Definition & Meaning of "distributed morphology"

What is "distributed morphology"?

Distributed morphology is a theoretical framework in linguistics that explores the relationship between morphology and syntax. This approach suggests that morphological processes occur in separate stages, allowing for a more flexible interaction between the structural aspects of language and the formation of words. In distributed morphology, the abstract forms of morphemes are generated in the syntactic structure, and their phonological representations are assigned later. This framework helps to explain phenomena such as irregularities in word formation and the ways in which morphology can influence syntactic structures across different languages.