Why systems-oriented morphology?

Andrea Sims (Ohio State University)
Why systems-oriented morphology?

In this talk I offer amine the motivation for such an approach to morphological theory and typology. Systems-oriented morphology fits within the abstractive Word-and-Paradigm framework. As such, it takes the word as the basic unit of morphology, with morphological structure expressed as a set of relationships among word-forms belonging to the same lexeme. However, the particular viewpoint that I call ‘systems-oriented morphology’ takes as its starting point local interactions among elements within the system, which contrasts with the global approach of much previous work. A primary goal of this talk is thus to motivate the importance of the local level of morphological investigation. After reviewing arguments for abstractive WP, I offer a number of critiques of the focus of previous work in this area, including its inattention to the syntagmatic dimension of morphology structure (a notable exception is Beniamine et al. 2017); its focus on the global complexity of systems to the exclusion of local interactions among elements within those systems; and its insufficient examination of assumptions about learnability and cognitive organization. This will set the stage for the three talks that follow.