Describe the difference between a morpheme, a morph and an allomorph.
Universität Duisburg Essen
Anglistik Tutorium
Table of Content
1. Introduction ..2
2. Morphemes, morphs and allomorps: extended definiton .3
2.1. What is a morpheme? 3
2.2. What is a morph? 3
2.3. What is an allomorph? 3
3. Differences between morphemes, morphs and allomorphs in linguisitc science .4
4. Conclusion 5
5. References 6
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1. Introduction
What we are talking about when it comes to usage of the terms morpheme, morph and allomorph is usually innately related to linguistic science, respectively the study of human and other communication systems.
However, one might also be concerned with the fact that the hierarchical term of which morpheme, morph and allomorph are subbranches, namely Morphology, was firstly introduced by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 1832) to describe the study of forms in nature and the evolution of those forms in order to meet higher standards.
Although the implied meaning of the term morphology, which is the study of forms, hasn't changed within the process of transferring it to make it usable in linguisitc sciences, the knowledge that lies beneath it had undergone several changes to make it fit the linguisic needs more appropriately.
In linguisitc science, Morphology approaches to, since there is no uniform definition of "word", define words as structural units which are composed of at least one base morpheme and one or more additional or decomposable morphemes (Study Guide Morphology, Antje Lahne, ).
This point of view is opposed within lingusitic science to other approaches to define "word", e.g. semantic approaches that simply define "word" as an independent unit of meaning.
The focus of this manuscript is to give a short description of the three main subbranches
References: Yule, George. 2006. The Study of language. New York: Cambridge University Press Lahne, Antje. Study Guide Morphology, Proseminar Introduction to Synchronic Linguistics. Datum der Recherche: 28.05.2006, erhältlich im Internet unter http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~angling/lahne/morphology.intro.pdf McIntyre, Andrew. English Morphology, Proseminar ´Introduction to Synchronic Linguistics´, Sommersemester 2000. Datum der Recherche: 03.06.2006, erhältlich im Internet unter http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~angling/mcintyre/morphology.intro.pdf Plagiatsklausel Hiermit erkläre ich, dass ich diese Arbeit eigenständig verfasst und alle wörtlich oder dem Sinn nach aus anderen Quellen übernommenen Passagen als solche gekennzeichnet habe. Mir ist bekannt, dass Plagiatsversuche zentral registriert werden und in schweren Fällen ein Ausschluss vom weiteren Studium geprüft werden wird. 6