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Multiple Exponence in the Morphology of Tashlhit and
Moroccan Arabic
Abstract
This paper explores a previously underexamined type of exponence in Moroccan languages, contributing to the broader discussion of morphological complexity in Afro-Asiatic linguistics. Specifically, Multiple Exponence (Caballero & Harris 2012; Harris 2017; Fenger 2023; Xu 2007) refers to a phenomenon in which a single morphological feature or set of features is expressed through multiple phonological markers within a single word. While extensively documented in Indo-European language families, its presence in Moroccan varieties remains largely unexplored.
Multiple Exponence (ME), where more than one morphological marker expresses the same grammatical feature, has long been a central topic in morphological theory (Matthews, 1972, 1974; Caballero & Harris, 2012; Harris, 2017; Caballero & Inkelas, 2013, 2018). Although ME has been widely discussed across languages, it remains largely unexplored in Afroasiatic contexts, particularly in Moroccan Arabic (MA) and Moroccan Amazigh (Mam).
In our work, we focus on how these two languages provide valuable insights into the nature of ME. In Moroccan Arabic, we find many cases where two exponents combine to express the same morphosyntactic feature, often through non-concatenative patterns. This can be seen in broken plurals, comparatives, instrumental and agentive formations, and even in certain verbal conjugations, where overlapping markers work together to signal a single grammatical meaning.
Tashlhiyt, on the other hand, presents a rich and highly patterned plural system. Here, both concatenative and non-concatenative processes frequently surface together to express plurality; therefore, they present clear cases of ME in action.
In this study, we analyze these constructions within Optimal Construction Morphology (Caballero & Inkelas, 2013, 2018), a framework that models how different morphological constructions interact to achieve a target meaning. OCM allows us to capture the coexistence of multiple markers through constructional constraints and the Strength of Exponents.
Our goal is twofold: first, to show that Moroccan Arabic provides systematic, productive evidence for genuine Multiple Exponence rather than accidental redundancy; and second, to explore what these patterns reveal about broader issues such as morphological economy, one-to-one mapping, and the role of redundancy in non-concatenative systems.
References
Caballero, G., & Harris, A. C. (2012). A working typology of multiple exponence. In F. Kiefer, M. Ladányi, & P. Siptár (Eds.), Current issues in morphological theory: (Ir)regularity, analogy, and frequency (pp. 163–188). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Caballero, G., & Inkelas, S. (2013). Word construction: Tracing an optimal path through the lexicon. Morphology, 23(2), 103–143.
Caballero, G., & Inkelas, S. (2018). A construction-based approach to multiple exponence. In G. Booij (Ed.), The construction of words: Advances in Construction Morphology (pp. 111–139). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
Harris, A. C. (2017). Multiple exponence. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Matthews, P. H. (1972). Inflectional morphology: A theoretical study based on aspects of Latin verb conjugation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Matthews, P. H. (1974). Morphology: An introduction to the theory of word structure. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
