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The Regularity of the 'Irregular' Verbs and Nouns in English
This volume presents an in-depth study of the so-called irregular Past Tense (sing/sang) and Noun Plural (foot/feet) forms with Internal Vowel Alternation (IVA) in English demonstrating that they possess both a fixed phonological and semantic regularity. The innovative sign-oriented analysis and inductive methodology employed in this study are further supported by additional first language acquisition data, experimental studies and historical evidence. The data culled from multiple linguistic anthologies, dictionaries and thesauri have shown that although the IVA process comprises a relatively small number of nominal and verbal forms in Modern English, IVA, originally, was a prevalent and productive process in Old English, Indo-European and other language families. The results of this empirical study present and introduce a novel classification based on the regular and systematic iconic-phonological and semantic nature of all these diverse IVA processes both nominal and verbal that has been maintained throughout the history of English.
[Studies in Functional and Structural Linguistics, 66] 2013. xvii, 273 pp.
Publishing status: Available
Published online on 9 September 2013
Published online on 9 September 2013
© John Benjamins
Table of Contents
- List of figures | pp. vii–viii
- List of tables | pp. ix–xii
- List of abbreviations | pp. xiii–xviii
- Part One. Introduction
- Chapter 1. Introduction | pp. 3–12
- Chapter 2. “Irregular” versus “regular” nominal and Verbal forms in English | pp. 13–16
- Part Two. Background
- Chapter 3. Overview of Noun Plural versus Verbal Past Tense inflection in English: Parallel systems following CS-PHB theory | pp. 19–32
- Chapter 4. Historical background of different systems of Noun Plural and Verbal Past Tense inflections | pp. 33–42
- Part Three. The non-irregularity hypotheses
- Chapter 5. The non-irregularity hypotheses following sign-oriented theory | pp. 45–48
- Part Four. Phonological non-irregularity hypothesis
- Chapter 6. The IVA system of Noun Plurals in Old and Modern English | pp. 51–56
- Chapter 7. The IVA system of Past Tense formation in Old and Modern English | pp. 57–66
- Part Five. Semantic non-irregularity: The common semantic denominator (CSD) hypothesis
- Chapter 8. The semantic feature of the nominal IVA system in old and Modern English | pp. 69–76
- Chapter 9. The semantic aspects of the verbal IVA system in Old English | pp. 77–140
- Chapter 10. The semantic aspects of the verbal IVA system in Modern English | pp. 141–162
- Part Six. Further evidence for both hypotheses
- Chapter 11. ‘Weak’ verbs as further evidence for both hypotheses | pp. 165–178
- Chapter 12. Compound verbs as further evidence for both hypotheses | pp. 179–208
- Part Seven. Discussion and conclusions
- Appendices | pp. 221–246
- Name index | pp. 265–266
- Subject index | pp. 267–273
“[A]n original, explanatory and unified account of what have so far been considered non-systematic phenomena in the realization of past tense verbs and plural nouns. Utilizing the theoretical framework associated with the sign-oriented Columbia School and its phonological aspect, the theory of Phonology as Human Behavior, the authors uncover both the phonological and semantic regularity underlying the Internal Vowel Alternation systems for both nouns and verbs usually referred to as "irregular."”
Yael Ziv, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
“The unique scientific contribution of this study is the discovery and use in such a rigorous and intensive way of phonetic backing in the irregular verbs and fronting in the irregular nouns of both Old and Modern English, and for the irregular verbs the setting up of Common Semantic Denominators which match phonetically defined sub-groups.”
Christopher Beedham, University of Saint Andrews
“An integral investigation of the phonological and semantic systems in plural nouns and past tense verbs in English [...]. This research combines diachronic and synchronic analyses, comparing and contrasting the extensive and productive IVA systems of Old English with the quantitatively more limited Modern English systems.”
Joel Walters, Bar-Ilan University
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