Chapter 14
Conditional exponence
In inferential-realizational theories of
morphology, the content realized by the application of a rule of
exponence is customarily assumed to be invariant across the range of
contexts in which that rule applies. Yet, there are morphomic
exponents whose content is sensitive to context; Breton verb
inflection presents striking examples of exponents of this sort. I
argue that the patterns of context dependency presented by such
exponents are an effect of the phenomenon of rule combination, by
which simple rules of morphology may combine to form more complex
rules. Some rule combinations involve ordinary rule composition; the
properties of a combination of this sort are deducible from those of
its component rules. Other rule combinations are supplementational;
a combination of this sort possesses one or more properties that are
not deducible from those of its component rules. As I show, the
Breton examples of conditional exponence involve supplementational
rule combination. I elucidate this claim formally and discuss its
wider implications for morphological theory.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction: Exponence can be conditional
- 2.Conditional exponence in Breton verb inflection
- 3.What is rule combination?
- Asymmetrical rule oppositions
- Dependent rules
- Processing frequent affix sequences
- 4.Conditional exponence as a kind of rule combination
- 5.A formal analysis of conditional exponence Breton verb
inflection
- 6.Conclusions
- 7.Appendix: Further implications of rule combination in Breton
- Irregular verbs
- Conjugating prepositions
- Dialectal variation
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Notes
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Abbreviations
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References