Morphological autonomy and the long-term vitality of morphomes: stem-final consonant loss in Romance verbs and paradigmatic analogy

Abstract Morphologists of different backgrounds disagree with respect to the degree autonomy morphological component language from syntax and semantics. A precise objective quantification diachronic productivity Romance morphomes is piece evidence most crucially missing this debate. On basis 502 morphophonological innovations associated loss stem-final consonants across 63 varieties, paper quantifies (the N pattern found be productive one) morphomic templates generally (15% novel stem alternations are abide by them). Although a strong attraction effect detectable for morphomes, numbers suggest that longevity in family might have been somewhat overstated. For an optimal account observed, reference inherited structure, semantic frequency use needed similar proportions.