Alternation of phenomena. The concept of alternation

ALTERNATING(alternation), the phenomenon of replacing some units of the expression plane (phonemes, morphonemes or their sequences, less often - suprasegmental units) with others within the same morpheme, occurring according to certain rules. Units that are in an alternation relationship with each other are called alternation levels. The section of grammar that deals with the phenomenon of alternation is called morphonology.

Depending on various parameters, alternations can be divided into:

– actual alternation (exchange), truncation, extension, metathesis, gluing and unfolding;

– directed and undirected;

– significant and insignificant (the latter, in turn, are divided into phonetic-phonological, or automatic, and morphonological);

– productive and unproductive;

– regular and irregular.

Actually, alternations (menas) are alternations of the form X ~ Y, where X and Y are elementary segmental or suprasegmental units. This type of alternation is the most common and is widely represented in a wide variety of languages, cf. d ~ T in Russian beard – beards[barot], victory – victories[pabet], To ~ h in Russian hand – manual, juice – juicy, a ~ ee in Latin capio"I take" - cepi"I took", facio"I do" - feci"I did", a ~ ä in German Apfel"apple" - Äpfel"apples", Garten"garden" - Garten“gardens”, etc.; An example of a suprasegmental change is the alternation of the third (descending-rising) and second (rising) tones before the subsequent third in the Chinese language, cf. "you", "you are", but ní ye"and you".

Truncation and growth are alternations of the form X ~ Ж and Ж ~ X, respectively (where Ж denotes the zero of sound). They are symmetrical to each other; the interpretation of one or another alternation with zero as truncation or growth depends on the choice of the direction of alternation (see below). Examples of truncation include alternations T~ F, d~ Ж in Russian: weaving – weaved, stealing – stole etc., an example of an increase is the alternation of F ~ h, which occurs in the Vepsian language when the diminutive suffix is added - ut to the basics with the outcome on a vowel, cf. hir""mouse" - hir"ut"mouse", but lu"bone" - luhut"bone".

Metathesis - alternation of the form XY ~ YX - is relatively rare (for example, it is not represented in the Russian language); Wed metathesis kn~ after consonants in Tocharian A verb forms with the present suffix - na-: putk“to separate” - “he separates” (instead of, cf. kärs“to know” – “he knows”), paltsk“to think” – “he thinks” (instead of ).

Gluing and unfolding (the terms are conditional; there are no generally accepted names) - alternations of the form XY ~ Z and X ~ YZ - are presented in many languages, cf. in Russian ov ~ at V paint – I'm drawing, forge – I forge,poke - stick etc. (gluing); in Sanskrit e~ay,o~av V jetum"to win" - Jayati"wins" stotum"praise" - stavana"praise" etc. (sweep), this phenomenon is often considered not as an elementary alternation, but as a superposition of the alternations X ~ Z + Y ~ Zh and X ~ Y + Zh ~ Z, respectively. These two types of alternations are also symmetrical.

Alternation is directed if one of its stages should be considered as initial, not determined by the peculiarities of the context, and undirected if such a stage cannot be specified. Directed (context-asymmetrical) alternations are much more common; in Russian and most other Indo-European languages, almost all alternations are directional. To determine the direction of alternation, there are a number of rules, the main ones of which are the following:

1) If the language has alternations A | X ~ B | Y, A | X ~ C | Y, A | X ~ D | Y, etc. (i.e. the sound A in the context X corresponds to the sound B in the context Y, the sound A in the context X corresponds to the sound C in the context Y, the sound A in the context X corresponds to the sound D in the context Y, etc.), then the direction of the alternations installed from B, C, D, etc. to A.

This principle, usually called “from diversity to uniformity,” is often considered the most important. Its rationale is as follows: by establishing the direction of alternation in this way, we thereby assert that segments B, C, D, etc. coincide in A in the context of X, whereas otherwise we would have to explain why, in the same context Y, A passes now into B, now into C, now into D. The cases of neutralization of two or more units in a certain context are extremely numerous, cf., for example, transition T, d And b V With before the end of the infinitive ( plait-u - plait-ti,bred-u – brest-ti,rowing - rowing etc.).

2) If the language has the alternation A | X ~ B | Y, and the context Y has a more complex description than the context X, the direction of alternation is set from B to A.

