{"title":"Semantic transparency and doublet formation: the case of Hebrew location nouns","authors":"","doi":"10.1007/s11525-024-09421-2","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<h3>Abstract</h3> <p>This study examines the correlation between derivational paradigms and morphological variation and change. I will examine a case study of Hebrew location nouns formation. Semitic morphology relies highly on non-concatenative morphology, where words are formed in patterns. Some Hebrew location nouns that are formed in one pattern, receive an additional form in another pattern with no change of their meaning. In contrast, there are location nouns, which are also formed in the same pattern, but do not have morphological doublets. Previous studies accounted for this change and proposed phonological and semantic criteria that trigger it. However, such explanation only account for why the change occurs, but not for cases where there is no doublet formation. I argue that morphological change is highly motivated in cases where the forms that undergo a change are part of a derivational paradigm. Specifically, I will show that only location nouns that are derivationally related to a verbal counterpart, such that the semantic relation between them is highly transparent, can undergo such change and have doublets. In contrast, words that are not part of such a paradigm are less likely to undergo change. The study highlights the important role of semantic transparency and derivational paradigms in morphological variation and change, showing that properties of words are not the only criteria that are taken into consideration, but also their relations with other words within a derivational paradigm.</p>","PeriodicalId":51849,"journal":{"name":"Morphology","volume":"53 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5000,"publicationDate":"2024-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Morphology","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11525-024-09421-2","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This study examines the correlation between derivational paradigms and morphological variation and change. I will examine a case study of Hebrew location nouns formation. Semitic morphology relies highly on non-concatenative morphology, where words are formed in patterns. Some Hebrew location nouns that are formed in one pattern, receive an additional form in another pattern with no change of their meaning. In contrast, there are location nouns, which are also formed in the same pattern, but do not have morphological doublets. Previous studies accounted for this change and proposed phonological and semantic criteria that trigger it. However, such explanation only account for why the change occurs, but not for cases where there is no doublet formation. I argue that morphological change is highly motivated in cases where the forms that undergo a change are part of a derivational paradigm. Specifically, I will show that only location nouns that are derivationally related to a verbal counterpart, such that the semantic relation between them is highly transparent, can undergo such change and have doublets. In contrast, words that are not part of such a paradigm are less likely to undergo change. The study highlights the important role of semantic transparency and derivational paradigms in morphological variation and change, showing that properties of words are not the only criteria that are taken into consideration, but also their relations with other words within a derivational paradigm.
期刊介绍:
Aim The aim of Morphology is to publish high quality articles that contribute to the further articulation of morphological theory and linguistic theory in general, or present new and unexplored data. Relevant empirical evidence for the theoretical claims in the articles will be provided by in-depth analyses of specific languages or by comparative, cross-linguistic analyses of the relevant facts. The sources of data can be grammatical descriptions, corpora of data concerning language use and other naturalistic data, and experiments. Scope Morphology publishes articles on morphology proper, as well as articles on the interaction of morphology with phonology, syntax, and semantics, the acquisition and processing of morphological information, the nature of the mental lexicon, and morphological variation and change. Its main focus is on formal models of morphological knowledge, morphological typology (the range and limits of variation in natural languages), the position of morphology in the architecture of the human language faculty, and the evolution and change of language. In addition, the journal deals with the acquisition of morphological knowledge and its role in language processing. Articles on computational morphology and neurolinguistic approaches to morphology are also welcome. The first volume of Morphology appeared as Volume 16 (2006). Previous volumes were published under the title Yearbook of Morphology.