Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Date of Degree
2-2026
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Program
Linguistics
Advisor
Kyle Gorman
Committee Members
Christina Tortora
Subject Categories
Anthropological Linguistics and Sociolinguistics | Comparative and Historical Linguistics | Computational Linguistics | Language Description and Documentation | Morphology | Psycholinguistics and Neurolinguistics | Semantics and Pragmatics
Keywords
morphological defectivity, genitive singular, suffixal competition, Polish morphology, grammaticality judgments, mixed-effects regression
Abstract
This study investigates morphological defectivity and suffixal competition in the genitive singular of Polish masculine inanimate nouns. Drawing on survey-based grammaticality judgments from native speakers, it examines how respondents select between the suffixes -a and -u or reject both as unacceptable, thereby signaling defectivity. Mixed-effects logistic regressions revealed that defectivity was rare overall but patterned systematically by age, education, and region, with additional baseline variability across lexical items. Suffix choice showed a strong preference for -a, modulated by age, education, and region, with additional baseline variability across lexical items. These findings inform our understanding of paradigm structure, sociolinguistic variation, and the interface between morphology, semantics, and lexical processing.
Recommended Citation
Zuberek, Szymon E., "Mind the Gap: Morphological Defectivity and Suffixal Competition in Polish" (2026). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/6523
Included in
Anthropological Linguistics and Sociolinguistics Commons, Comparative and Historical Linguistics Commons, Computational Linguistics Commons, Language Description and Documentation Commons, Morphology Commons, Psycholinguistics and Neurolinguistics Commons, Semantics and Pragmatics Commons