This principle has both a technical justification—with this approach, the formulation of the rule is simpler and shorter—and a substantive one: it is natural to assume that of two alternating segments, the initial one should have the freer distribution, since its appearance is not determined by the influence of the context.

The effect of principle (2) is most clearly manifested for those alternations for which the context Y can be satisfactorily specified only as “non-X”, cf. loss of consonants before the suffix - n(at)- (move - move,splash - splash etc.): positions in which the same consonants do not drop out are very numerous and cannot be described compactly.

3) If the language has the alternation A | X ~ B | Y, where segment A can occur in context Y, but segment B cannot occur in context X, the direction of alternation is set from B to A.

The essence of principle (3) is that by establishing the direction of alternation from B to A, we reflect some fairly general pattern characteristic of a given language, and thereby significantly simplify the formulation of the rule. So, in Russian the suffixes are chick,-schits(A)/-chic(A) And - shchin(A)/-rank(A) are subject to alternation h(after dental noisy ones) ~ sch(in other cases), cf. raider,peddler,cutter,adjuster,loader,unmarked, But collector,hewer,beaconman,reseller,mannequin,corvee,Orlovshchina. At the same time, at the border of the stem and suffix, the sequence “labial or sonorant + h"(cf. examples with the suffix -chiv(th): smiling,pensive,evasive,confiding etc. and with a diminutive suffix -chick: gimlet,sheepskin coat,suitcase,fence etc.), while the sequence “dental noisy + sch"is impossible. This observation allows us not only to establish the direction of the transition, but also to significantly simplify the formulation of the corresponding rule (there is no need to indicate which morphemes are characterized by the transition sch ® h).

Non-directional alternations include, first of all, the variation of suffixal vowels under the influence of root vowels, which is widely represented in various languages (the so-called synharmonism), cf. Turkish at"horse" - pl. h. atlar, But ev"house" - plural h. evler. Both allomorphs of the plural suffix. h. – - lar And - ler– are equally determined by the vocalism of the root and none of them can be represented as original. Perhaps the most adequate way to represent alternations of this type is to postulate abstract symbols in their place (for example, the suffix - lar/-ler can be represented as (lVr), where the symbol V denotes some variable vowel). It is important to note that non-directional alternations are possible in service morphemes, but apparently not possible in root morphemes.

An alternation is called meaningful if it is not determined by the context and serves as the only means of expressing some grammatical meaning (cf. above German forms like Apfel – Äpfel, Garten – Garten, opposed to each other in number). Meaningful alternations perform the same function as affixal morphemes and belong to the sphere of morphology. Alternations of this type are characteristic of Germanic, Celtic, Paleo-Asian (Ket, Burushaski), Nilotic, Western Atlantic and other languages; In many African languages, significant alternations of tones are common, with tone differences most often acting as markers of tenses and moods of the verb, as well as the syntactic role of noun phrases.

All other alternations that do not express any grammatical meanings and only accompany various kinds of word-formation and inflectional morphological processes are insignificant. It is the action of insignificant alternations that causes the phenomenon of allomorphy. Minor alternations are found much more often than significant ones and are represented in the vast majority of languages; sometimes the term “alternation” is applied to them (meaningful alternations in this case are called “apophonies”).

Phonetic-phonological (automatic) is an insignificant alternation, the implementation of which does not depend either on the morphemic composition of the word or on its grammatical characteristics and is determined only by the phonetic-phonological context (the properties of surrounding sounds, the presence of a pause, the place of stress, etc.); cf., for example, deafening of voiced consonants before voiceless consonants in Russian: fish – ry[P] ka, hem – By[T] to nag etc. Failure to implement automatic alternation leads to the emergence of a sound chain that is impossible in a given language.

Any non-automatic insignificant alternation is morphonological. Factors that cause morphonological alternations can be very diverse: from the presence of a morphemic boundary to the presence of a certain morpheme or a special semantic-grammatical class of morphemes in the word form. Along with morphological and grammatical factors, phonological factors often play an important role in the rules of morphological alternations (for example, the disappearance of the final vowel in the indicator - Xia in Russian, firstly, it is an individual property of a given morpheme, and secondly, it is possible only after a vowel, cf. stayed, But remained).

