Null morpheme

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In morphology, a null morpheme or zero morpheme is a morpheme that has no phonetic form.[1] In simpler terms, a null morpheme is an "invisible" affix. It is a concept useful for analysis, by contrasting null morphemes with alternatives that do have some phonetic realization.[2] The null morpheme is represented as either the figure zero (0) or the empty set symbol ∅.

In most languages, it is the

Sanskrit grammarian from ancient India, Pāṇini, in his Sanskrit grammar.[3]

In English

Inflection

The existence of a null morpheme in a word can also be theorized by contrast with other forms of the same word showing alternative morphemes. For example, the singular number of English nouns is shown by a null morpheme that contrasts with the plural morpheme -s.

  • cat = cat + -∅ = ROOT ("cat") + SINGULAR
  • cats = cat + -s = ROOT ("cat") + PLURAL

In addition, there are some cases in English where a null morpheme indicates plurality in nouns that take on irregular plurals.

  • sheep = sheep + -∅ = ROOT ("sheep") + SINGULAR
  • sheep = sheep + -∅ = ROOT ("sheep") + PLURAL

Also, a null morpheme marks the present tense of English verbs in all forms but the third person singular:

  • (I) run = run + -∅ = ROOT ("run") + PRESENT: Non-3rd-SINGULAR
  • (He) runs = run + -s = ROOT ("run") + PRESENT: 3rd-SINGULAR[3]

Derivation

According to some linguists' view, English verbs such as to clean, to slow, to warm are converted from

word class changes, is very common in analytic languages
such as English.

In other languages

In languages that show the above distinctions, it is quite common to employ null affixation to mark singular number, present tense and third persons. It is also frequent to find null affixation for the least-

ergative–absolutive languages). English is unusual in its marking of the third person singular with a non-zero morpheme, by contrast with a null morpheme for others. Another unusual usage of the null morpheme is the feminine genitive case plural in most Slavic languages, cf. Russian
singular nominative женщин-а (zhenshchin-a), woman, singular genitive женщин-ы (zhenshchin-y), woman's and plural genitive женщин-∅ (zhenshchin-∅), women's.

In most languages of the world it is the affixes that are realized as null morphemes. But in some cases

prefix (вы-), one zero root (-∅-), and two suffixes (-ну- and -ть).[4]

A basic radical element plus a null morpheme is not the same as an uninflected word, though usage may make those equal in practice.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Lexicon of Linguistics". lexicon.hum.uu.nl. Retrieved 2019-12-05.
  2. ^ "Zero Morph". Glossary of Linguistic Terms. SIL. 3 December 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Null morpheme - Glottopedia". www.glottopedia.org. Retrieved 2019-12-05.
  4. ^ Russian Language Institute, question 210775

Note: All of the examples under the Inflection heading come from the same source.

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