allomorph
- noun
- /ˈæl.əˌmɔrf/
- Specialized
:
alómero
- The plural form of 'child' is an example of an allomorph, as it can be pronounced as 'children' instead of adding 's'.
- two different allomorphs
Examples
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In linguistics, the concept of an allomorph helps to explain how a single morpheme can have different pronunciations depending on its context.
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Understanding the allomorph variations of morphemes can greatly enhance one's grasp of language acquisition.
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Another attempt to explain eres was made by Diez, who thought it might stem from the root allomorph (hardly Diez's term!) found in the imperfect era (529).
Academic text (1994)
Surface Forms
Morphology
allomorph = morph (semi-transparent) = allo + morph
In linguistics the components map directly to 'other form', but since 'allo-' and 'morph' are specialist combining forms, the decomposition is not fully transparent to general learners.
Etymology
Allomorph comes from the Greek parts allo- 'other' and -morph 'form'. In language, an allomorph is an 'other form' of a small meaning part of a word called a morpheme, for example the different sounds of the plural in 'cats' and 'dogs'.
