morphotacticsn.
/ˌmɔːfə(ʊ)ˈtaktɪks/, U.S. /ˌmɔrfoʊˈtæktɪks/ Linguistics.
The branch of linguistics that deals with the sequence of morphemes (morpheme n. (b)) in a language; the rules governing the sequence of morphemes in a language.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > morphology > [noun] > study of arrangement of morphemes
tactics1947
morphotactics1958
1958 A. A. Hill Introd. Ling. Struct. vi. 68 The term ‘phonotactics’, now widely used, as well as other terms in -‘tactics’ to indicate sequences of items such as ‘morphotactics’ and ‘logotactics’, I owe to an unpublished lecture by Robert P. Stockwell delivered before the Linguistic Institute held at the Georgetown University Institute of Languages and Linguistics in 1954.
1958 A. A. Hill Introd. Ling. Struct. xxi. 414 Morphotactics gives us the partial predictability of morphemes and allomorphs.
1967 D. G. Hays Introd. Computational Linguistics xi. 184 The establishment of the morphotactics can be exceedingly simple or as complex as the development of a full syntax.
1975 Language 51 706 These sorts of implications or probabilities built into ASL are comparable to morphotactics in oral languages.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1958