This book provides the first broad yet thorough coverage of issues in morphological theory. It includes a wide array of techniques and systems in computational morphology (including discussion of their limitations), and describes some unusual applications.Sproat motivates the study of computational morphology by arguing that a computational natural language system, such as a parser or a generator, must incorporate a model of morphology. He discusses a range of applications for programs with knowledge of morphology, some of which are not generally found in the literature. Sproat then provides an overview of some of the basic descriptive facts about morphology and issues in theoretical morphology and (lexical) phonology, as well as psycholinguistic evidence for human processing of morphological structure. He take up the basic techniques that have been proposed for doing morphological processing and discusses at length various systems (such as DECOMP and KIMMO) that incorporate part or all of those techniques, pointing out the inadequacies of such systems from both a descriptive and a computational point of view. He concludes by touching on interesting peripheral areas such as the analysis of complex nominals in English, and on the main contributions of Rumelhart and McClelland's connectionism to the computational analysis of words.

The volume collects a selection of papers presented at a European Colloquium held at the Università degli Studi di Roma Tre in October 1997. It focuses on phenomena at the boundary between morphology and syntax, and provides analyses for data from the fields of both inflectional and derivational morphology and word order. Morpho-syntactic phenomena are analysed cross-linguistically and cross-theoretically, as typologically-different languages (European, Afro-Asiatic, American and Austronesian ones) are dealt with and compared according to a variety of approaches, from minimalism and lexical-functional grammar to grammaticalization theory, taking into account both synchronic variation and diachronic change. The volume is divided into three sections: I. Morphological phenomena and their boundaries, II. Morpho-syntax and pragmatics, and III. Morpho-syntax and semantics, as the interaction with the higher components of the grammar is seen as contributing to explaining variation in morpho-syntactic behaviour.

A revival of interest in morphology has occurred during recent years. The Yearbook of Morphology series, published since 1988, has proven to be an eminent support for this upswing of morphological research, since it contains articles on topics which are central in the current theoretical debates which are frequently referred to. The Yearbook of Morphology 1998 focuses on two issues: the position of inflection in the grammar, and the interaction of morphology with phonology, in particular the problem of allomorphy. In addition, this volume presents a study of the relation between transposition and argument structure, a declarative model of word formation applied to conversion in German, an analysis of Dutch verbal compounds and a study of the semantic aspects of nominalization. The relevant evidence comes from a wide variety of languages. Theoretical, descriptive, and historical linguists, morphologists, phonologists, and psycholinguists will find this book of interest.

This ground breaking study dispels the common belief that Chinese 'doesn't have words' but instead 'has characters'. Jerome Packard's book provides a comprehensive discussion of the linguistic and cognitive nature of Chinese words. It shows that Chinese, far from being 'morphologically impoverished', has a different morphological system because it selects different 'settings' on parameters shared by all languages. The analysis of Chinese word formation therefore enhances our understanding of word universals. Packard describes the intimate relationship between words and their components, including how the identities of Chinese morphemes are word-driven, and offers new insights into the evolution of morphemes based on Chinese data. Models are offered for how Chinese words are stored in the mental lexicon and processed in natural speech, showing that much of what native speakers know about words occurs innately in the form of a hard-wired, specifically linguistic 'program' in the brain.

The first comprehensive description of English word formation covers inflection and derivation, compounding, conversion, and minor processes such as subtractive morphology. It combines theory-neutral presentation of data with theoretically informed analysis. Winner of the 2015 Bloomfield Book Award and written by three outstanding scholars, this is a vital reference for all linguists.

This book presents a detailed examination of the most important arguments for a process-based theory of morphology and offers a highly-constrained alternative to the powerful mechanisms proposed in processual theories of morphology.Data is presented from dozens of different languages from numerous language families around the world, much of it new to the linguistic forum. The importance of prosodic morphology in the analysis of linguistic phenomena is highlighted and the need for greater constraints on generative power is examined. This work addresses some of the thorniest problems in morphological theory in a novel alternative fashion, including the issues of ablaut, exchange rules, metathesis, reduplication and subtraction, and presents reanalyses based on moraic morphology and the traditional notion of 'combination' of morphemes along with the underlying theme of constraining the grammar of natural language to the utmost. Contributions to the field include: (i) new data from Nitinaht reduplicative constructions, Nootka hypocoristic formation, and Nootkan variable-length vowels; (ii) reanalyses of previous problems, including metathesis in Chawchila Yokuts, Hebrew, and Saanich, exchange rules in Luo, Dinka, and Diegueño, and truncation in Danish; (iii) analyses of new problems from reduplication in Nitinaht and Nootka templatic morphology; and (iv) new theoretical apparatus is introduced: the unification of templates and a new proposal for hierarchical syllable structure based on the mora as head of N.

