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Towards a Theory of Morphological Information

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 February 2026

Susan Steele
Susan Steele*
Affiliation:
University of Arizona
*
Department of Linguistics, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 steele@uge.arizona.edu
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Abstract

Most processual theories of morphology propose that inflectional operations apply to a pair involving a phonological form and a fully specified morphosyntactic feature array. This interpretation of inflectional operations denies the existence of any structure intervening between a stem and a word. Drawing on insights developed in information-based syntactic theories, this paper proposes an alternative processual theory. Articulated Morphology, which requires that inflectional operations apply to informationally impoverished representations and increase information. An analysis of Potawatomi verb morphology within this theory, contrasted with Anderson's 1992 analysis, shows that positing intervening structure has clear benefits.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Language , Volume 71 , Issue 2 , June 1995 , pp. 260 - 309
Copyright
Copyright © 1995 by the Linguistic Society of America

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