16.1942, Review: Morphology/Textbooks: Aronoff & Fudeman (2005)

[LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-16-1942. Thu Jun 23 2005. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 16.1942, Review: Morphology/Textbooks: Aronoff & Fudeman (2005)

Moderators: Anthony Aristar, Wayne State U <aristar at linguistlist.org>
            Helen Aristar-Dry, Eastern Michigan U <hdry at linguistlist.org>
 
Reviews (reviews at linguistlist.org) 
        Sheila Dooley, U of Arizona  
        Terry Langendoen, U of Arizona  

Homepage: http://linguistlist.org/

The LINGUIST List is funded by Eastern Michigan University, Wayne
State University, and donations from subscribers and publishers.

Editor for this issue: Naomi Ogasawara <naomi at linguistlist.org>
================================================================  

What follows is a review or discussion note contributed to our 
Book Discussion Forum. We expect discussions to be informal and 
interactive; and the author of the book discussed is cordially 
invited to join in. If you are interested in leading a book 
discussion, look for books announced on LINGUIST as "available 
for review." Then contact Sheila Dooley at collberg at linguistlist.org. 

===========================Directory==============================  

1)
Date: 23-Jun-2005
From: Jonathan White < jwh at du.se >
Subject: What is Morphology? 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Thu, 23 Jun 2005 16:54:22
From: Jonathan White < jwh at du.se >
Subject: What is Morphology? 
 

AUTHORS: Aronoff, Mark; Fudeman, Kirsten
TITLE: What is Morphology? 
SERIES: Fundamentals of Linguistics
PUBLISHER: Blackwell Publishing
YEAR: 2005
Announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/16/16-381.html


Jonathan White, Högskolan Dalarna, Falun, Sweden

CONTENTS

This book aims to introduce students to morphological analysis who 
already have basic knowledge of Syntax, Semantics, Phonetics and 
Phonology. The focus is on important analytical issues that need to be 
treated by any framework. After going through the book, students will 
be able to appreciate what a good morphological analysis involves, 
and what theories of morphology should cover. A particular feature of 
the book is that the authors concentrate on giving the entire 
morphological system of a language spoken in Senegal, Kujamaat 
Joola. Sections on this language come at the end of each chapter, 
and relate to the discussion in the text.

Chapter 1: Thinking about Morphology and Morphological Analysis 
The first chapter covers basic terminology like morpheme, morph and 
the different types of affixes. The fact that speakers can generate 
novel words by adding morphemes is presented. The authors then 
look at some basic morphological facts that will be dealt with later on, 
and differences between languages, such as that some languages 
mark nouns for plural using an ending while others do not. Basic 
theoretical ideas like the one that morphology is seen as a system and 
as a separate component of grammar are also discussed. Finally they 
cover some basic questions about morphological analysis like 
allomorphy, and the fact that words cannot always be divided clearly 
into separate morphemes, as in ablaut past tenses like 'ran' and zero 
plurals like 'sheep'. The Kunjamaat Joola language is introduced as 
well.

Chapter 2: Words and Lexemes. This chapter starts with the ways in 
which the notion of word can be defined. Words as syntactic or 
phonological objects are covered, as well as tests like the fact that 
words are not separable. The difference between content and 
function words is discussed, and this is extended to affixes by 
discussing derivational and inflectional affixes. Two approaches to 
analysis are introduced: Item-and-Arrangement and Item-and-Process, 
including problematic cases like conversion which can be marked by a 
stress shift. The nature of the lexicon is covered: either as a list of all 
possible morphemes, or as a list of irregularities. Finally, Kunjamaat 
Joola noun classes are discussed.

Chapter 3: Morphology and Phonology. Chapter 3 begins with a 
discussion of allomorphy, and specifically phonological processes like 
the assimilation that occurs in the pronunciation of the English past 
ending '-ed'. Two major theories concerning the link between 
morphology and phonology are introduced: Prosodic Morphology and 
Lexical Morphology. Next, linguistic exaptation is covered, that is the 
process whereby morphemes that lose their semantic content as a 
result of language change are reanalysed -- this happened in English 
with the vowel changing processes in verbs which originally encoded 
aspect but changed to encode tense. Finally the morphophonology of 
secret languages like Pig Latin is dealt with, and that of Kunjamaat 
Joola.

Chapter 4: Derivation and the Lexicon. The question that is taken up 
in the fourth chapter is whether the result of derivational morphology 
is stored in the lexicon or not. This is discussed by looking at 
compounds and affixation. The fact that speakers can actively 
generate new word-forms suggests that not all derivational forms are 
stored. Next, other derivational processes like blending, folk 
etymology and back-formation are discussed. The hierarchical 
structure of words is dealt with. Finally, derivational morphology in 
Kunjamaat Joola is introduced.

Chapter 5: Derivation and Semantics. The fifth chapter deals with the 
fact that morphemes may be associated with more than one meaning. 
A few examples of affixes that have more than one meaning are 
discussed, such as zero-derived verbs and '-er' agentive nouns. The 
chapter ends with a discussion of derivation and verbs in Kunjamaat 
Joola.

Chapter 6: Inflection. Chapter 6 begins with a discussion of what 
inflection is. The fact the affixes can realise more than one feature is 
covered, as well as the link between inflection and syntax in 
government/agreement relations. Then inflectional features in 
languages are presented. Next, the difference between inflection and 
derivation is discussed. Various inflectional allomorphs are presented, 
and finally morphological typologies. Agreement in Kunjamaat Joola is 
discussed at the end.

Chapter 7: Morphology and Syntax. This chapter starts with a 
discussion of differences in inflection, such as how much inflection 
languages have, and the different agreement features that are 
available in languages. The remainder of the chapter deals with 
grammatical function changing morphology, such as the passive and 
antipassive, and incorporation. Kanjamaat Joola verb morphology and 
syntax are presented.

Chapter 8: Morphological Productivity. The final chapter discusses 
what productivity is, the extent to which elements can be productive, 
and constraints on productivity. The effect of salience on productivity 
and ways of testing for productivity are covered.

EVALUATION

Overall I thought the authors have a unique approach to the teaching 
of morphology. The presentation of the issues was good, and I feel 
that its approach of concentrating on general problems of analysis is 
particularly interesting. A wide range of problems and theories have 
been covered. The exercise sets in the text and at the end of the 
chapters are good complements to the presentation. Students would 
certainly get a general picture of what morphological analysis is about 
from going through this material.

I do have a question, though, about the presentation of the theories. 
Only a few examples have been gone through for each one, and they 
are different in each case. It would have been nice, in my opinion, to 
show how the problems have been solved in various theories by 
giving a more complete analysis of some language under each of the 
approaches described, presenting advantages and disadvantages. 
This is maybe something that could be included in later editions as 
additional exercises.

However, I feel that this book is an important textbook on morphology. 
It can serve as a bridge between books like Katamba (2005) and more 
theoretical works like Spencer (1991). The questions I have raised 
about the presentation of the theory can easily be solved by using this 
book together with Katamba (1993).

REFERENCES

Katamba, F. (1993) Morphology. Basingstoke: Macmillan.

Katamba, F. (2005) English Words: Structure, History, Usage (second 
edition). London: Routledge.

Spencer, A. (1991) Morphological Theory. Oxford: Blackwell. 

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

The reviewer's research interests include phrase structure, syntax 
and semantics of adverbials, interfaces between syntax and semantics 
and between syntax and morphology.





-----------------------------------------------------------
LINGUIST List: Vol-16-1942