5.7 Inflection – Essentials of Linguistics, 2nd edition

5.7 Inflection. So far we've focused on derivational morphology. The next kind of morphology we'll discuss is inflectional morphology. Skiptocontent Chapter5:Morphology Sofarwe’vefocusedonderivationalmorphology.Thenextkindofmorphologywe’lldiscussisinflectionalmorphology. Unlikederivationalmorphology,inflectionalmorphologyneverchangesthecategoryofitsbase.Insteaditsimplysuitsthecategoryofitsbase,expressinggrammaticalinformationthat’srequiredinaparticularlanguage. InEnglishwehaveaverylimitedsystemofinflectionalmorphology: Nouns Number:singularvs.plural Case(onlyonpronouns) Nominative:I,we,you,he,she,it,they Accusative:me,us,you,him,her,it,them Possessive:my,our,your,his,her,its,their Verbs Agreement:mostverbsagreewiththirdpersonsingularsubjectsonlyinthepresenttense(-s),buttheverbtobehasmoreforms. Tense:Pastvs.Present Perfect/PassiveParticiple:-edor-en(Perfectafterauxiliaryhave,Passiveafterauxiliarybe) Progressive-ing(afterauxiliarybe) Adjectives Comparative-er,Superlative-est(Arguable!Somepeoplemighttreatthisasderivational) That’sallofit!Butifwelookatotherlanguages,wefindmoretypesofinflectionalmorphology. Onethingaboutinflectionalmorphologyisthatlotsofitcanbeexpressedsyntacticallyinsteadofmorphologically.Sosomelanguageshavetense,butexpressitwithaparticle(aseparateword)ratherthanwithanaffixontheverb.Thisisstilltense,butit’snotpartofinflectionalmorphology. Therestofthissectiongivesageneralsurveyoftypesofinflectionaldistinctionscommonlymadeintheworld’slanguages,buttherearemanytypesofinflectionthataren’tmentionedhere. Number Mostlanguages,iftheyhavegrammaticalnumber,justdistinguishsingularandplural,butnumbersystemscanbemorecomplexaswell. Forexample,manylanguageshavedualinadditiontosingularandplural.Dualnumberisusedforgroupsofexactlytwothings;wehaveatinybitofdualinEnglishwithdeterminerslikeboth,whichmeansstrictlytwo.Youhavetoreplacebothwithallifthegrouphasthreeormorethingsinit. AnexampleofalanguagethatdistinguishesdualisInuktitut,oneofthedialectsspokenbytheInuitpeoplewholiveintheArcticregion.ThereisagooddealofdialectvariationacrosstheInuitlanguages;InuktitutisthevarietythatistheofficiallanguageoftheterritoryofNunavut,andhasabout40,000speakers. (1) gloss singular dual(2) plural(3+) “door” matu matuuk matuit “cloud” nuvuja nuvujaak nuvujait “computer” garasaujaq garasaujaak garasaujait Thethree-waydistinctionbetweensingular,dual,andpluralinInuktitutappliesnotonlytonounsbutalsotoverbsthatagreewiththeirnounsubjects: (2) firstperson singular nirijunga “Ieat” dual nirijuguk “thetwoofuseat” plural nirijugut “we(threeormore)eat” secondperson singular nirijutit “you(oneofyou)eat” dual nirijusik “youtwoeat” plural nirijusi “you(threeormore)eat” thirdperson singular nirijuq “they(sg)eat” dual nirijuuk “thetwoofthemeat” plural nirijut “they(threeormore)eat” Asmallnumberoflanguagesgofurtherandalsohaveatrial(pronounced“try-ull”),usuallyonlyonpronouns.Thisisusedforgroupsofexactlythree. Alanguagecanalsohavepaucalnumber,usedforsmallgroups. Person Persondistinctionsarethosebetweenfirstperson(I,we),secondperson(you),andthirdperson(he, she,it, they). Somelanguagesmakeadistinctioninthefirstpersonpluralbetweenafirstpersoninclusive(me+you,andmaybesomeotherpeople)andafirstpersonexclusive(me+oneormoreotherpeople,notyou).Anishnaabemowin(Ojibwe),whichhasabout20,000speakers,makesthiskindofdistinction.Thepronounniinawindreferstothespeakerplusotherpeoplebutnotthepersonbeingaddressed(thatis,“weexcludingyou”).Thisisknownastheexclusivewe.Thepronounforinclusivewe(“weincludingyou”)isgiinawind.Thedistinctionbetweeninclusiveandexclusiveweissometimesreferredtoasclusivity. InOdawaandAlgonquinvarietiesofAnishinaabemowin,spokennearLakeHuronandinEasternOntarioandQuebec,thesepronounsareniinwiandgiinwi,respectively,butmakethesamecontrastinmeaning.Cree,whichbelongstothesamelanguagefamilyasOjibwe(theAlgonquianfamily),alsomakesaninclusive/exclusivedistinctioninthefirst-personplural.Theinclusiveformisniyanânandtheexclusiveformiskiyânaw.