Current morphological theory A comment on Robert Beard & Mark Volpe: Lexeme-Morpheme Base Morphology

I present a computational model that allows for a clean formal account of a wide variety of morphological phenomena. Much of what i present is based on the large literature on finite-state approaches to morphology, but it is more coherent in that I propose that all morphological operations can be modeled using a single regular operation: composition. I define this operation and give several examples of its application. Two morphological models, ‘Item and Arrangement’ approaches (e.g. Lieber’s), and ‘Item and Process’ approaches (e.g. Beard’s) are compared with respect to this computational model. I will argue that there is not as much difference between these views as morphologists like to suppose.