MORPHOLOGICAL CHANGE

Expositiva 25 November
ANALOGY
ANALOGY

The process by which a grammatical form or

pattern is altered so as to conform to another
form or pattern existing in the language.
(Trask 1993: 14)

Process of regularisation which affects the

exceptional forms in the grammar of a
language. (Crystal 1985: 16).
ANALOGY

The process by which a grammatical form or

pattern is altered so as to conform to another
form or pattern existing in the language.
(Trask 1993: 14)

Process of regularisation which affects the

exceptional forms in the grammar of a
language. (Crystal 1985: 16).
TWO TYPES OF ANALOGY

 Analogical levelling

 Analogical extension
LEVELLING
 complete or partial elimination of
irregularities within a paradigm
 reduces allomorphy within the paradigm

 removes irregularities from the stem of the

word
LEVELLING
 complete or partial elimination of
irregularities within a paradigm
 reduces allomorphy within the paradigm

 removes irregularities from the stem of the

word
STEM FORMS STEM FORMS
/kab-/ caber,cabía
, cabrá…
/kep-/ quepo
/kup-/ cupe, cupo
LEVELLING
 complete or partial elimination of
irregularities within a paradigm
 reduces allomorphy within the paradigm

 removes irregularities from the stem of the

word
STEM FORMS STEM FORMS
/kab-/ caber,cabía /kab-/
, cabrá…
/kep-/ quepo /kab-/ *cabo

/kup-/ cupe, cupo /kab-/ *cabí,

*cabió
LEVELLING

infinitive pret 1 pret 2 past pple

cēosan cēas curon coren
/tʃ-/ /tʃ-/ /k-/ /k-/

/s/ /s/ /r/ /r/

choose chose chosen
/tʃ-/ /tʃ-/ /tʃ-/

/z/ /z/ /z/

EXTENSION
Dr Seuss’
a zans animals  One zans, two ….
 One yink, two ….

a yink  A yink yinks;

yesterday my
yink ….

a
EXTENSION
Dr Seuss’
a zans animals  One zans, two
zanses
 One yink, two yinks
a yink
 A yink yinks;

yesterday my
yink yinked/yank

a
EXTENSION
Dr Seuss’
a zans animals  One zans, two
zanses
 One yink, two yinks
a yink
 A yink yinks;

yesterday my
yink yinked/yank

Extension of a pattern
Ae outside its original
domain:
• new words
• words which followed
other patterns
ERROR OR INNOVATION?
 …every innovation in grammar must at first be
an error; it can become a viable innovation only
when it is used consistently enough by a group
of speakers that it can be regarded as an option
rather tan just a mistake.

 …there are two groups of speakers who do

make consistent errors, and who are at least
sometimes unable to recognized that an error is
in fact an error (so that they have no
disincentive to copy it): native learners still in
the process of native language acquisition and
non-native adult speakers of a language. (Ringe
2021: 19-20)
REANALYSIS BASED ON ANALOGY

 Reanalysis is a process
that changes the linguistic
structure without
necessarily changing the
surface manifestation of
that structure.

 Reanalysis = rebracketing

 la zotea
 un arradio
 las andalias
[a] [napron] > [an] [apron]
REANALYSIS BASED ON ANALOGY

 Reanalysis is a process
that changes the linguistic
structure without
necessarily changing the
surface manifestation of
that structure.

 Reanalysis = rebracketing

 la zotea
 un arradio
 las andalias
 [a] [napron] > [an]
[apron]
REANALYSIS BASED ON ANALOGY

 Reanalysis is a process
that changes the linguistic
structure without
necessarily changing the
surface manifestation of
that structure.

 la zotea
un teni
 un arradio
 las andalias [tenis]
 [a] [napron] > [an] [apron] [teni]-[s] → anything ending in –s is a plural

ME cheris ‘cherry’ reanalysed as [cherri][s]

WHY DO INFLECTIONAL SYSTEMS
CHANGE?

 Phonological change → grammatical meaning tends

to be encoded in suffixes, suffixes tend to be weakened
and lost.

