Verbum 9 Tip 8n: Search functions: Inline search: search argument - morphology datatype
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Morphology datatype
While there are several morphologies supported in Verbum, it is the Verbum morphology that is integrated into the program as a whole. The vocabulary is documented in Heiser, Michael S., and Vincent M. Setterholm. Glossary of Morpho-Syntactic Database Terminology. Lexham Press, 2013. However, the documentation of the morphology coding will always be a bit disappointing. Why? All the morphologies in Verbum are computer generated in some manner. This includes a step of identifying “errors” and tweaking the code to handle those cases. Soon the original definitions used to create the computer algorithm has morphed to the point that the code itself is the definition of the classifications. The general definitions from the applicable linguistic theory still apply but the difficult cases may no longer fit the verbal definitions. I highly recommend Glossary of Linguistic Terms | (sil.org) or International Linguistics Department. Glossary of Linguistic Terms. SIL International, 1996– as a chained glossary that allow you to go up and down the hierarchy to gain a real understanding of the morphological terms.
Before looking at the morphology proper, lemma, root, stem … need to be understood.
Word
From Glossary of Morpho-Syntactic Database Terminology
[quote]n/a
From (SIL) Glossary of Linguistic Terms[quote]
[Topics: word: defined]
Definition
A word is a unit which is a constituent at the phrase level and above. It is sometimes identifiable according to such criteria as
• being the minimal possible unit in a reply
• having features such as
• a regular stress pattern, and
• phonological changes conditioned by or blocked at word boundaries
• being the largest unit resistant to insertion of new constituents within its boundaries, or
• being the smallest constituent that can be moved within a sentence without making the sentence ungrammatical.
A word is sometimes placed, in a hierarchy of grammatical constituents, above the morpheme level and below the phrase level.
Kinds
Here are some kinds of words:
• adjective
• adposition
• adverb
• classifier
• conjunction
• determiner
• dummy word
• emphasis marker
• exclamative
• existential marker
• fossilized term
• honorific
• ideophone
• interjection
• particle
• pro-form
• substantive
• verb
• clitic
Generic
A word is a kind of
• construction
Sources
Hartmann and Stork 1972: :256
Crystal 1980: 168, 383–384
Cruse 1986: :35–36
Mish 1991: :1358
Pike, K. and Pike, E. G. 1982: :462[1]
Lemma
From Glossary of Morpho-Syntactic Database Terminology
[quote]n/a
From (SIL) Glossary of Linguistic Terms
[quote]n/a
Lexeme
From Glossary of Morpho-Syntactic Database Terminology
[quote]n/a
From (SIL) Glossary of Linguistic Terms[quote]
[Topics: lexeme: defined]
Definition
A lexeme is the minimal unit of language which
• has a semantic interpretation and
• embodies a distinct cultural concept.
It is made up of one or more form-meaning composites called lexical units .
Discussion
A lexical database is organized around lexemes, which include all the morphemes of a language, even if these morphemes never occur alone. A lexeme is conventionally listed in a dictionary as a separate entry.[2]
Root
From Glossary of Morpho-Syntactic Database Terminology
[quote]n/a
From (SIL) Glossary of Linguistic Terms[quote]
[Topics: root: defined]
Definition
A root is the portion of a word that
• is common to a set of derived or inflected forms, if any, when all affixes are removed
• is not further analyzable into meaningful elements, being morphologically simple, and
• carries the principle portion of meaning of the words in which it functions.
Discussion
If a root does not occur by itself in a meaningful way in a language, it is referred to as a bound morpheme .
Examples (English)
• Disestablish
• Establish ment
• Establish ments
Generic
A root is a kind of
• morpheme type
See also
• Stem
Sources
Crystal 1985: :268
Hartmann and Stork 1972: :199
Pei and Gaynor 1954: :187–188
Mish 1990: :1023
Matthews 1991: :64[3]
Radical
From Glossary of Morpho-Syntactic Database Terminology[quote]
radical — In Hebrew and Aramaic, most verbs are formed from a root that consists of three consonants. When talking about the transformations these verbs undergo to become the various inflected forms seen in the text, it is often helpful to be able to clearly refer to the consonants that come from the root form rather than the consonants that appear in the inflected form, as different prefixes, suffixes and infixes are added, or root consonants drop out or get doubled. The term ‘radical’ is used to denote the original root consonants.[4]
From (SIL) Glossary of Linguistic TermsStem
From Glossary of Morpho-Syntactic Database Terminology[quote]
stem — Refers to the system of modifying of a root verb by means of various vowels and consonantal prefixes and suffixes. The resulting verbal patterns are referred to by many Hebrew grammarians as binyanim (singular - binyan). The stem system partly serves to denote the relationship of the subject to the action or state; that is, the grammatical voice. It also describes the object’s relationship to and participation in the action or state. See IBHS §20; BHRG §16; GKC §39; J.-M. §40.[5]
From (SIL) Glossary of Linguistic Terms[quote][Topics: stem: defined]
Definition
A stem is the root or roots of a word, together with any derivational affixes , to which inflectional affixes are added.
Discussion
A stem consists minimally of a root , but may be analyzable into a root plus derivational morphemes . A stem may require an inflectional operation (often involving a prefix or suffix) in order to ground it into discourse and make it a fully understandable word. If a stem does not occur by itself in a meaningful way in a language, it is referred to as a bound morpheme .
Examples (English)
The verbs tie and untie are both stems.
The inflectional third personsingularsuffix-s may be added to the stems to form ties and unties.
Generic
A stem is a kind of
• construction
• morpheme type
Sources
Crystal 1985: :287
Mish 1991: :1154
Stem modification
[Topics: simulfix: involved in stem modification, stem modification]
Definition
Stem modification is a morphological process whereby an affix occurs simultaneously with a root or stem .
