Allomorphs
A Morpheme is a unit of sound. Just as an allophones is a variation of a single phonem, an Allomorphs is a variety of single morpheme.
An Allomorphs is an alternate pronunciation of a phonological from a morpheme in a particular linguistic environment.
Eq. cat(s) / kaets/, like(s) / laiks/
The term "allomorphs" refers to a variant of a morpheme. Such variance occurs due to the phonological conditioning of the surrounding sounds.
The phonological basis of conditioning to procedure these variantslies in the voiced / voiceless feature of the phoneme before the morpheme. This voiceless sounds will condition the morpheme to procedure voiceless allomorphs (t' - s, or k' - t), whilst voiced sounds condition the morpheme to produce the voiced allomorph (g' - z, or l'-d).
Baskaran, M Loga, 61-62:2005. A linguistic primer for malaysians.Malaya University Press
Just as we noted that there were "allophones" of a particular phoneme, so we can recognize the existence of allomorphs of a particular morpheme. That is, when we find a group of different morphs, all versions of one morpheme, we can use the prefix 'allo-' (= one of a closely related set) and describe them as allomorphs of that morpheme.
Yule, George.67.2006.The study of language "3 ndn".Cambridge University Press.
Zero Allomorph
Zero Allomorph is the term given to the unit involved when a morpheme changes status form one type of morpheme to another without any addition or subtraction of any of its parts. Zero allomorph is spoken of, therefore, in a situation where there is no overt change in the item. It is indicated by the sign (O).
Eq. Sheep (singular) - sheep (plural)
Baskaran, M Loga, 61-62:2005. A linguistic primer for malaysians.Malaya University Press
