Introducing Morphology

This chapter offers a first introduction to morphological theory by looking at several important theoretical debates. We begin by looking at the nature of morphological rules through the lens oftwo models: Item and Arrangement versus Item and Process models. We then consider the issue of lexical integrity, whether rules of syntax and rules of morphology can interact with each other. We consider the problem of blocking, competition, and affix rivalry. We also look at various ways of characterizing constraints on the ordering of affixes. We go on to look at the subject of bracketing paradoxes. The chapter concludes with a consideration of the nature of affixal polysemy.