What is a regular morphological pattern

1
What is a regular morphological pattern?

• Elena Tkachenko juni 2009 Kognitivt
  sommerseminar (Hamar)

2
Models

• The Dual Mechanism Account
• Two distinct mechanisms for processing of regular
  and irregular forms
• Irregular verbs are processed in the associative
  memory, while regular verbs are computed in the
  rule-processing system.
• Only irregular verbs will be sensitive to input
  factors.

• The Single Mechanism Account
• Both regular and irregular forms are processed by
  one single mechanism in associative memory.
• Both regular and irregular verbs will be
  sensitive to input factors.

3
Terminological discrepancies

• What is a regular pattern?
• pattern that occurs in the majority of cases,
  i.e. the most frequent pattern
• pattern that applies to new words (productivity?)
• pattern in which the suffix is easily segmentable
  from the stem (segmentability?)
• Default most general/phonologically open?
• ( default) pattern which is used in cases where
  no other pattern is possible
• operates as a symbolic rule and can uniformly
  represent an entire class, regardless the
  distinctions between different items

4
21 circumstances where the default pattern apply
(Marcus et al. 1995)

• No entries in memory novel words (snarfed,
  wugs), low frequency words (stinted, eked),
  unusual-sounding words (ploamphed, krilged)
• Competing or similar entries in memory
  homophones (lied/lay, hanged/hung), rhymes
  (blinked, glowed)
• Non-canonical roots onomatopoeia (dinged,
  peeped), quatations (mans, womans),
  surnames (the Childs, the Manns), unassimilated
  borrowings (Latkes, cappuccinos), truncations
  (synched, mans), acronyms (PACs, OXes)
• Root cannot be marked for inflectional feature
  denominal verbs (high-sticked, spitted),
  deadjectival verbs (righted), nominalizations
  (ifs, ands, buts)
• Words with exocentric structure verbs based on
  nouns based on verbs (grandstanded, flied out),
  nouns based on names based on nouns (Mickey
  Mouses, Batmans, Renault Elfs, Toronto Maple
  Leafs), bahuvrihi compounds (sabre-tooths,
  low-lifes, walkmans), nouns based on phrases
  (bag-a-leafs, shear-a-sheeps)
• Memory failures in children, adults, Alzheimers
  and aphasia patients, etc.

5
Norwegian Verb Morphology
6
Russian Verbal Morphology

• No clear-cut division between regular and
  irregular paradigms.
• 11 verb classes (according to one-stem
  description).
• The suffix of the verb class determines all the
  parameters of the inflectional paradigm
  (conjugational type, consonant mutations, stress
  shift, suffix alternations etc.
• Productive classes
• aj- igrat igraj-u, igraj-ut (play)
• ej- belet belej-u, belej-ut (be white)
• i- prosit prosh-u pros-at (ask, beg)
• ova- risovat risuj-u, risuj-ut
• nu- prygnut prygn-u, prygn-ut

7
Experimental evidence of memory failure

• NORWEGIAN
• Childrens overgeneralizations (Ragnarsdóttir,
  Simonsen Plunkett 1999)
• GENgtWL (37-52), GENgtWS (12-44), GENgtS (2-13)
• Adults overgeneralizations (SimonsenBjerkan
  1998)
• GENgtWL (10), GENgtWS (47), GENgtS (17)
• Aphasia patients (Lind, Moen, Simonsen 2007)
• GENgtWL (9.3), GENgtWS (10.4), GENgtS (1.5)
• Alzheimers patients (Dalby, 2007)
• GENgtWS (26.5), GENgtS (6.5)
• Responses to nonce verbs GENgtWL (25-50), GENgtWS
  (20-65), GENgtS (5-15)

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Experimental evidence of memory failure

• RUSSIAN
• Childrens overgeneralizations (Gor
  Chernigovskaya 2004)
• AgtAJ (39), AJgtA (4), OVAgtAJ (22), AJgtUJ/OVA
  (14), AgtUj/OVA (10), IgtIj (11)
• Responses to nonce verbs in my study GENgtA
  (3-12), GENgtOVA (16-36), GENgtI (13-24), GENgtAJ
  (26-50)
• Adults overgeneralizations (Gor Chernigovskaya
  2005)
• AgtAJ (80), AJgtA (0.6), OVAgtAJ (40), Avaj-gtOVA
  (9), IjgtI (16)
• Aphasia patients (Chernigovskaya, Gor, Petrova,
  Svistunova 2005) a great variety of different
  models is applied
• Alzheimers patients (Dalby, 2007)
• Generalization of several classes (AJ, A, I, OVA)

