Underlying representation
- Underlying representation
In morphophonology, the underlying representation (UR) or underlying form (UF) of a morpheme is the abstract form the morpheme is postulated to have before any phonological rules have applied to it. The underlying representation of a morpheme is considered to be invariable across related forms (except in cases of suppletion), despite alternations among various allophones on the surface.
In many cases, the underlying form is simply the phonemic form. For example, in many varieties of American English the phoneme IPA|/t/ in a word like "wet" can surface either as a glottalized IPA| [tˀ] or as a flap IPA| [ɾ] , depending on environment: IPA| [ˈwɛtˀ] "wet" vs. IPA| [ˈwɛɾɚ] "wetter". In both cases, however, the underlying representation of the morpheme "wet" is the same: its phonemic form IPA|/wɛt/.
In other cases, phonological rules may change the phonemes involved. In such cases, pipes ("|") or double slashes may be used in transcription to distinguish the underlying form from its phonemic realization. An example is the word "cats," which has the phonemic representation IPA|/ˈkæts/. If we take the underlying form of the English plural suffix to a 'z' sound, as many phonologists do, then the underlying form would be IPA|//ˈkætz//. This discrepancy cannot be avoided by choosing a different underlying form of the plural: If we assume it is an 's' sound, as it's spelled, then the word "dogs," phonemically IPA|/ˈdɒɡz/, would have the underlying form IPA|//ˈdɒɡs//. As this example illustrates, the underlying form of a morpheme is a theoretical construct, and depends on the analysis that is used.
Sandhi, such as the tone sandhi of the Chinese languages, is another phonological process that changes the phonemes of a morpheme from its underlying form.
Wikimedia Foundation.
2010.
Look at other dictionaries:
Representation theory — This article is about the theory of representations of algebraic structures by linear transformations and matrices. For the more general notion of representations throughout mathematics, see representation (mathematics). Representation theory is… … Wikipedia
Representation theory of Hopf algebras — In abstract algebra, a representation of a Hopf algebra is a representation of its underlying associative algebra. That is, a representation of a Hopf algebra H over a field K is a K vector space V with an action H × V → V usually denoted by… … Wikipedia
Representation theory of finite groups — In mathematics, representation theory is a technique for analyzing abstract groups in terms of groups of linear transformations. See the article on group representations for an introduction. This article discusses the representation theory of… … Wikipedia
Representation term — A representation term is a word, or a combination of words, that semantically represent the data type (value domain) of a data element. A representation term is commonly referred to as a class word by those familiar with data dictionaries.… … Wikipedia
Lie algebra representation — Lie groups … Wikipedia
Modular representation theory — is a branch of mathematics, and that part of representation theory that studies linear representations of finite group G over a field K of positive characteristic. As well as having applications to group theory, modular representations arise… … Wikipedia
Knowledge representation — is an area in artificial intelligence that is concerned with how to formally think , that is, how to use a symbol system to represent a domain of discourse that which can be talked about, along with functions that may or may not be within the… … Wikipedia
Unitary representation — In mathematics, a unitary representation of a group G is a linear representation π of G on a complex Hilbert space V such that π( g ) is a unitary operator for every g ∈ G . The general theory is well developed in case G is a locally compact… … Wikipedia
Riesz representation theorem — There are several well known theorems in functional analysis known as the Riesz representation theorem. They are named in honour of Frigyes Riesz. The Hilbert space representation theorem This theorem establishes an important connection between a … Wikipedia
proportional representation — A generic term for various involved systems of voting, similar in essentials, but varying in details, usually having reference in particular to the election of a legislative body, the underlying theory being that the conventional system of… … Ballentine's law dictionary
