Meanings
- not comparablehuman sciencesRestricted to fit into a specific, limited pattern of possible structures or shapes, rather than resulting from the application of a simple generative rule.
In templatic morphology regularity consists in the fact that derived words associated with a particular function show a consistent syllabic (sometimes also vocalic) pattern regardless of the phonological form of the source from which they are derived.
2003, Robert R. Ratcliffe, “Towards a Universal Theory of Shape-invariant (Templatic) Morphology: Classical Arabic Re-considered”, in Explorations in Seamless Morphology, →ISBN, page 2602 more examples
Stipulation of the order of segments in a morpheme is considered "normal" and, therefore, not templatic. Similarly, admitting the existence of a grammatical category like "affix" or "clitic" entails that elements belonging to such categories must have some specification for their linear realization with respect to a host - "before" or "after" are, intuitively, quite natural types of linear stipulation for such elements, and therefore, also not considered templatic.
2007, Matti Miestamo, Bernhard Wälchli, New Challenges in Typology, →ISBNObviously, adding phonological material is a kind of phonological operation/transformation, whereas templatic morphology typically involves the application of different transformations in different contexts to ensure that the form conforms to a templatic shape.
2015, Matthew Baerman, The Oxford Handbook of Inflection, →ISBN, page 57
Origin
Cite this entry
templatic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/templatic
“templatic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/templatic. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “templatic,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/templatic.
Source: templatic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.