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No entries in memory

• NORWEGIAN
• Nonsense words
• delpet, gåvet, søpet (WL)
• delpte, gåvde, søpte (WS)
• dalp, gåv (S)
• Low frequency words
• omkalfatret (WL)
• eksponerte (WS)
• erla (S)
• Transition to a different class
• Skar -gt skjærte

• RUSSIAN
• Nonsense words
• glasaju, glakomaju (-AJ-)
• glashu (-A-)
• glakomlu (-I-)
• drobuju (-OVA-)
• Low frequency words
• ischerpaju (-AJ)
• rokochu (-A-)
• uvedomlu (-I-)
• oznamenuju (-OVA)
• Transition to a different class
• Kapat kaplet/kapajet

10
Competing or similar entries in memory

• NORWEGIAN
• Homophones
• Hang/hengte, brant/brente (S/WS)
• gjelde (S/WL-WS?)
• Rhymes
• Tittet (WL) sitte (S)
• skinte (WS) vinne (S)
• lyste (WS) fryse (S)

• RUSSIAN
• Homophones
• Poloskat poloschu (-A-) polaskat - polaskaju
  (-AJ-)
• Posidet posizhu (-E-) posedet posedeju
  (-EJ-)
• Rhymes
• Chitat chitaju (-AJ-)
• Pisat pishu (-A-)
• Risovat risuju (-OVA-)

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Non-canonical roots

• NORWEGIAN
• Onomatopoeia
• Mjauet (WL)
• Suste (WS)
• Pep (S)
• Unassimilated borrowings
• backupet (468), googlet/googlte (59400/2),
  dealet/dealte (431/ca.40), releaste (129),
  scoret/scorte (1300000/37400)
• Truncations
• Synchet (av synkronisere), kompet, dimmet (av
  dimittere), perset (av sette personlig rekord),
  disket (av diskvalifisere)

• RUSSIAN
• Onomatopoeia
• Maukajet/mauchit (-AJ-/-A-) taratorit (-I-),
  shurshit (-ZHA-) gogochet (-A-)
• Unassimilated borrowings
• All verbs have to be assimilated (verb suffix -gt
  class membership)
• Juzat juzaju (-AJ-)
• Apgrejdit apgreizhu (-I-)
• Sorfit sorflu (-I-)
• Kliknut kliknu (-NU-)
• Liberalisovat liberalizuju (-OVA)
• Truncations
• Piarit piaru (-I-)
• Kserit kseru (from xerox I-)

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Root cannot be marked for inflectional feature

• NORWEGIAN
• Denominal verbs
• Vi skidde nedover, bilte, sjefet, matet, busset,
  solet/solte, ringet (av ring), dinerte (av diner)
  

• RUSSIAN
• Denominal verbs
• kurortnichaju (from kurort resort) AJ-
• Morachit morachu (from morak seaman) I-

13
So, what is the default?

• Argument from the Dual Mechanism Account
• The above named circumstances should provoke the
  application of a symbolic rule, i.e.use of the
  default regular pattern
• In Norwegian and Russian, there is no single
  default regular pattern that occurs in all these
  default circumstances
• Consequently, no default pattern for Norwegian
  past tense formation and Russian present tense
  formation?
• BUT then all patterns are to be considered
  irregular?
• So, irregular inflections can actually occur in
  the default circumstances? (this contradicts the
  original argument)

14
An attempt to clarify the terminology

• Regular pattern
• A pattern derived simply by suffixation, when no
  changes happen to the stem of a verb (matter of
  degree?)
• Norwegian WL, WS Russian -AJ-, -OVA-
• Irregular pattern
• Pattern in which changes happen to the stem when
  a form is derived (matter of degree?)
• Productive pattern
• Pattern that can be applied to new words (matter
  of degree)
• Norwegian WL, WS, (S) Russian -AJ-, -OVA-, -I-
  

15
Schemas for Norwegian PT formation
16
Schemas for Russian Pres.T. Morphology