morfofonologie

Morpho-phonology, or morphophonology, is the field of linguistics that studies how the structure of words formed by morphology interacts with the system of sounds used in a language. It examines how phonological processes apply to morphemes and how the arrangement and combination of morphemes shape their phonological realization, often producing systematic pronunciation changes along with morphological alternations.

Key concepts include allomorphy, where a single morpheme has several phonetic realizations (for example, the English plural comes in three allomorphs: -s, -es, and -es pronounced as [s], [ɪz], or [əz] depending on the preceding sound). Morphophonemic rules describe how sound changes are conditioned by morphological context, such as tense, aspect, number, or case. Distinguishing phonology from morpho-phonology involves recognizing that some sound patterns are tied to morphological structure rather than arising from the phonology of isolated morphemes.

Common areas of study include phonologically conditioned morphology, vowel and consonant alternations within word families, and templatic or non-concatenative processes found in some languages. For instance, English past tense shows phoneme-influenced realizations of -ed as /t, d, ɪd/, while Germanic languages may exhibit ablaut-like vowel changes linked to grammatical mood or tense. In Semitic languages, root-and-pattern morphology creates systematic vowel and consonant changes across related words.

Morfofonología is essential for describing and comparing languages with rich morphology, for historical linguistics, and for applications in language processing and documentation. It links the internal structure of words to their audible form, revealing how meaning and form co-evolve in language.