linguistics1-4  Exercise 2: Finding the Allomorphs
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(a) The English past tense

  walked   [wɔːkt]    ending [t]
  played   [pleɪd]    ending [d]
  wanted   [wɒntɪd]   ending [ɪd]

  Rule:
    - After a voiceless sound (k in "walk"), the ending is [t].
    - After a voiced sound (the vowel in "play"), the ending is [d].
    - After [t] or [d] ("want", "need"), a vowel is inserted: [ɪd].

  This is the same pattern as the English plural: the ending takes the
  voicing of the sound before it, and a vowel breaks up two similar sounds.
  Three allomorphs, one morpheme.

(b) The Hungarian "in" suffix

  város "city"    + in  =  városban     (back vowels á, o)
  kert  "garden"  + in  =  kertben      (front vowel e)
  ház   "house"   + in  =  házban       (back vowel á)

  Rule (vowel harmony): a word with back vowels takes -ban; a word with
  front vowels takes -ben. The suffix "harmonises" with the vowels of the
  root.

  The two forms -ban and -ben are allomorphs of a single morpheme meaning
  "in", just as [s], [z] and [ɪz] are allomorphs of the English plural.