(OjibweexamplesfromValentine2001.) [SOURCEforCree?] Case Casereferstomarkingonnounsthatreflectstheirgrammaticalroleinthesentence.Mostcasesystemshavewaystodistinguishthesubjectfromtheobjectofasentence,aswellasspecialmarkingforpossessorsandindirectobjects. Somelanguageshavemanymorecasedistinctionsthanthis;usuallymanyofthecaseformsexpressmeaningsthatinlanguageslikeEnglishweexpressusingprepositions.EstonianandFinnishareknownforhavingespeciallymanycases(14inEstonianand15inFinnish):theWikipediaarticleonFinnishcasesisagoodsourceifyou’dliketolearnmore. Agreement Agreementreferstoanyinflectionalmorphologythatreflectsthepropertiesofadifferentwordinasentence,usuallyanoun. Themostcommontypeofagreementisverbsagreeingwiththeirsubject,thoughverbsinsomelanguagesmightalsoagreewiththeirobject(ormightsometimesagreewiththeirobjectinsteadoftheirsubject).Verbsusuallyagreewithnounsfortheirnumberandperson. Determiners,numerals,andadjectivesoftenagreewiththenountheymodify,usuallyfornumber,case,andgender(assumingalanguagehassomeorallofthesetypesofinflectioninthefirstplace!). TenseandAspect Tensereferstothecontrastbetweenpresentandpast(orsometimesbetweenfutureandnon-future)andistypicallymarkedonverbs. Aspectisabithardertodefine,butisusuallycharacterizedastheperspectivewetakeonanevent:dowedescribeitascomplete,orasongoing?InEnglishwehaveprogressive(markedwithbe+–ing)andperfectaspect(have+–ed/-en). Frenchhasaslightlydifferentcontrastinthepasttensebetweentheimparfaitandthepassécomposé—thesebothlocatethingsinthepast,buttheimparfaitdescribesthemashabitualorongoing(imperfectiveaspect),whiletheotherdescribesthemascomplete(perfectiveaspect). TheMandarinparticlele(了)alsoexpressesperfectiveaspect,describinganeventascomplete,andzài(在)expressesprogressiveaspect,describinganeventasinprogress.Butthesearenotexamplesofinflectionalmorphology,becausetheseparticles(=smallwords)areseparatefromtheverbanddonotactasaffixes. Terminologyforaspectualdistinctionscanbeconfusing.Inparticular,theEnglishperfectisnotquitethesameastheFrenchorMandarinperfective—thoughjustastheirnamesoverlap,someoftheirusesarealsosimilar. Negation InEnglishwehavederivationalnegativemorphology(asintheprefixesin-ornon-),whichnegatesthemeaningofabaseorroot. Inflectionalnegation,bycontrast,makesawholesentencenegative.InEnglishweexpressinflectionalnegationsyntactically,witheitherthewordnot(oritscontractedcliticformn’t)Inotherlanguages,however,negationcanbeexpressedbyinflectionalaffixes. Otherinflectionaldistinctions Whatothertypesofdistinctionscanbemarkedintheverbalinflectionofalanguage?Herewereviewanon-exhaustivesetofinflectionaldistinctionsmadeinsomeofthelanguagesoftheworld. OBVIATION:Algonquianlanguages,includingCreeandAnishinaabemowin,makeadistinctionbetweenproximateandobviativethirdperson.Youmightthinkofthisdistinctionassomethingsimilartothenear/fardistinctionbetweenthisandthatinEnglish,wherethisisusedforsomethingthatisclosertothespeakerandthatisforsomethingfartheraway.But,likeinEnglish,theproximate/obviativedistinctionisnotjustaboutphysicaldistance;itcanalsoalludetodistanceintime,orwithinaconversation,tosomeonethatisthetopicofdiscussion(proximate)versussomeonethatisasecondarycharacter(obviative).Thedistinctionismarkedontheverbalmorphology,asillustratedbelowwithexamplesfromCree: (3) proximate obviative a. Reginawîkiwak. Reginawîkiyiwa. “TheyliveinRegina.” “Theirfriend/someoneelselivesinRegina.” a. kiskinwahamâkosiwak. kiskinwahamâkosiyiwa. “Theyareinschool.” “Theirfriend/someoneelseisinschool.” [SOURCE?] CAUSATIVES:Acausativeisaconstructionthatexpressesthataneventwascausedbyanoutsideactor.InEnglishwehaveafewconstructionsthatexpresscausativity,usingverbslikemake,have,andget: (4) a. Englishcausativewithmake: Thetreefell. → Imadethetreefall. b. Englishcausativewithhave: Theactorsexitedstageright. → Thedirectorhadtheactorsexitstageright. c. Englishcausativewithget: