Mora Obstruent Allomorphy in Sino-Japanese Morphemes

Mora Obstruent Allomorphy in Sino-Japanese Morphemes

by Mark Irwin
Mora Obstruent Allomorphy in Sino-Japanese Morphemes

Mora Obstruent Allomorphy in Sino-Japanese Morphemes

by Mark Irwin

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Overview

Modern Japanese exhibits apparently irregular allomorphic behaviour amongst a subset of bimoraic S[ino]-J[apanese] morphemes, those with a final mora in -/ki/, when appearing as the initial morpheme in a SJ bimorphemic compound whose second morpheme is /k/-initial. Detailed examination of synchronic and diachronic written corpora concludes that what is being witnessed is not irregularity as claimed in previous research, but homomorphemic diffusion, a process akin to lexical diffusion operating on a homomorphemic level. The independent status of homomorphemic diffusion is lent further weight by the phenomenon's conforming to Bybee's (2000, 2001, 2002) and Phillips' (1998, 2001) theories that higher frequency lexemes (here homomorphs) tend to be affected earlier and more thoroughly in the case of reductive sound changes. When all the evidence here presented is examined, homomorphs appear to be behaving in lexical diffusionist terms just as individual lexemes or morphemes might be expected to.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9783639075779
Publisher: VDM Verlag
Publication date: 04/21/2009
Pages: 208
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.48(d)

About the Author

Mark Irwin was born in Faribault, Minnesota and has lived throughout the United States and abroad in France and Italy. He is the author of four previous collections of poetry: The Halo of Desire, Against the Meanwhile, Quick, Now, Always (BOA Editions), and White City (BOA Editions). His poetry and essays have appeared widely in many literary journals. Among his literary awards are National Endowment for the Arts and Ohio Art Council Fellowships, two Pushcart Prizes, the James Wright Poetry Award and a Fulbright Fellowship to Romania. He lives with his family in Denver.

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