Variable morphotactics in Information-based Morphology1

We address variable morphotactics, the phenomenon of order variability of morphs, in the context of inflectional morphology. Based on an extended discussion of cross-linguistic variation, including conjugation in Nepali, Fula, Swahili, Chintang and Italian, and nominal declension in Ostyak and Mari, we propose a canonical typology that identifies different deviations from strict ordering. Following a discussion of previous approaches to the problem, we propose Information-based Morphology, an inferential-realisational and model-theoretic approach to morphology couched in a logic of typed feature structures. Within this formal theory, we develop detailed analyses of the core cases in the typology and show how different types and degrees of deviation from the canon can be pin-pointed in the relative complexity of the rule type hierarchies that model the data. Furthermore, we show that complex deviations, as attested in Mari, can be understood as combinations of more basic deviations.