LINGUIST 324 examines word-formation theories, word structure strategies and the ways morphology interacts with syntax, semantics and phonology across languages.
It examines why some languages appear to have little or no morphology and others have word-formation processes so rich that entire sentences are conveyed in a single word. It also considers the morphological categories and word forming strategies that are available tolanguages and why some languages rely heavily on affixation, others make extensive use of compounding and yet others blur the distinction between phrases and compounds. LINGUIST 324 also explores issues with morphological shape in order to explain what it is that triggers pronunciation differences in closely related words like electric / electricity, how we know the initial word part in inaudible, impossible and irregular is the same morpheme and why dogs is the plural of dog, but children is the plural of child and, finally, why manypeople find it tricky to count more than one octopus. This course will explore all of these issues giving students a thorough background inlinguistic morphology.