The kind of affix involved in this process is called a simulfix .
Example (English)
The tense/aspect morpheme in the English verb paradigm of ’to sing’ occurs simultaneously with the verb stem:
• sing
• sang
• sung 
Parts of speech
When one enters a @ into the morph search query, one opens a list of “parts of speech.” These vary across linguistic theories to the extent there is no single definition of the concept the classification tries to embody.
Note that there is no Logos morphology for Syriac. It is required before the required interlinear and reverse interlinear can be developed.
For Aramaic:
For Greek:
For Hebrew:
For Latin:
Part of Speech from Wikipedia:
[quote]In traditional grammar, a part of speech or part-of-speech (abbreviated as POS or PoS) is a category of words (or, more generally, of lexical items) that have similar grammatical properties. Words that are assigned to the same part of speech generally display similar syntactic behavior—they play similar roles within the grammatical structure of sentences—and sometimes similar morphology in that they undergo inflection for similar properties.
Commonly listed English parts of speech are noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun, preposition, conjunction, interjection, numeral, article, or determiner. . .
Other terms than part of speech—particularly in modern linguistic classifications, which often make more precise distinctions than the traditional scheme does—include word class, lexical class, and lexical category. Some authors restrict the term lexical category to refer only to a particular type of syntactic category; for them the term excludes those parts of speech that are considered to be functional, such as pronouns. The term form class is also used, although this has various conflicting definitions. Word classes may be classified as open or closed: open classes (like nouns, verbs and adjectives) acquire new members constantly, while closed classes (such as pronouns and conjunctions) acquire new members infrequently, if at all.[7]
Lexical category
From Glossary of Morpho-Syntactic Database Terminology
[quote]n/a
From (SIL) Glossary of Linguistic Terms[quote]
Lexical category
[Topics: lexical categories, lexical parts of speech: defined]
Definition
A lexical category is a syntactic category for elements that are part of the lexicon of a language. These elements are at the word level.
Also known as: part of speech
word class
grammatical category
grammatical class
Discussion
Lexical categories may be defined in terms of core notions or ’prototypes’ . Given forms may or may not fit neatly in one of the categories (see Analyzing lexical categories ). The category membership of a form can vary according to how that form is used in discourse.
See: Payne, T. 1997a: :32
Kinds
Here are some kinds of a lexical category:
There are major and minor lexical categories.
Major categories:
Every language has at least two major lexical categories:
• noun
• verb
Many languages also have two other major categories:
• adjective
• adverb
Minor categories:
Many languages have minor lexical categories such as:
• conjunctions
• particles
• adpositions
Note: Grammatical categories are distinct from formal relational categories such as subject, object and predicate, or functional categories such as agent, topic or definite.
Grammatical category
From Glossary of Morpho-Syntactic Database Terminology
[quote]n/a
From (SIL) Glossary of Linguistic Terms[quote]
Grammatical category
[Topics: grammatical categories]
Definition
A grammatical category is a set of syntactic features that
• express meanings from the same conceptual domain
• occur in contrast to each other, and
• are typically expressed in the same fashion.
Discussion
The term ‘grammatical category’ has been used to cover a wide variety of things, including what traditional grammars call "parts of speech."
Examples (English)
• A set of verb affixes that express aspect
• A set of auxiliary verbs that express modality
Kinds
Here are some kinds of a grammatical category:
• aspect
• case
• definiteness
• mood and modality
• noun class
• number
• polarity
• tense
• transitivity
• voice
Sources
Crystal 1985: :43–44
Hopper, P. 1992: :81
Bybee 1985: :191[9]
Alternative systems:
To illustrate the differences in classification, consider the four morphologies for Greek. Remember that Greek as an Indo-European language has a more stable set of categories than Hebrew or Syriac.
The Friberg Greek morphology stays close to the historical classification:
The GRAMCORD™ morphology nearly doubles the number of categories:
The Logos morphology is similar to the Wikipedia “generic” list:
The Swanson morphology leans towards a more functional set of options:
The first take away is that before you use any morphology, you need to know what it means by the terms, what distinctions it makes between those terms.
[1] International Linguistics Department, Glossary of Linguistic Terms (SIL International, 1996–).
[2] International Linguistics Department, Glossary of Linguistic Terms (SIL International, 1996–).
[3] International Linguistics Department, Glossary of Linguistic Terms (SIL International, 1996–).
[4] Michael S. Heiser and Vincent M. Setterholm, Glossary of Morpho-Syntactic Database Terminology (Lexham Press, 2013; 2013).
IBHS Waltke, B. K., & O'Connor, M. P. An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax. 1990. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns.
BHRG Van der Merwe, C., Naudé, J., & Kroeze, J. A Biblical Hebrew Reference Grammar. 1999. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press.
GKC Gesenius, W., Kautzsch, E., & Cowley, A. E. Hebrew Grammar: Second English Edition. 1956. London: Oxford University Press.
J.-M. Joüon, P., & Muraoka, T. A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew: Revised English Edition. 2006. Roma: Pontificio Istituto Biblico.
[5] Michael S. Heiser and Vincent M. Setterholm, Glossary of Morpho-Syntactic Database Terminology (Lexham Press, 2013; 2013).
International Linguistics Department, Glossary of Linguistic Terms (SIL International, 1996–).
[7] Part of speech - Wikipedia accessed 4/29/2021 10:10 PM
International Linguistics Department, Glossary of Linguistic Terms (SIL International, 1996–).
[9] International Linguistics Department, Glossary of Linguistic Terms (SIL International, 1996–).
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