Are there transfer effects in the Arabic comparative?

Abstract

A contentious issue in Arabic linguistics concerns whether Arabic morphology is root-based or stem-/word-based. In a root-based approach, derivation depends on the consonantal root, which is understood as constituting a morpheme. This contrasts with the stem-/word-based view where derivation is based on a stem/word that includes a vowel. The strongest evidence for the stem-/ word-based approach comes from morphological processes like the plural and diminutive. Based on this, Ratcliffe (1998) makes the strong claim that all Arabic morphology is word-based. In this paper I argue that the Arabic templatic comparative is a root-based process since unlike the plural and diminutive it witnesses no transfer effects from a supposed base. I conclude that Arabic allows both word-based and root-based derivation.