Alternation is called productive if the forms subject to it form an open list, and unproductive in the opposite case. Automatic alternations are productive by definition; even a partial loss of productivity by automatic alternation, as a rule, means its transition to the morphonological level. Morphonological and significant alternations allow any degree of productivity - from one hundred percent, such as alternation O(accented) ~ s(without stress) at the end of Russian adjectives - Ouch ~ -th(cf. young – old, mounted – sheer etc.) or lengthening of the final vowel, marking the presence of a dependent noun, in the Aleutian language (cf. Mikaashi"toy", sabaaka"dog", but anikdu-m mikaasii"child's toy" anikdu-m sabaakaa"baby dog" etc.) to zero, such as prolapse V after the prefix about- in such Russian verb forms as return - wrap,own – possess or meaningful alternation of vowels in singular forms. and many more h. in English ( mouse"mouse" - mice, foot"leg" - feet), presented in just 6–7 words: the emergence of new Russian and English forms subject to these alternations seems completely incredible.

Alternation is called regular if the rule by which it is described does not allow exceptions or allows a very small number of them compared to the number of regular forms, and irregular in the opposite case. An example of a 100% regular alternation is the alternation mentioned above Ouch ~ th at the end of Russian adjectives, an example of completely irregular alternation is alternation al~aux(phonetically ~ [o]) when forming the plural. in French, cf. cheval"horse" – pl. h. chevaux,journal"newspaper" – pl. h. journaux, But carnaval"carnival" - pl. h. carnavals,chacal"jackal" – pl. h. chacals etc. Productivity and regularity of alternations are closely related, but there is still no complete interdependence between them: productive alternation can be irregular. So, transition n > w, undoubtedly maintains productivity, as evidenced by such colloquial formations as perch - perch,port - portweshok, but allows many exceptions like guy - boy,herd - herd); on the other hand, absolutely regular alternation can be productive only potentially - as, for example, loss - l in cases like graze – pass(if there is a form grazed), go blind – blind(at went blind); this rule has no exceptions; it’s just that new verbs of the corresponding classes are practically not formed in the Russian language.

The concept of "alternation" is applicable only to the synchronous description of language. In the history of language, its meaningful analogue is a positionally determined change in sounds. The term “historical alternations”, sometimes used in relation to unproductive morphonological alternations, is extremely unfortunate, because Almost all synchronously observed alternations are the result of certain historical changes.

TYPES OF MORPHONOLOGICAL PHENOMENA

Types of morphonological phenomena:

a) emphasis;

b) alternation of phonemes;

c) interfixation;

d) superposition of morphemes;

e) truncation of productive bases.

Accent

The mobility and diversity of Russian stress makes it possible to use it as a word-forming device. Compare: poor and poor, poor, poor, poor, poor, etc. Derived words differ from their derivatives by the presence of not only certain word-forming affixes, but also stress.

Stress is not an independent word-forming device. It usually acts only as one of the components of the formant and is included in the formal characteristics of the word-formation type (ST).

For example: ST of nouns with the suffix -at- (these words denote an object - an object or the result of an action) is characterized by the fact that the stress falls on the suffix (referat "t, at-test"t, filter "t).

Abstract nouns with the suffix -ot(a) have inflectional stress (kindness, purity, blindness, redness).

In perfective verbs with a prefix, the emphasis always moves to the prefix (you"clean, you"wash, you"shoot, you"drive).

However, the movement of the stress may be irregular: iko"ta, lomo"ta, vomit"ta; pa"hota.

Phoneme alternation

Alternations of phonemes can be determined by phonetic and grammatical positions.

In pairs [vLda"] - [vody], [rАзб" и "т"] - [рЛск "and" nut"] the alternations L //o, z //s are caused only by their phonetic position. In the Russian language, a full vowel is impossible formation in an unstressed position, a voiced consonant is impossible before a voiceless one.
In pairs, hand - manual, write - I write alternating k // h before the suffix -n- and alternating with // sh before inflection of the 1st person unit. -y numbers are caused by the grammatical form of the word. In Russian, combinations -kn- (book) and -s"u- (elk, crucian carp, lisp) are possible.

Morphonology studies the alternations of phonemes determined precisely by their grammatical (morphological) position.

