linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Ling ...

, an alternation is the phenomenon of a

morpheme A morpheme is the smallest meaningful Constituent (linguistics), constituent of a linguistic expression. The field of linguistics, linguistic study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology (linguistics), morphology. In English, morphemes are ...

exhibiting variation in its phonological realization. Each of the various realizations is called an alternant. The variation may be conditioned by the phonological, morphological, and/or

syntactic In linguistics, syntax () is the study of how words and morphemes combine to form larger units such as phrases and sentences. Central concerns of syntax include word order, grammatical relations, hierarchical sentence structure (constituency) ...

environment in which the morpheme finds itself. Alternations provide linguists with data that allow them to determine the

allophone In phonology, an allophone (; from the Greek , , 'other' and , , 'voice, sound') is a set of multiple possible spoken soundsor ''phones''or signs used to pronounce a single phoneme in a particular language. For example, in English, (as in '' ...

s and allomorphs of a language's phonemes and morphemes and to develop analyses determining the distribution of those allophones and allomorphs.

Phonologically conditioned alternation

An example of a phonologically conditioned alternation is the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

plural The plural (sometimes list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated pl., pl, or ), in many languages, is one of the values of the grammatical number, grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than the ...

marker commonly spelled ''s'' or ''es''. This morpheme is pronounced , , or ,The vowel of the inflectional suffix - may belong to the phoneme of either or depending on dialect, and is a shorthand for "either or ". This usage of the symbol is borrowed from the ''

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a c ...

''. depending on the nature of the preceding sound. # If the preceding sound is a sibilant consonant (one of ), or an

affricate An affricate is a consonant that begins as a stop and releases as a fricative, generally with the same place of articulation (most often coronal). It is often difficult to decide if a stop and fricative form a single phoneme or a consonant pai ...

(one of ), the plural marker takes the form . Examples: #*''mass'' , plural ''masses'' #*''fez'' , plural ''fezzes'' #*''mesh'' , plural ''meshes'' #*''mirage'' , plural ''mirages'' #*''church'' , plural ''churches'' #*''bridge'' , plural ''bridges'' # Otherwise, if the preceding sound is

voiceless In linguistics, voicelessness is the property of sounds being pronounced without the larynx vibrating. Phonologically, it is a type of phonation, which contrasts with other states of the larynx, but some object that the word phonation implies ...

, the plural marker takes the likewise voiceless form . Examples: #*''mop'' , plural ''mops'' #*''mat'' , plural ''mats'' #*''pack'' , plural ''packs'' #*''cough'' , plural ''coughs'' #*''myth'' , plural ''myths'' # Otherwise, the preceding sound is voiced, and the plural marker takes the likewise voiced form . #*''dog'' , plural ''dogs'' #*''glove'' , plural ''gloves'' #*''ram'' , plural ''rams'' #*''doll'' , plural ''dolls'' #*''toe'' , plural ''toes''

Alternation related to meaning

Morphologically conditioned alternation

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

has an example of morphologically conditioned alternation. The feminine form of many

adjective In linguistics, an adjective ( abbreviated ) is a word that generally modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes its referent. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun. Traditionally, adjectives were considered one of the ...

s ends in a

consonant In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are and pronounced with the lips; and pronounced with the front of the tongue; and pronounced w ...

sound that is missing in the masculine form. In spelling, the feminine ends in a silent e, while the masculine ends in a silent consonant letter: *masculine ''petit'' , feminine ''petite'' "small" *masculine ''grand'' , feminine ''grande'' "tall" *masculine ''gros'' , feminine ''grosse'' "big" *masculine ''joyeux'' , feminine ''joyeuse'' "merry" *masculine ''franc'' , feminine ''franche'' "sincere" *masculine ''bon'' , feminine ''bonne'' "good"

Syntactically conditioned alternation

Syntactically conditioned alternations can be found in the

Insular Celtic languages Insular Celtic languages are the group of Celtic languages of Brittany, Great Britain, Ireland, and the Isle of Man. All surviving Celtic languages are in the Insular group, including Breton, which is spoken on continental Europe in Brittany ...

, where words undergo various initial consonant mutations depending on their syntactic position. For example, in Irish, an adjective undergoes lenition after a feminine singular noun: *unmutated ''mór'' "big", mutated in ''bean mhór'' "a big woman" In

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

, a

noun A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for: * Living creatures (including people, alive, ...

undergoes

soft mutation In linguistics, lenition is a sound change that alters consonants, making them more sonorous. The word ''lenition'' itself means "softening" or "weakening" (from Latin 'weak'). Lenition can happen both synchronically (within a language at ...

when it is the direct

object Object may refer to: General meanings * Object (philosophy), a thing, being, or concept ** Object (abstract), an object which does not exist at any particular time or place ** Physical object, an identifiable collection of matter * Goal, an ...

of a finite verb: *unmutated ''beic'' "bike", mutated in ''Prynodd y ddynes feic'' "The woman bought a bike"

Notes

References