What is Morphology? is a concise and critical introduction to the central ideas of morphology, which has been revised and expanded to include additional material on morphological productivity and the mental lexicon, experimental and computational methods, and new teaching material. Introduces the fundamental aspects of morphology to students with minimal background in linguistics Includes additional material on morphological productivity and the mental lexicon, and experimental and computational methods Features new and revised exercises as well as suggestions for further reading at the end of each chapter Equips students with the skills to analyze a wide breadth of classic morphological issues through engaging examples Uses cross-linguistic data throughout to illustrate concepts, specifically referencing Kujamaat Joola, a Senegalese language Includes a new answer key, available for instructors online at http://www.wiley.com/go/aronoff

This monograph addresses morphology and its interfaces with phonology and syntax by examining comparative data from the Uto-Aztecan language family, and analyses involving reduplication as well as noun incorporation and related derivational morphology are provided within the framework of Distributed Morphology. Reduplication is treated by analyzing reduplicative morphemes (reduplicants) as morphological pieces (Vocabulary Items) inserted into syntactic slots at Morphological Structure. Noun incorporation constructions are analyzed as involving either incorporation (head movement in syntax, a la Baker 1988), or conflation, involving direct merger of a nominal root into verbal position (a la Hale and Keyser 2002). It is argued that denominal verb constructions should be treated as a sub-case of NI, as in Hale and Keyser (1993). Finally, the historical development of the polysynthesis parameter in Nahuatl is discussed, and a reconstruction of the likely stages of development, each of which is attested elsewhere in the family, is presented.

Previous work on morphology has largely tended either to avoid precise computational details or to ignore linguistic generality. Computational Morphologyis the first book to present an integrated set of techniques for the rigorous description of morphological phenomena in English and similar languages. By taking account of all facets of morphological analysis, it provides a linguistically general and computationally practical dictionary system for use within an English parsing program. The authors covermorphographemics (variations in spelling as words are built from their component morphemes),morphotactics (the ways that different classes of morphemes can combine, and the types of words that result), andlexical redundancy (patterns of similarity and regularity among the lexical entries for words). They propose a precise rule-notation for each of these areas of linguistic description and present the algorithms for using these rules computationally to manipulate dictionary information. These mechanisms have been implemented in practical and publicly available software, which is described in detail, and appendixes contain a large number of computer-tested sets of rules and lexical entries for English. Graeme D. Ritchie is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Edinburgh, where Alan W. Black is currently a research student. Graham J. Russell is a Research Fellow at ISSCO (Institut Dalle Molle pour les etudes semantiques et cognitives) in Geneva, and Stephen G. Pulman is a Lecturer in the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory and Director of SRI International's Cambridge Computer Science Research Centre.

In the last decades a remarkable renaissance has materialized in insect morphology, mainly triggered by the development of new cutting-edge technologies. This is an exciting time for biological synthesis where the mysteries and data derived from genomes can be combined with centuries of data from morphology and development. And, now, more than ever, detailed knowledge of morphology is essential to understanding the evolution of all groups of organisms. In this “age of phylogenomics” researchers rely on morphological data to support molecular findings, test complex evolutionary scenarios, and for placing fossil taxa. This textbook provides an in-depth treatment of the structures and the phylogeny of the megadiverse Hexapoda. The first part presents an up-to-date overview of general insect morphology with detailed drawings, scanning electron micrographs, and 3-D reconstructions. Also included is a chapter covering innovative morphological techniques (e.g., μ-computer tomography, 3-D modeling), brief treatments of insect development and phylogenetic methods, and a comprehensive morphological glossary. The second part is of a modern synthesis of insect systematics that includes taxon-specific morphological information for all Orders. The work is an invaluable reference for students and researchers working in all facets of biology and is a must for evolutionary biologists. A detailed understanding of morphology is essential in unraveling phylogenetic relationships and developing complex evolutionary scenarios. Increasingly researchers in phylogenomics are re/turning to morphological data to support their findings, while the development of new cutting-edge technologies has further increased interest in this growing field. This definitive handbook provides an in-depth treatment of insect morphology. The first part presents an up-to-date overview of insect morphology with detailed drawings, brilliant scanning electron micrographs and 3-D reconstructions as interactive PDFs. This is complemented by a chapter on innovative morphological techniques (e.g., μ-computer tomography, 3-D modeling) and a comprehensive morphological glossary. The second part treats the state of the art in insect systematics and includes taxon-specific morphological information for all orders. Systematics are treated formally, with for example the arguments for relationships (“apomorphies”) always listed explicitly. The work is a useful reference for students and researchers working in different fields of biology and a must for those dealing with insects from an evolutionary perspective.