morphophonology
Sign in to saveAlso known as morphophonemics, morphonology
Morphophonology (also morphophonemics or morphonology) is the branch of linguistics that studies the interaction between morphological and phonological or phonetic processes. Its chief focus is the sound changes that take place in morphemes (minimal meaningful units) when they combine to form words.
~11 min read
Article
10 sectionsContents
- Morphophonemes and morphophonological rules
- Types of changes
- Relation with phonology
- Isolation forms
- Orthography
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Bibliography
- External links
Morphophonology (also morphophonemics or morphonology) is the branch of linguistics that studies the interaction between morphological and phonological or phonetic processes. Its chief focus is the sound changes that take place in morphemes (minimal meaningful units) when they combine to form words.
The origins of morphophonology trace back to the early 20th century with foundational works in structural linguistics. Notable contributions include Roman Jakobson's insights into phonological alternations and Chomsky and Halle's The Sound Pattern of English (1968), which formalized the relationship between phonology and morphology within generative grammar. Subsequent theories, such as Autosegmental phonology and Optimality theory, have refined the analysis of morphophonological patterns.