Templates are generally defined as fixed sequences of consonantal and vocalic positions that convey specific grammatical information. Developed within the general framework of prosodic morphology (McCarthy & Prince 1986, et seq., McCarthy 2006), templatic theory seeks to explain morphophonological operations that are expressed not only by particular affixes but also by quantity variation of segments (e.g., gemination and vowel length), as well as restrictions on the size and shape of morphemes (e.g., minimal words, prosodic reduplication, truncation, etc.).
In this course, we will discuss the key phenomena that led to the development of templatic theory. We will present several versions of the theory that differ chiefly in the type of units they use to define the templates (syllables and feet vs. CV units) and in how these are considered as lexical primitives or as an emergent property that arises from interacting prosodic constraints. Additionally, we will discuss the role of templates in regulating the distribution of grammatical markers. We will focus particularly on the notion of “templatic competition” in Semitic and Berber languages.

Selected references
Bendjaballah, S. 2014. Remarks on nonconcatenative affixation. Brill’s Journal of Afroasiatic Languages and Linguistics 6(1): 45-73.

Ben Si Said, S. 2010. Association under grammatical control. Acta Linguistica Hungarica 57(4): 432-443.

Faust, N. 2014. Templatic metathesis in Tigre imperatives. Phonology 31: 209-237.

Guerssel, M. & Lowenstamm, J., 1990. The derivational morphology of the Classical Arabic verbal system. Unpublished Manuscript, UQAM & University of Paris 7.

Lahrouchi, M. 2008. A Templatic Approach to Gemination in the Imperfective Stem of Tashlhiyt Berber. Studies in African Linguistics 37: 21-60.

Lahrouchi, M. 2013. Templates, markers and syntactic structure in Tashlhiyt Berber. Lingua 133: 53-72.

McCarthy, J. 2006. Prosodic morphology. In. Encyclopedia of Languages and Linguistics (2nd Edition), K. Brown (ed.), 182-190. Amsterdam: Elsevier.

McCarthy, J., & Prince, A. 1986. Prosodic morphology. Boston, MA: University of Massachusetts.

Scheer, T. 2012. Direct interface and one-channel translation. A non-diacritic theory of the morphosyntax-phonology interface. Vol. 2 of A lateral theory of phonology. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.