Three Related Analyses in Modern Hebrew Morphology (original) (raw)

The Typology of Nonintegrated Words in Hebrew

Many Hebrew words are unique depending on their foreign etymology as well as on social and psychological variables like substandard registers, children's game words, and emotional words; they form special word classes in the lexicon. The most common ways for word formation in Modern Hebrew morphology are root and pattern, stem and affix, and two stem combinations. Their inflectional paradigms are very predictable. Other derivational waysacronym and blendsare rarer and display irregular patterns. In this paper, I postulate nine linguistic features to distinguish between the various Hebrew words, and establish the different layers of the Hebrew lexicon. The findings lead to the discussion concerning the structure of the lexicon and the status of nonintegrated words in Hebrew.

From Discontinuous to Linear Word Formation in Modern Hebrew

The paper shows that linear word formation is strengthened in Modern Hebrew and applies to verbs as well. After exemplifying root-and-pattern discontinuous word formation, other word formation techniques are introduced. Linear formation includes stem-and-affix, word compounding or multistem-concatenation, multi-stem blend, and acronyms, either orthographic or phonetic. Reduplication and base unanalyzed words are also included in word formation because of the phonetic adaptation of such words. As in nouns, verbs can be formed nowadays linearly by copying the consonant clusters and vowel patterns into the verb system, e.g. hi¡pric "splashed" from ¡pric "splash" in the hif'il pattern, laxrop "to sleep" from xrop "sleep, snore" in the pa'al pattern. Once inserted into the verb system, these verbs behave like any other root-andpattern derived verbs.

Linear and nonlinear word formation in Hebrew – words which end with –on

SKASE Journal of Theoretical Linguistics, 2019

Two major word formation processes exist in Hebrew (in addition to minor compounds, blends and acronyms): (a) nonlinear formation: a combination of consonantal root with template, e.g. higdil 'increased' and migdal 'tower' are derived from the root √gdl using the templates hiCCiC and miCCaC; (b) linear formation: affixation to a stem, for example balšanut 'linguistics' from balšan 'linguist' + -ut, and xidon 'quiz' from xida 'riddle' + -on. The ending -on exhibits ambiguous cases of root and template construction as opposed to suffixed word formations. In many cases this ending is built using the nominal templates CiCaCon, CiCCon and CaCCon, the first of which usually create abstract nouns. In other cases -on is attached to various stems carrying the following connotations which are not always mutually exclusive, and sometimes share some of their meanings with words formed by the above templates: diminutive (e.g. suson 'small horse'); collective (e.g. še'elon 'questionnaire'); instrumental (e.g. 'ecba'on 'thimble'); flora and fauna (e.g. zeron 'harrier (bird)'); periodicals (e.g. šavu'on 'weekly newspaper'); and division related words (e.g. 'axuzon 'percentile'). Thus the ending -on creates opacity as part of a template and as a suffix for both derivational processes and meanings. One outcome of the findings is that syllabic structure is the most important factor in determining Hebrew word structure.

Chapter 6 Word-based Items-and-processes ( WoBIP ) : Evidence from Hebrew morphology

2017

In his seminal book A-Morphous Morphology, Anderson provides ample evidence supporting the item-and-process approach to morphology, whereby relations between words, and thus the derivation of one word from another is expressed in terms of processes. Although Anderson excluded Semitic languages from the paradigm, I argue in this paper for the advantage of item-and-process in the analysis of Modern Hebrew word relations. Under this approach, the word/stem is the base, and the putative consonant root is just a residue of phonological elements, which are lexically prominent as are consonants in non-Semitic languages. The empirical basis of the arguments is drawn from natural and experimental data of adult Hebrew as well as child Hebrew.

Recursiveness in Hebrew Word Formation

Derivational recursiveness in Hebrew can either occur in double or multiple stems or in single stems. It can be expressed either by reduplication of the same words or consonantal roots, by the same phrasal constructions, or by repeated morphological processes. Double or multiple stems can be formed recursively in three ways: repetition of the same word; repetition of the same word with the addition of a particle; repetition in the construct state. One stem recursive word formation includes two basic categories: accumulative morphological devices (diminutive formation; adjectival formations; particle and adverbial formation; abstract word formations); consonantal root formations (secondary formation; reduplication). Except for particles and adverbial recursive formations, all the devices show a right edge preference. The various accumulative morphological devices follow a certain specific order: base or discontinuous root and pattern combination always precedes suffixation, and suffixes are ordered, too. Reduplication of the same words or consonantal roots often carries intensifying or diminutive connotations.

Innovative Elements in Newly Formed Hebrew Four-Consonantal Verbal Roots

The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of four-consonantal verbal roots in Modern Hebrew (MH), and to show and explain the processes that cause this expansion. The ways in which new verbal roots are created will be demonstrated in section 1, followed by the formation of four-consonantal verbal roots by the addition of an initial ˀ, t, or š and by duplication of consonants in section 2. Section 3 will be devoted to the explanation of these expansions: the origins of the new initial consonants ˀ, t, and duplication in four-consonantal verbs may be based on derivational and inflectional factors as well as on historical processes. The newly formed first radical š can be explained by historical development, but it might also hint at the interaction between functional and morphological elements. The fourth section will address the number of templates in Hebrew, and will conclude that it is the structure of the four-consonantal root that modifies meanings rather than the template itself.

On the Applicability of Two Level Morphology to the Inflection of Hebrew Verbs

1988

Hebrew, as other ~emitic languages, has a rich morpl1ology, observable in part by the complexity of verb inflections. The primary base of verbs in Hebrew is the past third singular form of tlfe verb. From this base, some twenty eight different inflected forms can be created according to tense, per~on, gender and number. Traditionally, inflection tables were used to describe the various inflected forms derived from the verb 'base. Research done by Oman has managed to describe the verb inflection process using the principles of Generative Grammar. In' this approach, inflCfted verb forms are viewed as constructs of the form preftx+base+sufftx. Verb inflection is described as a s~ries of sequentialpperations. The first stage converts the primary verb base to a secondary'base, when the secondary base is not the same as the primary base. Secondly, the appropriate prefix and/or suffix are concatenated to the base. Thirdly, several morpho-phonemic changes due to the affix concat...