Inflectional systems either have all three of the following properties or none of them: (i) inflectional exponents are intimately joined to the units inflected; (ii) inflectional exponents vary with classes of units to be inflected (i.e. there are coexisting inflection classes); (iii) inflections express several categories cumulatively; (iv) inflectional exponents neutralize some paradigmatic distinctions.
Standardized
Inflectional systems either have all three of the following properties or none of them: (i) inflectional exponents are intimately joined to the units inflected; (ii) inflectional exponents vary with classes of units to be inflected (i.e. there are coexisting inflection classes); (iii) inflections express several categories cumulatively; (iv) inflectional exponents neutralize some paradigmatic distinctions.
Keywords
inflection class, cumulation, syncretism, fusion
Domain
inflection
Type
mutual implication
Status
diachronic
Quality
absolute
Basis
Ancient and Modern Greek (both Greek), French, Italian, Latin (all Italic), English, “Gothic” (both Germanic), Classical Armenian (Armenian), Hebrew (Semitic, Afro-Asiatic)
Languages such as Turkish (Turkic, Altaic), where the declensions and conjugations are more or less uniform. There is no inflectional cumulation, and inflections are far less thouroughly mixed and blended with stems (Plank 1992: 46).
Diachronic insofar as these property combinations are conceived of as products of the development of inflectional systems.