What is morphophonemic writing ?

Morphophonemic writing is a system of writing that combines morphemic writing and phonemic writing.

Morphophonemic writing maintains a single written form for selected morphemes, even though these vary in their surface manifestation.

Here are some examples of morphophonemic writing. In English, the plural is primarily represented by /s/ even though it is sometime realized as

• an /s/ in cats
• a /z/ in dogs, and
• an /iz/ in raises.

• What is ideographic writing?
• What is morphemic writing?
• What is phonemic writing?
• What is phonetic writing?

• Concept module: morphophonemic writing
• In overview module: Glossary (Literacy): M
• In modular book: Glossary of literacy terms
• In document collection: Reference materials
• In bookshelf: Literacy

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 4.0, published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 1999. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 28 June 1999

© 1999 SIL International