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Part of
Historical Linguistics 2017: Selected papers from the 23rd International Conference on Historical Linguistics, San Antonio, Texas, 31 July – 4 August 2017
Edited by Bridget Drinka
[Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 350] 2020
► pp. 163–182

Synchrony, diachrony, and indexicality

This paper is about the current disconnect between synchronic and diachronic linguistics and the need for historical linguists to take the lead in addressing the big issues in morphology: how agglutination develops into fusion and symbolism, how these techniques are maintained through time, how they devolve into agglutinative or isolating patterns. The formation and reanalysis of allomorphy are central to these developments. The paper advocates a theory of the morphological sign by which allomorphs form subsidiary paradigms and the individual allomorph is both symbol and index: it stands for its exponendum and points to features of its environment. This articulate conception facilitates the detailed analysis and interpretation both of synchronic patterns and of the gradual typological transformations of inflectional systems.

Keywords: morphology, allomorphy, WP, paradigm, symbol, index, reanalysis, interfix, zero morph, cumulative exponence
Article outline
  • 1.Synchrony, diachrony and history
  • 2.Word and Paradigm morphology
  • 3.Morphology for communication
  • 4.Morphology by itself?
  • 5.Indexes in morphology
    • 5.1Phonological indexes
    • 5.2Stem-class indexes
    • 5.3Gramcat indexes
    • 5.4Lexcat indexes
  • 6.The importance of morphological indexes
    • 6.1Signs with zero exponenda
    • 6.2Signs with zero expression
    • 6.3Cumulative exponence
  • 7.History and typology
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
  • Appendix
Published online: 9 July 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.350.08and
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