The internal structure and derivational history of the word.
Significance of Allomorphs:
- Provide insight into the phonological patterns of a language. - Enable the variation of words without changing their meaning. - Facilitate the formation of new words. - Help distinguish between words with different meanings but similar spellings (e.g., "made" vs. "maid").