Definition & Meaning of "morphological leveling"

What is "morphological leveling"?

Morphological leveling is a linguistic process in which irregular forms of words become regularized over time, leading to a simplification in a language's morphology. This often occurs when speakers prefer to use more consistent and predictable patterns in word formation and inflection. For example, in English, the past tense of the verb "to help" is "helped," while the past tense of "to leap" used to be "leapt." However, many speakers now use "leaped" as the past tense, aligning it with more regular patterns. Morphological leveling can result from language contact, social change, or the natural evolution of language, as speakers seek to make their communication easier and more efficient.