 Frequency → high-frequency words are not usually

affected by analogy

In sum, while high-frequency items are more affected

by phonological erosion, they are less likely to be
subject to analogical change. Low-frequency items are
less likely to wear out but are rather subject to
analogical change." (Burridge & Bergs 2017: 129)
4.1
General tendencies in the NP
GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES
ASSOCIATED WITH THE NOUN
 Gender

 Case

 Number
GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES
ASSOCIATED WITH THE NOUN
 Gender  A grammatical category which displays such
contrasts as masculine/feminine/neuter or
animate/inanimate. A distinction is drawn between
natural gender, which involves reference to the
 Case sex of real-world entities, and grammatical
gender, which is associated with arbitrary word
classes, and signals grammatical relationships
 Number between words in a sentence. English has natural
gender. (Crystal 1992: 151)

 The classification of nouns into two or more classes

with different grammatical properties. In many of
the world’s languages, all the nouns are divided into
two or more classes which require different
grammatical forms on the nouns and/or certain
other words grammatically linked with the noun or
nouns in particular sentences. (Trask 1999: 100).
Dyirbal: women, fire and dangerous
things belong to the same category,
GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES
ASSOCIATED WITH THE NOUN
 Gender

 Case  A distinctive, overtly marked form which can be

assumed by an NP to indicate that that NP bears
some identifiable grammatical or semantic
 Number relation to the rest of the sentence. In English,
overt case marking is confined to a few pronouns
(I/me; they/them), but some other languages,
such as German, Russian, Latin, Basque and
Finnish, exhibit elaborate case systems typically
involving about three to six distinct forms, but
sometimes a dozen or more. (Trask 1993: 34).
GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES
ASSOCIATED WITH THE NOUN
 Gender

 Case

 Number  The grammatical category, most often associated

with nouns and pronouns, whose primary
correlation is with the number of distinguishable
entities. English has a simple two-way number
contrast between singular and plural, but some
other languages exhibit more elaborate number
systems involving dual, trial and paucal forms as
well as singular and plural. (Trask 1999: 210).
GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES IN
ENGLIHS
Old English

 All nominals were

inflected for:
 Gender (3 genders)
 Number (2 numbers)
 Case (4 cases)

 Some pronouns
show:
3 numbers (+ dual)
 5 cases (+
instrumental)
GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES IN
ENGLIHS
Old English Present-day English

 All nominals were  Nouns:

inflected for:  only number (sg./pl.)
 Gender (3 genders)
 Number (2 numbers)
 Case (4 cases)
 Personal pronouns:
 gender (he vs. she)
 number (I/we; she,
 Some pronouns he/ they)
show:  case (I/me)
3 numbers (+ dual)
 5 cases (+
instrumental)
GENDER IN OLD ENGLISH
 Masculine e.g. brōðor ‘brother’; wīfmann ‘woman’;
stān ‘stone’
 Feminine e.g. cwene ‘woman, queen’; mūs ‘mouse’;
bōc ‘book’
 Neuter e.g. scip ‘ship’; wīf ‘woman’; cild ‘child’;
mægden ‘maiden’
“three concord classes or genders,
se [nom. sg. masc.] brōðortraditionally called masculine,
[nom. sg. masc.]...he [masc.]
feminine, and neuter” (Ringe
seo [nom. sg. fem.] cwene [nom. sg. fem.]...heo...[fem.]
2021: 44)
þæt [nom. sg. neu.] scip [nom. sg. neu.]...hit.. [neu.].
Gender is marked syntactically

…swyðe micel sæ [fem.] up in on lande, sēo [fem.] is

brādre þonne ænig mann ofer sēon mæge
GENDER IN OLD ENGLISH

 Masculine e.g. brōðor ‘brother’; wīfmann

‘woman’; stān ‘stone’
 Feminine e.g. cwene ‘woman, queen’; mūs
‘mouse’; bōc ‘book’
 Neuter e.g. scip ‘ship’; wīf ‘woman’; cild
‘child’; mægden ‘maiden’

se [nom. sg. masc.] brōðor [nom. sg. masc.]...he [masc.]

seo [nom. sg. fem.] cwene [nom. sg. fem.]...heo...[fem.]
þæt [nom. sg. neu.] scip [nom. sg. neu.]...hit.. [neu.].

