Editing Exponent (linguistics)

{{Short description|Phonological manifestation of a morphosyntactic property}}
{{Unreferenced|date=December 2009}}
An '''exponent''' is a [[phonology|phonological]] manifestation of a [[morphosyntax|morphosyntactic]] property.  In non-technical language, it is the expression of one or more grammatical properties by sound. There are several kinds of exponents:

*Identity
*Affixation
*Reduplication
*Internal modification
*Subtraction

==Identity==
The identity exponent is both simple and common: it has no phonological manifestation at all.

An example in English:
: DEER + <small>PLURAL</small> → deer

==Affixation==
Affixation is the addition of an [[affix]] (such as a [[Prefix (linguistics)|prefix]], [[suffix (linguistics)|suffix]] or [[infix]]) to a word.

Example in English:
: ''want'' + <small>PAST</small> → ''want'''ed'''''

==Reduplication==
[[Reduplication]] is the repetition of part of a word.  

An example in [[Sanskrit]]:
: दा ''dā'' ("give") + <small>PRESENT</small> + <small>ACTIVE</small> + <small>INDICATIVE</small> + <small>FIRST PERSON</small> + <small>SINGULAR</small> → ददामि '' '''da'''dāmi'' (the '''''da''''' at the beginning is from reduplication of ''dā'' that involves a vowel change, a characteristic of [[Sanskrit verbs#Verb Classes|class 3 verbs]] in Sanskrit)

==Internal modification==
There are several types of internal modification.  An internal modification may be [[segment (linguistics)|segmental]], meaning it changes a sound in the root.

An example in English:
: STINK + <small>PAST</small> = st'''a'''nk (i becomes a)

An internal modification might be a [[suprasegmental]] modification.  An example would be a change in [[pitch (music)|pitch]] or [[Stress (linguistics)|stress]].

An example of the latter in English (acute accent indicates stress):
: REC'''Ó'''RD + <small>NOUN</small> = r'''é'''cord

==Subtraction==
Subtraction is the removal of a sound or a group of sounds.

An example in French:
: OEUF /œ'''f'''/ ("egg") + <small>PLURAL</small> = œufs /ø/ (final f is lost)

==References==
{{reflist}}

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[[Category:Linguistic morphology]]

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