Suppletion in Linguistics

What is Suppletion?

Suppletion is a linguistic phenomenon where a single grammatical concept is expressed by morphologically unrelated words. This often occurs in irregular paradigms, creating words that seem disconnected but serve the same function.

Key Concepts

• Irregular Paradigms: Forms of a word that do not follow standard rules.
• Unrelated Roots: Words derived from different etymological origins.
• Grammatical Function: The core meaning or role remains consistent.

Deep Dive

Suppletion is not a matter of simple derivation or inflection. Instead, it involves words that historically evolved from distinct sources but converged in meaning or grammatical category. For instance, the English words ‘go’ and ‘went’ are suppletive forms of the same verb.

Applications and Examples

Suppletion is common in various languages:

• English: good (adjective) → better (comparative) → best (superlative)
• English: is (present tense) → was (past tense) of ‘to be’
• French: eau (water) → aqueux (watery, from Latin ‘aqua’)

Challenges and Misconceptions

A common misconception is that suppletion is simply a spelling variation. However, it represents a deeper historical and morphological process. Identifying suppletion requires understanding both the meaning and the historical roots of words.

FAQs

Q: Is suppletion a type of irregular verb conjugation?
A: Yes, it is often seen in irregular verb paradigms, but it can also apply to nouns and adjectives.

Q: Are ‘child’ and ‘children’ suppletive?
A: No, ‘children’ is a regular pluralization of ‘child’ with the addition of ‘-ren’, not a distinct root.