When words are formed, both vowel and consonant phonemes alternate: road - little road; dry - to dry.

For Russian word formation, the most characteristic alternations at the morphemic seam (i.e. at the border of morphemes) of the generating stem and the suffix.

Suffixes that cause alternations include, for example, the suffix -onok- // -at-, which is used to name cubs. It causes alternations: back-lingual // hissing, d // g, hard consonants // soft consonants (wolf - wolf cub, wolf cubs; camel - baby camel, camels; elephant - baby elephant, tiger - tiger cub, tiger cubs).

Alternation of phonemes can occur within the root, but even in this case it is caused by the phonemic structure of neighboring morphemes and is the result of their mutual adaptation: zha-t - zh-u, zha-t - zhm-u, understand-t - understand-a-t .

Alternation of phonemes can occur within affixes: -chik- // -schik-. The suffix -chik-appears after bases on t, d, which are not preceded by a consonant: pilot, barman, gunner. The suffix -schik- appears after stems on other consonants (milling machine operator, excavator operator) or on t, d, which are preceded by consonants (flute maker, alimony worker).

Morphonological phenomena include all types of historical alternations.

In word formation, such a concept as submorph stands out. For example, in the words highlander, favorite, pepper, the combination of sounds -ets- in the first two cases acts as a morpheme (suffix -ets-), in the third - as part of the root. Submorphs (sub-similar) have no meaning and are distinguished only because they are morphonologically significant when combined with subsequent morphs (i.e., they behave like morphs). Thus, the submorph -ets causes the same alternations as the suffix -ets-: e // zero sound (highlander, pet, pepper), c // h (lyubim-ch-ik, pepper-ik).

Interfixation

Interfixation is another type of morphonological phenomena. In this case, interfix is considered in the second meaning, i.e. as an insignificant (asemantic) padding.

The essence of interfixation: an insignificant spacer is inserted between two morphemes, eliminating combinations of phonemes that are not characteristic of the structure of a Russian word.

Interfixation is not a regular type of morphonological phenomena (unlike alternations). There is no strictly positional distribution in the use of interfixes (executive committee and executive committee(s)). Analogy or usage (custom) operates here. For example: a deer is a fawn, an elephant is a calf, a hummingbird is a hummingbird (n) calf.

Morpheme overlay

Superposition (or interference) of morphemes is the combination in the composition of a derived word of the final phonemes of the previous morpheme and the initial phonemes of the subsequent morpheme. It occurs at the junction of the generating stem and the word-forming affix (when the generating stem at the end has the same phonemes with which the word-forming affix begins).

In verb stems, only verbal suffixes and thematic vowels are truncated. Truncation or non-truncation of a suffix is a mandatory feature of a word-formation type. For example, derived nouns with the suffix -tel- always fully include the producing verb stem: receive(t) recipient; send sender. In derivatives of other types, for example, nouns with the suffix -un-, there is a stem equal to the root: beg(a-t) beg-un; jump(s) jump-un.

Morphemes in different positions can have different sound options, for example: /But w/ - /But and yk/, /G A ra/- /G O ry/, /thing/ - /thing/. Variants of morphemes that partially differ in phonemic composition are called allomorphs (But w- And But and- , ha R- And G O R-, pieces To- And pieces h- ). When comparing the phonemic composition of allomorphs, the fact of alternation is revealed. Phoneme alternation is the phonemic difference between allomorphs of the same morpheme. (This definition goes back to the formulation of L.V. Shcherba.) Instead of the term “alternation”, the corresponding Latin term “alternation” is also used. Phonemes that alternate within the same morpheme are called alternants (for example, /sh/ And /and/ V But and And But and IR). Just as a phoneme exists in its allophones, a morpheme exists in its allomorphs (or, in other terminology, morphs) with the difference, however, that allomorphs of any morpheme are few in number.

