root-and-pattern

A term applied to the MORPHOLOGY of certain languages (notably Semitic languages), referring to the way in which a stable CONSONANTAL sequence (the ‘root’) appears in several related WORDS of varying SEGMENTAL shape; for example, from such Arabic forms as katab ‘write’ and kaatib ‘writing’ one may identify a root pattern k-t-b. The notion has attracted particular attention in NON-LINEAR PHONOLOGY, because it is a motivation for the SKELETAL TIER of representation. In this context, the phenomenon is handled by the mapping of consonantal roots to skeletal TEMPLATES, each template defining the basic shape for a particular morphological category.