MORPHOLOGY

Def : The study of the structure of words & how words are formed (from morphemes).

Morpheme: ¬ The smallest unit of language that carries meaning (maybe a word or not a word) ¬ A sound-meaning unit ¬ A minimal unit of meaning or grammatical function ¬ The level of language at which sound and meaning combine A. Free morpheme : lexical & functional morpheme B. Bound morpheme : derivational & inflectional

• Stem (root, base): the morpheme to which other morphemes are added

                   1.  free (e.g. teacher, dresses, unkind).

Stem       

                2.  bound (e.g. inept, unkempt).

 

Free Morpheme

Definition: can occur by itself, not attached to other morphemes.

Examples: girl, teach, book, class, the, of, etc.

Two kinds

1. lexical morpheme (open class)
2. definition: has lexical meaning; new examples can be freely added

examples: N, Verb, Adj, Adv (content words)

1. functional morpheme (closed class)
2. definition : new examples are rarely added

(but not impossible to add)

examples: Pro, Prep, Conj, Art. (function words)

Bound Morpheme

Definition: must be attached to another morpheme

Derivational morpheme

1. may change syntactic class
2. to form new words
3. examples: -able, un-, re-, etc.

Inflectional morpheme

1. Different forms of the same word
2. Not change syntactic class
3. Only 8 kinds in English: -’s, -s (plural nouns), -ing, -ed/-en, -est, -er, -s (S-V agreement)

	1.   lexical       Free               (open classes) Morphemes                         2. functional (closed classes) Bound            1. derivational (affixes)        2. inflectional

Types of Word-Formation Processes

• One of the most productive ways to form new words is through affixation, which is forming new words by the combination of bound affixes and free morphemes.
• There are three types of affixation:
• prefixation: where an affix is placed before the base of the word
• suffixation: where an affix is placed after the base of the word
• infixation: where an affix is placed within a stem (abso-blooming-lutely)
• While English uses primarily prefixation and suffixation, many other languages use infixes.

Derivational vs. Inflectional morphemes

• Derivational morphemes create or derive new words by changing the meaning or by changing the word class of the word.

• For example:
• happy →     unhappy
• Both words are adjectives, but the meaning changes.
• quick →      quickness
• The affix changes both meaning and word class – adjective to a noun.
• In English: Derivational morphemes can be either prefixes or suffixe

• Inflectional morphemes are all suffixes (by chance, since in other languages this is not true).

There are only 8 inflectional morphemes in English.

1. -s 3rd person sg. present

“He waits”

2. -ed past tense

“He waited”

3. -ing progressive

“He is waiting”

4. -en past participle

“I had eaten”

5. -er comparative

“He was faster”

6. -est superlative

“He was the fastest”

7. -s plural

“Both chairs are broken”

8. -’s possessive

“The chair’s leg is broken”