The alternation of phonemes is superficially comparable to the formation of obligatory allophones of the same phoneme, but these phenomena have a number of differences. Firstly, alternation is always alternation different phonemes; phonemic identity is fundamentally excluded here. When allophones are formed phoneme identity Necessarily. Secondly, the alternation of phonemes is due to the coexistence of allomorphs of the same morpheme; therefore, alternation takes place with mandatory morphemic identity. Yes, alternation /and//w/ occurs in words with the same root ( /But and yk/ - /But w/ ). But the same phonemes as part of different morphemes (for example, /and ar/ - /w ar/) are not connected by the alternation relation. Formation of allophones /T/, for example, can be observed in allomorphs of one morpheme (for example, the prefix from-: from now on- faucal [ T]; postpone - [T] with a side explosion; have dinner- labialized [ T]), however, the same allophones appear in completely different morphemes: turbid, boilers, cloud. Thus, the condition of morphemic identity for the formation of allophones is not of fundamental importance. Thirdly, the difference between alternation and the formation of obligatory allophones is that the formation of each allophone is strictly determined by specific conditions, the phonetic context, since the allophones of one phoneme are connected by additional distribution relations. During alternation, only the alternant that is represented by the phoneme only in a strong position (for consonants) or only in a stressed position (in essence, also strong) for vowels, appears in a bound position. Thus, a voiced [zh] cannot stand at the end of a word and alternates with [ w] (/on and A/- /But w/ ), stressed vowel [ O] cannot stand in an unstressed syllable and therefore alternates with [ A] (/res/ - /V A PS/), while [ w] can also be in a strong position ( /w mind/), and in weak ( /But w/ ). Also [ A] may be stressed ( /m A l/) and in an unstressed position ( /m A la/).

We will consider a phoneme appearing in a strong position to be a “left” alternant and place it to the left of the alternation symbol; the phoneme in the weak position is the “right” alternant and place it to the right of the alternation icon: /cru G A/ - /cru To/ (/g//k/). This, in essence, means a kind of “directionality” of alternations - from a strong position to a weak one.

Positional and historical alternations

Everything that has been said so far about alternations concerns alternations of only one type - positional. There is another type of alternation in Russian - historical. There are a number of differences between these two types.

1. B positional alternations are entered by alternants located in a strong and weak position. When historical alternations to alternants the concept of positions is not applicable. For example, in alternation /t"//h/ (joke T b - shu h at) alternants are not connected by correlative relations; in alternation /b"//bl"/ (lju b it - lju bl Yu) an unequal number of phonemes alternates; when will break - breaks drums alternate /O/ And /A/. The choice of the left and right alternation of historical alternation is dictated by considerations of etymological primacy, and not by the logic of phonetic relations.
2. Positional alternations are determined by patterns of combination of phonemes and patterns in general positional(in a broad sense) phoneme distributions. Thus, voiced noisy ones cannot stand at the end of a word and before deaf ones; /O/ practically never occurs in unstressed syllables, and /e/ after soft consonants in unstressed syllables in many cases it alternates with /And/. Restrictions for some phonemes to appear in certain positions determine their positional alternation in these cases with other phonemes.

For alternates historical There are no alternations of strong and weak positions; they are determined mainly morphological reasons. The appearance of historical alternations is explained in the facts of the history of the language. Yes, alternation /O/ with phonemic zero ( /dream/ - /sleep/) is caused by the history of the reduced - their loss in weak positions and clarification in strong ones. In addition, if with positional alternations the alternants are always single-phonemic, then with historical alternations one or even both alternants can be combinations of phonemes, for example: /m"//ml"/ (/core m"it"/ - /car ml"ú/). All alternations, when they occur, are positional, determined by the phonetic laws of the state of the language of a particular period. However, later the reasons that caused the alternations were lost, and the results of the alternation in the form of the ratio of phonemes were preserved as historical alternations.