…swyðe micel sæ [fem.] up in on lande, sēo [fem.] is

brādre þonne ænig mann ofer sēon mæge
 CONFLICTS BETWEEN GRAMMATICAL
AND NATURAL GENDER

stan ‘stone’ duru ‘door’ wīf ‘woman’ wīfmann ‘woman’

Gender masc. fem. neu. masc.
Sex neu. neu. fem. fem.
Lass (1992: 106)

Sum wīf [neu.] hātte Sintice, sēo [fem.] wæs blind

‘a certain woman was called Syntyche, she was blind…’
LOSS OF GRAMMATICAL GENDER:
FACTORS
 "The preference of natural over grammatical
gender in reference to humans may have
contributed to the demise of the grammatical
gender system". (Traugott 1992: 178)

 Articles become invariable and demonstratives

are only marked for number.

OE ME
Se / þes cyning [masc.] the / this king
Sēo / þēos cwēn [fem.]  the / this queen
Þæt / þes scip [neu.] the / this ship
 Loss of grammatical gender does not take place
simultaneously in all dialects of ME: Northern (late 10th c.) >
Midlands (13th c.) > South (second half of the 14th c.)

mi stefne [fem.] ... ho [fem.] is ilich one grete horne

my voice she is like one big horn
(The Owl and the Nightingale, Southern, 13th century)

yef he hedde yeue þane [acc.sg.masc.] þridde peny [OE pening masc.] to þe
if he had given the third penny to the
poure...
poor...
(Ayenbyte of Inwyt, Kentish, ca. 1340)

Only English and Afrikaans have lost grammatical

gender; the other Germanic languages have retained a
three-way or a two-way grammatical system.
 Loss of grammatical gender does not take place
simultaneously in all dialects of ME: Northern (late 10th c.) >
Midlands (13th c.) > South (second half of the 14th c.)

mi stefne [fem.] ... ho [fem.] is ilich one grete horne

my voice she is like one big horn
(The Owl and the Nightingale, Southern, 13th century)

yef he hedde yeue þane [acc.sg.masc.] þridde peny [OE pening masc.] to þe
if he had given the third penny to the
poure...
poor...
(Ayenbyte of Inwyt, Kentish, ca. 1340)

Only English and Afrikaans have lost grammatical

gender; the other Germanic languages have retained a
three-way or a two-way grammatical system.
CASE

STRONG MASCULINE NOUNS

sg. pl.
nom./acc. cyning cyningas
gen. cyninges cyninga
dat. cyninge cyningum (late OE -an)

STRONG NEUTER NOUNS

sg. pl. sg. pl.
nom./acc. scip scipu land land
gen. scipes scipa landes landa
dat. scipe scipum lande landum (late OE -an)

STRONG FEMININE NOUNS

sg. pl. sg. pl.
nom talu 'tale' tala, -e glōf 'glove' glōfa, -e
acc. tale tala, -e glōfe glōfa, -e
gen. tale tala, -ena glōfe glōfa, -ena
dat. tale talum glōfe glōfum (late OE -an)
 CASE
WEAK NOUNS
masc. fem. neu.
sg. nom. guma 'man' byrne 'corselet' eage 'eye'
acc. guman byrnan eage
gen. guman byrnan eagan
dat. guman byrnan eagan

pl.nom./acc. guman byrnan eagan

gen. gumena byrnena eagena
dat. gumum byrnum eagum (late OE -an)

Erosion of case endings due to (i) weakening of unstressed

vowels to schwa;(ii) loss of final nasals; (iii) loss of final schwa.

North > Midlands > South

LOSS OF CASE MARKING
The loss of inflections did not take place at the same time in all dialectal areas
of ME: North > Midlands > South

Synthetic marking
OE
hie sendon þa þam gesæligan cyninge [dat. sg. masc.] sumne arwurðne bisceop
[acc.sg.masc.]
‘they sent a certain honourable bishop to the king’

'Mixed' marking
OE
he sende ða to þam cyninge [prep. + dat. sg. masc.] beotlic ærende [acc. sg. neu.]
‘he sent an arrogant message to the king’

Analytic marking
ME 
1300: use of a prepositional phrase with a non-inflected noun

þe barons sende to þe king philip of france

‘the barons sent (a message) to king Philip of France’
SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU

Q1. Which of the noun inflections illustrated on pages 12 and 13 of the handout have
survived into PDE?

Q2. Identify the genitive inflection in the different declensions. Which of them is the
source of PDE 's? Which mechanism is at work here?

Q3. Can you spot any differences between OE and PDE in the following phrases
containing the genitive?
OE Ælfredes cyninges sunu
PDE King Alfred's son
SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU

Q4. What kind of information is provided by the following quote about the nominal
system of English in the 17th century?

