Morphological asymmetry is the ability of affixes to express multiple functions and functions to be realized by several affixes discontinuously, in different contexts.
Cumulative exponence and
extended exponence are Matthews' (
1972) terms for simultaneous asymmetry. 'Cumulative exponence' refers to affixes, like Latin
-o: in
am-o: 'I love', which simulteneously realize 1st Person, Singular Number, Indicative Mood, and Active Voice. Perfective Aspect in the verb
re:k-si-s-ti: (
rexisti) 'you (Sg) ruled', on the other hand, are realized in the three suffixes
-si,
-s, ant
-ti.