3. Alternations take place within the main morphological unit - the morpheme; Thus, they are associated with morphology, performing certain morphological functions. Morphological role positional alternations are outwardly insignificant due to the fact that they reflect the pronunciation norms of the language. Thus, their most universal manifestation lies in the designation of the zero ending in the nominal declension system: voiced noisy ones alternate with voiceless ones at the end of a word: Oak trees - oak/du b y - du P/ , cow - cows/karo V A - karo f/. As for prefixes, positional alternations in them do not perform any morphological function: wash off - knock down /s//z/. Morphological role historical alternations in the sphere of word formation and morphology are much more diverse for both names and verbs. So, when forming adjectives before the suffix -n(from -н) posterior lingual /k, G, X/ alternate accordingly with /h, and, w/: hand - manual, book - book, fun - amusing; the same alternation occurs in nouns before the suffix -OK: heel To - heel h OK, take G A - take and OK, pet X - pet w OK; a wide variety of alternations occur in the formation of verb forms: core m it - core ml Yu, grabber T it - grabber h at, su d it - su and at, R s t - R O Yu, sn I t - sn them at, l e whose - l I gu - l e G, P And t - P e th - P Ouch lo etc. The morphological role of historical alternations is not obscured by the written form of the language. Hence the fourth difference between the two types of alternations.
4. Positional alternations, as a rule, are not reflected in writing due to the morphological principle of Russian orthography. This significantly obscures their morphological role. The morphological description of the Russian language is traditionally based on its written form; therefore, when comparing forms like in the house - in houses grammarians do not see the alternations presented there /o//a/ (in d O me - in d O swing) And /mm"/ (in to m Oh - in to m e). As for historical alternations, as already mentioned, they are always reflected in writing.

In some cases, positional and historical alternations may seem to be combined. So, in /b"ir"i and OK/ - /b"ir"i w ka/ (coast - berezhka) there is positional alternation /f//sh/; V /b"ir"i G A/ - /b"ir"i and OK/ (shores - coast) - historical alternation /g//f/; V /b"ir"i G A/ - /b"ir"i w ka/ alternation /g//w/ is derived from the first two and, as a result, does not fit the concept of either positional or historical. It should also be noted that the same ratio of phonemes, depending on the conditions, can act as a positional alternation ( /pl"i T A/ - /pl"i T"e/ - /t//t"/) and as historical ( /race T u/ - /ras" T"osh/ - /t//t"/): alternating phonemes are both in a strong hard-soft position before non-front vowels.

With all their differences, positional and historical alternations are varieties of one phenomenon - the alternation of phonemes, caused by the coexistence of allomorphs in which morphemes are realized. Both types fall under the definition of alternation given in § 1. However, since historical alternations are not determined by the phonetic structure of the modern Russian language, only the most important cases of positional alternations will be described in the following.

Alternating sounds can be:

1. Phonetic, when the change in sound is due to position and alternate variants or variations of the same phoneme, without changing the composition of phonemes in morphemes. These are the alternations of stressed and unstressed vowels in the Russian language, or voiced and voiceless consonant sounds. Such phonetic alternations are mandatory in a given language. These alternations have nothing to do with the expression of meanings - they are forced by position and are studied in phonetics.

2. Non-phonetic, when the change in sounds does not depend on positions, but different phonemes alternate, due to which the morpheme receives a different phonemic composition in its various variants. Among non-phonetic alternations one should distinguish:

A) Morphological(historical), when this alternation is not determined by phonetic position, but is not in itself an expression of grammatical meaning, but only accompanies the formation of certain grammatical forms, being obligatory by tradition, but not for expressiveness. This type of alternation includes: alternation vowel with zero sound, alternating consonants [ k - h], [g - zh], [x - sh] or combinations of consonants with one consonant [sk - shch], [st - shch], [zg - zh], [zh - zh]. Thus, with morphological alternations, two phonemes can alternate with one, one phoneme with another, or a phoneme with zero.

Morphological alternations can be regular when they are repeated in different forms and in different parts of speech (for example, [g - zh]) and irregular, found in a few cases (for example, [g - h]), and more often regular alternations are present in inflection, and irregular alternations are present in word formation. These phenomena are not included in phonetics and are not determined by grammar, but form a special area of language - morphonology. Such alternations are called traditional because these alternations are not subject to both semantic necessity and phonetic compulsion, but are preserved by virtue of tradition.

B) Grammar alternations are the same alternations as morphological ones, because neither one nor the other depends on phonetic positions. However, a significant difference between grammatical alternations is that they do not simply accompany different word forms formed and differing in other ways, but independently express grammatical meanings, and such alternation in itself may be sufficient to distinguish word forms, and therefore cannot be canceled by analogy by unifying the phonemic composition of the root. In such cases, we are dealing with a grammatical method, and therefore with internal inflection.

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In the Russian language, the phenomenon of alternation in the main morpheme is often encountered. In this article we will talk about alternating “e” and “i” in the root. Let's look at the rule and features, give examples and exceptions.

