Summary_Santi Ramdhani

Review
Introduction: Theory, Description, and Analysis in Affix Order by Mark Aronoff and Stela Manova


Published on line: July 30, 2010

This journal is second edition of five selected files about affix ordering by tipologically different language that Stela Manova and Bogdan Szymanek organized at the 13th International Morphology Meeting in Viena in February 2008. The previous issue they set out about the basic questions facing any attempt to model affix order, with special attention to particular order; essentially a typology of affix order (Manova and Aronoff 2010).

In this introduction they shared that in the previous issue all five articles were devoted to hierarchical ordering in a single language. The current set is thematically more diverse, although each of the five articles again treats a single language. These articles share a common sensibility that involves three distinct, they are theory, descriptioon, and analysis. They are inseparable to the extent that one cannot describe or analyze data without some kind of (perhaps implicit) theory and every theory is constructed to deal with a particular type of phenomenon to be described and analyzed. What unites all the articles here is the principle that none of these three enterprises exists in a vacuum. Manova and Arnoff do not describe languages merely because of their contribution to linguistic theory or because they enjoy the excitement of linguistic analysis. Nor do we believe that the sole purpose of linguistic theory is its contribution to linguistic description. Rather each one is valuable in itself.

In addition, there are some linguist that write five articles about affix order that finally become reference of this journal of second set, such as Natalia Korotkova and Yuli Lander in: Deriving affix ordering in polysynthesis: evidence from Adyghe. Rachel Nordlinger in Verbal ordering in Murrinh-Patha: evidence for templates. It is demonstrate that contrary to Adyghe. Then, Dimitra Melissaropoulou and Angela Ralli, in Greek derivational structures: restrictions and constraints, analyze the order of derivational suffixes in Standard Modern Greek and some of its major varieties spoken in Asia Minor. While, Roksolana Mykhaylyk, in Diachronic universals and morpheme order in the Ukrainian synthetic imperfective future, brings evidence from the history of Ukrainian to the old question of whether today’s morphology is a reflection of yesterday’s syntax. For the last is Mark Aronoff and Zheng Xu, A Realization Optimality-Theoretic approach to affix order, is more theoretically oriented.

Those are five articles which is used to arrange the article of theory, description and analysis in affix order. Manova and Aronoff took the article because of excitement of linguistic analysis. They also believe that sole purpose of linguistic theory is its contribution to linguistic description. And all of them are cannot be separated each other. Theory, description, and analysis as if a packet to describe particular phenomenon.