Morphophonological polarity

Abstract ‘Morpho-phonological polarity’ describes a situation where a morphological contrast is productively expressed by switching the value of a segmental or prosodic feature in the stem. This chapter argues that the most cited case of morpho-phonological polarity — the Dholuo plural — is in fact a complex case of morphologically-induced mutation. Cases from other languages are also discussed, including length, vowel quality, and tone exchange. Theoretical devices needed to express morpho-phonological polarity are reviewed. Morpho-phonological polarity is contrasted with both purely phonological and purely morphological polarity.