Effects of morphological structure on phonetic detail present us with two challenges. The empirical challenge is that some predictors have produced inconsistent effects. The theoretical challenge is that it is unclear where morpho-phonetic effects originate from. Do speakers decompose words into morphemes? Or can such effects also originate from non-decompositional structure? This book investigates the durational properties of English derived words in four large-scale corpus studies. In the decompositional perspective, durations are modeled as a function of frequency and segmentability, prosodic structure, and affix informativeness. In the non-decompositional perspective, durations are modeled with predictors derived from linear discriminative learning networks. Results show that the decompositional predictors are far less reliable than previously thought. Meanwhile, some non-decompositional predictors model durations successfully. Discriminative learning is shown to be a promising alternative for modeling speech production. However, the book also demonstrates that many investigated predictors are conceptually interrelated. It ultimately cautions against taking the metaphors we use to describe these predictors as final explanations.

This textbook provides an accessible introduction to the study of word-formation, that is, the ways in which new words are built on the bases of other words (e.g. happy - happy-ness), focusing on English. The book's didactic aim is to enable students with little or no prior linguistic knowledge to do their own practical analyses of complex words. Readers are familiarized with the necessary methodological tools to obtain and analyze relevant data and are shown how to relate their findings to theoretical problems and debates. The book is not written in the perspective of a particular theoretical framework and draws on insights from various research traditions, reflecting important methodological and theoretical developments in the field. It is a textbook directed towards university students of English at all levels. It can also serve as a source book for teachers and advanced students, and as an up-to-date reference concerning many word-formation processes in English.

First published in 1939, this book provides a brief but comprehensive view of language in general, and of English and American language in particular. It is suitable for beginners and those who wish to learn about the basics of linguistics.

The area of research on printed word recognition has been one of the most active in the field of experimental psychology for well over a decade. However, notwithstanding the energetic research effort and despite the fact that there are many points of consensus, major controversies still exist. This volume is particularly concerned with the putative relationship between language and reading. It explores the ways by which orthography, phonology, morphology and meaning are interrelated in the reading process. Included are theoretical discussions as well as reviews of experimental evidence by leading researchers in the area of experimental reading studies. The book takes as its primary issue the question of the degree to which basic processes in reading reflect the structural characteristics of language such as phonology and morphology. It discusses how those characteristics can shape a language's orthography and affect the process of reading from word recognition to comprehension. Contributed by specialists, the broad-ranging mix of articles and papers not only gives a picture of current theory and data but a view of the directions in which this research area is vigorously moving.