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A 'zero', in linguistics, is a constituent needed in an analysis but not realized in speech. It also means a lack of an element as opposed to other elements. It is usually written "Ø".
There are several kind of zeros.

★ A 'zero morph', consisting of no phonetic form, is an allomorph of a morpheme that is otherwise realized in speech. In the phrase ''two sheep-Ø'', the plural marker is a zero morph, which is an allomorph of ''-s'' as in ''two cow's'''.

★ A 'zero affix' is a lack of an affix analyzed as another affix. In the phrase ''I like-Ø it'', the verb conjugation has a zero affix, as opposed to the third-person singular present ''-s'' in ''he like's' it''.

★ A zero sometimes works also like a pronoun, as in "nobody knows Ø" and "Ø makes no difference." Likewise, the zero in ''the book Ø I am reading'' works like the ''that'' in ''the book that I am reading''.

★ A zero article is an unrealized definite article in some languages.

★ A zero copula, in which the copula is absent but implied.

Contents

See also

External links

See also

★ Null morpheme

External links

★ SIL Glossary of linguistic terms - What is a zero?