:: Allomorph ::

In the last class, we continued on the study of morpheme but this time we learn about allomorph. What is ALLOMORPH? Allomorph is a variant form of morpheme. Allomorph occurs when the meanings of the words are the same but vary in sound. For example, ‘dog’ and ‘dogs’ is the same thing but the [s] sound indicates a plural form. Thus, the sounds of the words are different.  They are three allomorphs which indicate plural morpheme in English. They are [s], [z], and [ɪz]. For example:

•       cats       /kaets/

•       dogs     /dogz/

•       horses /h Ɔ : s z    /

There is also past tense morpheme with three allomorphs. They are:

•        / t /      talked

•       / d /      juggled

•       / d /      ended

Reflection: Before this I just knew about past tense and plural simply if there is /s/ then it indicates plural form whereas if it is ended with /ed/ it shows past tense. Thus, as I learned this topic, I knew that the /s/ and the /ed/ do had their own special name which is ALLOMORPH.  Hence, during the lesson we had enjoys to corrected our pronunciation although we had learn about them (past tense/singular/plural) even since we were in primary school.

Next, we continued to learn another type of allomorph which results in changes of the sounds but they have the same meaning which indicates past tense. For examples:

            “hang” ->  “hung”

             “read”  ->  “read”

             “run”  ->   “ran”

Everyone then needs to give one example of this type of allomorph. Hence, everyone came out with different examples as a result the whole class had learned many words. Amazing right! =)

ZERO ALLORMORPH:

Zero allomorph is the term given to the unit when there is no overt change in the item. For example:

E.g. “fish” (singular) + Ø -> “fish” (plural).

Zero allomorphs also include some words that show no change in masculine or feminine gender. For example:

 “doctor”, “clerk”, “bear”, “zebra”,

Reflection: Zero allomorph is not easy to be detected if our English is not strong enough. It is for sure will be hard to indicate whether the word shows a singular form or a plural form. Thus, we need to read a lot and refers to dictionary so that we would know which words have zero allomorph and which are not. Even now I need some times to thinks before I could give the examples. Therefore this is few examples which I could find on zero allomorph. Hopefully, it will give benefit to all. Enjoy chewing the words! ahakz =)

1.    teacher

2.    dog

3.    lawyer

4.    bear

5.    scissors

6.    shrimp

7.    salmon

8.    swine

9.    moose

10. aircraft

11. you

12. pants

13. shorts 

14. species

15. offspring