High frequency as a morphomic coherence inhibitor: evidence from the evolution of some Catalan verbs

Abstract

Abstract During the Middle Ages, a new verb class was formed within the Catalan 2nd conjugation, characterized by the presence of a velar augment (/g/ or /sk/) in the L-pattern (first-person present indicative and present subjunctive) and PYTA (preterite, old conditional and imperfect subjunctive). In this paper, we study three verbs that avoided, totally or partially, the analogical velarization undergone by most 2nd conjugation verbs: haver ‘to have’, ser ‘to be’, and voler ‘to want’. Based on a corpus of Catalan works ranging from the 13th to the 19th century, we test the extent to which the L- and PYTA-patterns of these three verbs are psychologically real for speakers. The results confirm what some authors have already observed for other languages, pointing out that the high frequency of these specific verbs or the need for phonological congruence could inhibit the morphomic pattern or even block analogical levelling.