Konjugaatiomalli

Konjugaatiomalli, often translated as conjugation model, refers to a theoretical framework used in linguistics, particularly in psycholinguistics and cognitive science, to explain how speakers process and produce inflected word forms. It proposes that speakers do not simply store individual inflected forms in their mental lexicon. Instead, they possess a more abstract representation of a word's base form and the rules or processes by which various inflections are generated. When encountering or producing an inflected word, the speaker conceptually "conjugates" or "declines" the base form to arrive at the specific form used.

This model contrasts with a purely storage-based approach, where every possible inflected form of every word would be memorized. Proponents suggest that a conjugation model is more economical and allows for the generation of novel inflected forms. It also accounts for common errors, such as overgeneralization of regular inflectional rules to irregular verbs, which can occur when the abstract rule is applied too broadly. The debate between storage and conjugation models has been influential in understanding how the human brain handles morphology and grammatical structure. While concrete implementations vary, the core idea remains that grammatical inflection is often a productive process rather than just rote memorization.