The Semitic root is thus analogous to lexical roots in other languages, storing idiosyncratic phonological and semantic information but obeying the syntactic structure in which it is embedded. This way of generating morphological structure fleshes out a theory of morphophonological alternations that are non-adjacent on the surface but are local underlyingly with these tools it is possible to identify where lexical exceptionality shows its effects and how it is reigned in by the grammar. Verbal templates are here argued to emerge from the combination of syntactic elements, constrained by the general phonology of the language, rather than from some inherent difference between Semitic morphology and that of other languages. In this paper I present a theory of morphology and allomorphy that combines lexical roots with syntactic functional heads, improving on previous analysis of root-and-pattern morphology. Accordingly, theories differ as to what representations learners must posit and what processes generate the eventual surface forms. In particular, theories differ in what counts as a morpheme: the root, the template, both, or neither. Even though this kind of non-concatenative morphology is well known, it is only partly understood. Modern Hebrew exhibits a non-concatenative morphology of consonantal “roots” and melodic “templates” that is typical of Semitic languages. Nam risus ante, dapibus a molestie consequat, ultrices ac magna.Templatic morphology as an emergent property: Roots and functional heads in Hebrew Nam lacinia pulvinar tortor nec facilisis. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Fusce dui lectus, congue vel laoreet ac, dictum vitae odio. Nam risus ante, dapibus a molestie consequat, ultrices ac magna.

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Idiosyncratic phonological processes