Theteachercancelledtheexam. → Thestudentsgottheteachertocanceltheexam. Whenalanguagehasamorphologicalcausative,itexpressesthesetypesofmeaningsbyaddingamorphemeontothemainverb.Forexample,inKinande,aBantulanguagespokenintheDemocraticRepublicoftheCongo,theverberisómameans“toread”,buterisómesyameans“tomake(someone)read”. Thisisatypeofmorphologythatchangestheargumentstructureofaverb—thepatternofarguments(subjects,objects,indirectobjects)thatitcombineswith.Othertypesofargumentchangingmorphologyareapplicativeorbenefactive(todosomethingtoorforsomeone)andpassive.WediscussthesyntaxofargumentchanginginSection6.11 EVIDENTIALS:Manylanguagesusemorphologytoindicateaspeaker’scertaintyaboutwhatthey’resaying,orthesourceoftheirevidenceforwhattheysay.Thisiscalledevidentialmarking. Forexample,inTurkishthereisadistinctionbetweenthe“directpast”-di,usedtomarkthingsyouarecertainoforthatyoudirectlywitnessed,andthe“indirectpast”-miš,usedtomarkthingsyouhaveonlyindirectevidencefor. (5) a. gel-di come-PAST “came” b. gel-miš come-INDIRECT.PAST “came,evidently” InEnglishwedon’thaveanygrammaticalmarkingofevidentiality.Wecanstillexpressourevidenceorcertainty,butwedothiswiththelexicalmeaningsofnouns,verbs,adjectives,andadverbs.Forexample,“Isawthat…”wouldexpressthatthesourceofyourevidenceissomethingyousaw;“Apparently”wouldexpressthatyouaren’t100%certain,etc. MODALITY:Manylanguagesexpressthepossibilityornecessityofsomethinghappeningviamorphologyonthemainverb.Thisiscalledmodality.ExamplesofthisincludecategoriesliketheconditionelleorthefutureinFrench. GENDER:InEnglishwemarkgenderonthirdpersonpronouns,andwealsohavesomewordsthathavederivationalgendersuffixes(like–essinactorvsactress). Bycontrast,genderinalanguagelikeFrenchisbesttreatedasinflectional:notonlydoallnounshaveasemanticallyarbitrarygender,determinersandadjectives(andsometimesverbs)showagreementwiththegrammaticalgenderofthenounthey’reassociatedwithto.Forexample,thenounchat“cat”inFrenchismasculine(abbreviatedM),andsoitappearswithamasculinedeterminerandadjective;thenounabeille“bee”isfeminine(abbreviatedF),soitappearswithafemininedeterminerandadjective.Thisisindependentoftheactualsexofacatorbee. (6) a. le petit chat the.M small.M cat(M) “thesmallcat” b. la petite abeille the.F small.F bee(F) “thesmallbee” ManyEuropeanlanguageshavethistypeofgendersystem,whichdividesnounsintomasculine,feminine,andsometimesneuter.It’salsofoundelsewhereintheworld:forexample,Kanien’kéha(Mohawk),spokenbyabout3,500peopleinOntario,Quebec,andNewYork,hasagendersystemthatincludesmasculine,feminine/indefinite,andfeminine/neuter. Otherlanguagesoftheworldhavedifferentnounclassornounclassificationsystems,whichalsodividenounsintosomewhatarbitraryclasses,butcategoriesthatdon’tmatchthegendercategoriesusedforhumans. Forexample,thelanguagesintheBantufamilyoflanguages(asubgroupoftheNiger-CongolanguagefamilyspokenacrossthesouthernhalfofAfrica,andwhichincludesKinande,Zulu,andSwahili,amongmanyothers)putallhumansintooneclass,buthavesomewherebetween4and10classesintotal,which(justlikegenderinFrench)canbereflectedbyagreementonotherwordsinasentence. Algonquianlanguages,includingCreeandAnishinaabemowin,dividenounsintoanimateandinanimate.Animatenounsareusuallythosethatarealive,whetheranimalsorplants,orspirituallyimportantthingslikeasemaa(tobacco).Inanimatenounsusuallyrefertophysicalobjectsthataren’talive.Sometimesthesamenouncanbeanimateorinanimatewithslightlydifferentmeanings:forexamplemitigmeans“tree”whenit’sanimatebut“stick”whenit’sinanimate.Thereareothernounsthatarelesspredictable:forexample,miskomin“raspberry”isanimate,butode’imin“strawberry”isinanimate. References Valentine2001 Previous/nextnavigation Previous:5.6Derivationalmorphology Next:5.8Compounding Backtotop License EssentialsofLinguistics,2ndeditionbyCatherineAnderson;BronwynBjorkman;DerekDenis;JulianneDoner;MargaretGrant;NathanSanders;andAiTaniguchiislicensedunderaCreativeCommonsAttribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike4.0InternationalLicense,exceptwhereotherwisenoted. ShareThisBook ShareonTwitter