megingerðir

Megingerðir are a term used in some strands of Icelandic linguistics to refer to the main inflectional or word-formation types that a language uses to derive and inflect words. The term combines megin, meaning main or principal, with gerðir, meaning types or forms.

In practice, megingerðir are the core morphology patterns that describe how most words change form to express grammatical function such as case, number, tense, mood, voice, or derivation. They are contrasted with irregular forms, idiosyncratic alternations, or highly suppletive patterns that do not fit any single megingerð. The concept helps grammarians summarize a language’s productive patterns into a manageable set of paradigms or classes.

Applications vary by tradition. In some Icelandic grammars and typological texts, nouns, verbs, adjectives, and pronouns are described in terms of their megingerðir, i.e., the standard declension or conjugation patterns that carry the bulk of inflection. Languages with a rich morphology may have several megingerðir, while many irregular forms lie outside these main types.

History and usage: the term appears in older and some contemporary Scandinavian linguistic writings as an aid to description and comparison. It is not universally employed and is often replaced by more precise terms such as paradigms, inflection classes, or conjugation groups in modern grammars.

See also: morphology, inflection, paradigm, inflection class, syntactic typology.