choicesmorphology

Choicesmorphology is a theoretical framework within linguistic morphology that examines how languages encode choices—decisions, possibilities, or options—through morphological systems. The term encompasses how speakers select among forms to convey stance, intention, or discourse alternatives, rather than only stating factual content. It is used to analyze markers that accompany verbs, nouns, or clitics whose presence signals a chosen course of action or a preferred option.

Core phenomena include mood and evidential systems that reflect speaker choice, such as optative, volitive, or desiderative markings; conditional forms signaling alternative hypothetical options; and certain tense–aspect configurations that encode decision points in discourse. Choicesmorphology also considers markers related to agreement, valency, or lexical class that arise from deliberate selection among arguments or referents. The approach emphasizes the role of discourse context in conditioning form choice and investigates how morphophonological patterns interact with word order to express options.

Methods in choicesmorphology draw on cross-linguistic typology, corpus-based studies, and experimental pragmatics. Researchers analyze field descriptions, language documentation, and typological databases to identify patterns of choice-marking morphology. Analyses focus on the relationship between speaker intention and surface form, and how choice markers interact with modality and evidentiality, as well as with discourse structure and narrative perspective.

Status and applications: choicesmorphology is an emergent or niche term rather than a widely standardized framework in mainstream morphology. It offers a lens for explaining how languages encode decision-making in grammar and has potential relevance for natural language processing, language documentation, and comparative linguistics.

See also: mood, evidentiality, modality, discourse, morphosyntax.