Joshua Poole, 1646 The English Accidence

“There be six cases of Nounes in either number, six in the singular and six in the plurall. The
Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative, Vocative, Ablative.”

singular plural
nom. a man men
gen. of a man of men
dative to a man to men
accusative the man men
vocative o man o men
ablative in, with, from or by a man in, with, from or by men
NUMBER
Nom. Sg. Nom. Pl.
stān stānas
dæd dæde
scip scipu
land land
nama naman
bōc bēc
hæleþ hæleþ
brōðor brōðor
ridend ridend
cild cildru
 stones
deeds
NUMBER ships
lands
Nom. Sg. Nom. Pl. names
stān stānas books
dæd dæde brothers
scip scipu
land land sheep
nama naman oxen, child-r-en
bōc bēc geese, men, feet,
hæleþ hæleþ mice
brōðor brōðor
ridend ridend
cild cildru child-r-en
NUMBER
Nom. Sg. Nom. Pl.  ME  generalization of
stān stānas the –(e)s marker
dæd dæde
scip scipu  "The spread of -s may be
considered as an example of
land land
the survival of the fittest in
nama naman language." (Baugh & Cable
1993: 156)
bōc bēc
hæleþ hæleþ  Phonetically salient and resistant
 Distinctive
brōðor brōðor  Frequent
ridend ridend
cild cildru
analogical target
EXTENSION OF -ES
 EMid (mid 12th c)
... mid swilce dædes (<OE
Late 10th dæde fem.) ‘with such deeds’
c.

 London (late 14th c)

mid 12th ...al hir wikked dede (<OE
c. dæde fem.) ‘all her wicked
deeds’

 In the South, rivalry with –

14th c.
en (weak nouns)

My gode deden bueþ fol

smalle. ‘my good deeds are
very small’
EVOLUTION OF PLURAL MARKING
Middle English

 -es < OE –as

 -en < OE –an
 zero
 i-mutated

 r-plurals no longer calf-calvre calvren

calves
transparent
lomb-lomber lombren lambes
child-childre children
EVOLUTION OF PLURAL MARKING
Middle English Modern English

 -es < OE –as

 Same as in ME, but
further extension of –es
 -en < OE –an
 zero
 i-mutated  Allomorphs of –(e)s
Syncope

bookes /bʊkǝs/ > /bʊks/

 r-plurals no longer
transparent sinnes /'sɪnǝs/ > /'sɪnz/

churches /'tʃɜ:tʃɪz/
PDE IRREGULAR PLURALS

 i-mutated plurals teeth, feet, mice, men…

 -en plurals oxen
 zero plurals sheep, deer, fish, fowl, salmon…

“Fish is the usual plural form. The older form, fishes,

can be used to refer to different kinds of fish.” (OALD
s.v. fish noun)

 Double plurals child-r-en, ki-ne

 PDE IRREGULAR PLURALS

 Like the river Guadiana… ‘river river river’

 Speakers of New Englishes sometimes have child-r-en-

s!

…but my question is the least we can

how i can get my do to remind
our childrens, and be happy to
leave in partner
(MY) see that
since we have
the childrens g
5 childrens (PHI)
I fail to understand et a better
why wamalwa and life, (GHA)
VP likes to cheated
like litlle childrens.
(KN)
PDE IRREGULAR PLURALS

 /-f/ plural in –ves

 calves, knives, halves, thieves, wives…
 OE [f]  [v]

 Sometimes regularized to /fs/ roof / roofs in

StE; even further in New Englishes!!
the presidents are more
Christians consider loyal to their inner circle
corrupt government rather than their wifes
officials to be thiefs. (KN)
(NG)
Why is using gold
and silver dishes,
forks, spoons
and knifes haram?
(PK)
 ANALOGICAL PLURALS AND
ANALOGICAL SINGULARS
 Creation of new analogical singulars of nouns
whose singular ended in /-s, -z/
 Replacement of learned plurals by analogical

plurals
 Reinterpretation of plurals not ending in –s as

singulars virus
formula, viruses
formulae, zucchini??
bean-s : bean formulas…
pea-se : X grafitto
pea, analogical bacterium grafitti
singular bacteria
grafitti
bacteria grafittis
bacterias
LEARNED PLURALS VS. ANALOGICAL
PLURALS