Roots with alternation. What is this?

When changing form within a base morpheme, both consonants and vowels can often change. So, for example, to run - I run, to say - I will say. Here we observe alternation of consonants. The following examples: freeze - freeze, position - position. These words are distinguished by the alternation of vowels. This phenomenon is due to the following reasons: whether the root is stressed or unstressed, whether there is a suffix, what exact meaning is inherent in the main morpheme, etc.

Alternation of “e” and “i” in the root. Rule

In a number of main morphemes, both “e” and “i” are used in unstressed position. This means that in lexical units there is an alternation in the root “e” and “i”. What does this depend on? The spelling of a particular letter is influenced by the presence of “a” (suffix) following the main morpheme. So, if the suffix is present, then the vowel “and” is written at the root. If it is missing, you should write “e”. Let's study a few examples in detail.

"Wipe". When analyzing the composition, we highlight the root “tyr”. It is followed by the suffix "a". Thus, in the main morpheme you need to write “and” (“dir”). Second example: wipe. The main morpheme is "ter", followed by the suffix "e" (not "a"). Therefore, it is necessary to write “e” (ter) at the root.

Let's consider another pair of “steles” / “steels”. We use the words “spread” and “spread” as examples. In the first option, it is necessary to write “e”, because the lexical unit does not contain “a” (suffix), in the second case, “and”, since “a” is present.

Alternating “e” / “i” in the root of the word. Examples

Lexical units with the above basic morphemes are common. In speech you can often find roots with alternating “e” / “i”. Examples of such lexical units are given below.

Basic morphemes "ber" / "bir".

Select, pick up, collect, climb, get, select, gather, pick, sort out, scrounge, clean up, sort out, make your way, selectivity, proceedings, will collect, sort out, choose, clean up, select, climb up, get there, confusion, etc.

Basic morphemes "mer" / "world".

Fade, dying out, die, die out, dying, fading, die, deceased, extinct, etc.

Basic morphemes “ter” / “tyr”.

Wipe, rub, rub, rub, wash, wash, wash, rub, rub, wipe, wipe, erase, get confused, rub, rub, get lost, etc.

Basic morphemes "der" / "dir".

Tear up, rip off, rip off, rip up, tear through, rip off, rip off, rip through, rip off, rip off, etc.

Basic morphemes "per" / "pir".

To lock up, to prop up, to push, to unlock, to deny, to lock up, to prop up, to prop up, etc.

Basic morphemes “chet” / “cheat”.

Basic morphemes “zheg” / “zhig”.

Light, kindle, lighter, ignite, cauterize, burn, arsonist, roasting, burn, burned, etc.

Basic morphemes "stele" / "steel".

To spread, to spread, to re-lay, to re-lay, to lay, to spread, to finish, spreading, spreading, etc.

Basic morphemes “blest” / “blist”.

To shine, to shine, brilliant, to shine, brilliant, to shine, to shine, brilliant, to shine, brilliant, etc.

Basic morphemes "lep" / "lip".

stick, stick, stick, unstick, stick, stuck, unstuck, stick together, stuck, stick around, sculpt, re-sculpt, stick up, finish up, stucco, etc.

Notes

The alternation of “e” and “i” in the root has a number of features. Below we will analyze each of them.

After sibilant consonants and soft consonants, not only “e”, but also “e” can be used in a stressed position. Depends on the sound that appears during pronunciation. This can be either the sound “e” (corresponding to the letter “e”) or the sound “o” (corresponding to the letter “e”). Let's give a few examples. To grate is a grater, to count is to count, to shine is glitter, to shine is glitter, etc.

The above roots are characterized by the phenomenon of a fluent vowel. What exactly does this mean? The fact that in some forms, a vowel letter drops out of the root of the word. Let's look at examples that this rule applies to.

Clean up - tidy up - tidy up, etc.

To tear apart - to tear apart - to tear apart, etc.

Burn - burn - burn, etc.

Die - die - will die, etc.

Prop up - prop up - prop up, etc.

Re-lay - re-lay - re-arrange, etc.

Wipe - wipe - wipe, etc.

Thus, we see that in the last examples both the vowel letter “i” and “e” are missing. They are runaways.