Semitic Morphology: Root-based or Word-based?

Abstract

This issue of the journal Morphology contains papers devoted to issues in Semitic morphology. The majority of the papers are based on presentations given in a special session on Semitic morphology at the 11th International Morphology Meeting, held in Vienna in February, 2004. The core questions addressed by each article in this issue concern whether Semitic morphology is based on the consonantal root, based on the word, or based on both. These questions are of crucial importance for Semitic morphology but also for general morphology as well. The collection of papers in this issue addresses different types of evidence from a variety of Semitic languages, and provides both conclusions about Semitic morphology as well as questions for further research. The standard approach to morphological patterning in Semitic is known to most linguists as the ‘‘root-and-pattern’’ approach. Traditionally, this approach invokes lexical elements not seen in other language families, such as the consonantal root and vocalic pattern, and is based primarily on notable work in the generative framework by McCarthy (1979, 1981), in which the autosegmental model developed by Goldsmith (1976) was applied at a morphological level to explain regularities of morphophonological patterning in Semitic languages. The empirical domain of this traditional approach generally covers verbal and nominal patterns, and the nature of the autosegmental representation seemed ideal at the time to capture these patterns. Such patterns include reduplication, co-occurrence restrictions, and of course, derivational and inflectional patterns.