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Introducing Morphology

Rochelle Lieber

Chapter 7

Typology - all with Video Answers

Educators

Chapter Questions

01:23

Problem 1

On the basis of the data below, try to classify these languages as isolating, agglutinative, fusional, or polysynthetic.

Emily Himsel
Emily Himsel
Numerade Educator
05:37

Problem 2

Consider the following paradigms from the Mayan language Tzutujil (Dayley 1985: 87): Identify all the morphemes in the paradigms above. On the basis of your analysis, how would you classify Tzutujil using the traditional fourfold classification system?

Leah Lampen
Leah Lampen
Numerade Educator

Problem 3

On the basis of the data below, try to classify these languages as head- marking, dependent-marking, or double marking.
a. Chechen (Nakh-Dagestanian) (Nichols 1986: 60)
de:-n a:x? a
father-G E N money
‘father’s money’
b. Huallaga Quechua (Quechuan) (Nichols 1986: 72)
hwan-pawasi-n
John-G E N house-3
‘John’s house’
c. Abkhaz (Abkhaz-Adyghe) (Nichols 1986: 60, from Hewitt 1979: 116)
à-? ’k ??n y?-y ?n? ?
the-boy his-house
‘the boy’s house’

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Problem 4

Consider the forms below from the Yuman language Hualapai (data from Watahomigie, Bender, and Yamamoto 1982: 234). Divide the words into morphemes, gloss them, and then discuss whether possession in Hualapai is expressed by head-marking, dependent-marking, or double marking. If you have trouble making a decision, discuss what further information about Hualapai would help you to decide.

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03:20

Problem 5

Review the sections of Chapter 5 where we discussed morphological processes like reduplication, infixation, internal stem change, and templatic morphology. Do they present any problems for the traditional fourfold classification? Choose two examples from Chapter 5 and discuss whether they are easily classified or not.

John Barone
John Barone
Numerade Educator

Problem 6

Look at the World Atlas of Language Structures Online (https://wals.info). At the WALS website click on "Features," and then click on article 24 "Locus of Marking in Possessive Noun Phrases." Which is more prevalent in the languages of the world, head-marking or dependent-marking? Now click on the accompanying map. Can you notice any areal tendencies in headmarking and dependent-marking in possessive noun phrases?

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Problem 7

Look at the Universals Archive website (http://typo.unikonstanz.de/archive/intro/index.php). Click on "Search" and at the search screen, type "morphology" in the box next to "Original," and then click on "Submit Query." You should get about 25 hits. From these hits, find five implicational universals.

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Problem 8

Consider the following examples from the Otomanguean language Mixtec (Macaulay 1996: 79): T?M P stands for temporal, CP for completive, and PL for plural. 1 and 2 stand for first person and second person respectively.
What problem does this example raise for Bybee's implicational universal?

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