What are allomorphs?
Introduction to Linguistics is a notable literary work by ___. A complete discussion of this literary work is given, which will help you enhance your literary skills and prepare for the exam. Read the Main texts, Key info, Summary, Themes, Characters, Literary devices, Quotations, Notes, and various study materials of Introduction to Linguistics.
Answer
What are allomorphs?
Allomorphs are different forms of the same morpheme. A morpheme is the smallest part of a word with meaning. Sometimes, a morpheme can have more than one shape or sound. These different shapes are called allomorphs. Allomorphs do not change the meaning of the word. They only change the way the morpheme is pronounced or written. Let us now see how this works.
How Allomorphs Work: Allomorphs appear because of the sounds around them. They help words sound smoother and easier to say. Allomorphs happen often in English, especially with plurals, past tense, and prefixes.
Allomorphs in Plurals: For the plural ending in English, we use “-s.” But it sounds different in different words. In “cats,” the “-s” is pronounced like /s/. In “dogs,” the “-s” is pronounced like /z/. In “buses,” the plural is /ɪz/ as in “bus-ez.” So, /s/, /z/, and /ɪz/ are allomorphs of the plural “-s.”
Allomorphs in Past Tense: The past tense “-ed” also changes its sound. In “walked” (/wɔːkt/), the “-ed” sounds like /t/. In “played” (/pleɪd/), the “-ed” sounds like /d/. In “wanted” (/ˈwɒntɪd/), the “-ed” is pronounced /ɪd/. All three (/t/, /d/, /ɪd/) are allomorphs of the past tense “-ed.”
Other Allomorph Uses: Prefixes can have allomorphs, too. Sometimes, the prefix “in-” means “not.” In “incomplete,” we say “in-.” In “impossible,” we say “im-.” In “illegal,” we say “il-.” All these forms (in-, im-, il-) are allomorphs of the same prefix.
In conclusion, allomorphs do not change word meaning. They only change sound or form to help speech flow better. These clear examples show allomorphs in real words. Allomorphs are found in every language and help with smooth communication.