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This chapter argues for a morpheme-based alternative to the version of the Generalized Template Theory (GTT) of prosodic morpheme shapes critiqued in Chapter 2. In this approach (MBT), canonical shapes do not fall out from the Prosodic Hierarchy. Instead, the basic prosody-morpheme correlation is between the morpheme (Root or Affix) and the syllable. Lexical morphemes (Roots) tend to be branching syllables while affixes tend to be simplex syllables because lexical morphemes license more complex structure than non-lexical morphemes. Derived morphological constructions (Stems) tend to be minimally longer than single morphemes, as morphological branching is optimally matched by (disyllabic) prosodic branching. The first section of the chapter presents the general theoretical motivations for this alternative. The remaining sections provide detailed analyses of processes like reduplication, word minimality, templatic morphology, and hypocoristics, showing how the approach works and how it solves the problems discussed in Chapter 2.

This chapter provides a critical evaluation of Generalized Template Theory (GTT), developed within Optimality Theory, to explain canonical morpheme shape. The central proposal of GTT is that prosodic morphemes have a restricted repertoire of prosodic shapes because they draw on the canonical shapes of a restricted repertoire of morphological categories. General theoretical principles correlate particular morphological categories (Stem, Root, Affix) with particular prosodic constituents. The central prosody-morphology correlation in this approach is between the stress foot and the morphological Stem (via the Prosodic Word in the Prosodic Hierarchy: the Stem=Prosodic Word Homology). The first two sections of this chapter define GTT and illustrate its strengths with examples showing the processes of reduplication, word minimality, templatic morphology, and hypocoristics drawn from a variety of languages. The third and final section discusses the empirical problems with the GTT, which motivate the alternative approach developed from Chapter 3.

The MBT approach developed in Chapter 3 defines the optimal minimal Root as a branching monosyllable. However, it is not difficult to find Roots which are either larger or smaller than this. The most common minimal word size is actually a non-branching CV syllable, even though a Root optimally branches. Roots in Diyari and other Australian languages are minimally disyllabic, rather than a branching monosyllable. This chapter shows that many of these exceptions can be straightforwardly accounted for in the MBT approach through the standard OT technique of variable constraint ranking. Syllable phonotactics can mask the morphologically-motivated branching requirements if phonotactic constraints are highly ranked. This can lead to ambiguity in the category of the canonical morpheme (is a non-branching monosyllable a Root? An Affix?), motivating further diachronic reduction.

This introductory chapter provides essential background for the analyses developed in the subsequent chapters of the book. The first section defines the scope of the book, introducing the types of prosodic morphemes to be discussed (reduplication, word minimality, templatic morphology, hypocoristics). The next two sections discuss how prosodic morphology has been of interest to recent theories of phonology and morphology. In phonology, prosodic morphology illustrates theories of segmental and prosodic shape markedness. In morphology, prosodic morphology challenges the Item-and-Arrangement approach that is most easily modeled in constituency trees. The final sections present a critical overview of recent work on prosodic morphology within Optimality Theory and outline the new theory developed in the book.

Studies of Bantu languages like Chichewa have contributed to two core areas of prosodic morphology: minimality and reduplication. The first section of this chapter provides evidence for a disyllabic minimality constraint on Prosodic Words in Chichewa. The next sections turn to nominal and verbal reduplication. The reduplication patterns are illustrated in detail. As they have received some attention in the theoretical literature, issues raised by the reduplication patterns are reviewed, including a discussion of the reduplicative tone patterns. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the disyllabic syndrome in Chichewa.