Introducing Linguistic Morphology (2nd ed)

This is the second edition of an introduction to linguistic morphology, the study of the internal structure of words.

Comprehensive in its coverage, the text guides the reader from the very first principles through to advanced issues of controversy.The first part of the book introduces basic concepts, with the help of examples from a range of familiar and exotic languages.

The second section highlights particularly important topics, and discusses them in more detail.

These include the definition of the word-form, productivity, the vexed problem of inflection versus derivation, and the position of morphology in relation to phonology and syntax.

The third section covers major developments in the field: the influence of the abstractness controversy, lexicalist morphology, word-and-paradigm morphology, morphological typology and universals and natural morphology.

Finally, the author suggests a direction for future synthesis.

There is a glossary of terms and the book features a list of study questions and a self-check exercise.