Class Work

ENG 312.1 (HMe)

1. Consider the following words.

a) desks
b) untie
c) invalid (A)
d) dislike (V)
e) justice
i. Draw a tree structure for each word.
ii. For the word optionality, what is the base for the affix-ion? What is the base for the suffix-ity?
Are either of these bases also the root for the entire word? If so, which one?

2. Each of the following columns illustrates a different morphological process.

Column I Column II Column III

a) Mouse/mice f) go/went k) récord/recórd
b) Ride/rode g) is/was l) import/impórt
c) Take/took h) good/better m) convict/convict
d) Man/men i) she/her n)imprint/imprint
e) Eat/ate j) am/are o)dispute/dispúte
i. What morphological process is at work in Column I? Column II? Column III?
ii. Describe in your own words the difference between the process exemplified in column I versus
that in column II.
iii. Think of at least one more English example to add to each column.

3. The following words from Chamorro, spoken in Guam and Mariana Islands, illustrate some of the
morphological processes described in this chapter.

I. Root Derived Word

a) adda ‘mimic’ Aadda ‘mimicker’
b) kanno ‘eat’ Kakanno ‘eater’
c) tuge ‘write’ Tutuge ‘writer’

II. Root Derived word

d) atan ‘look at’ atanon ‘nice to look at’
e) sangan ‘tell’ sanganon ‘tellable’
f) guiya ‘love’ guaiyayon ‘lovable’
g)tulaika ‘exchange’ tulaikayon ‘exchangeable’
h) chalek ‘laugh’ chalekon ‘laughable’
i) ngangas ‘chew’ ngangason ‘chewable’
III. Root Derived word
j) nalang ‘hungry’ nalalang ‘very hungry’
k) dankolo ‘big’ dankololo ‘very big’
l) metgot ‘strong’ metgogot ‘very strong’
m) bunita ‘pretty’ bunitata ‘very pretty’

i. What morphological process is involved in I? in II? In III?

ii. Do any changes in lexical category take place in I? in II? In III?
iii. Formulate a general statement as to how the derived words in I are formed. Do the same for III.
iv. Does the affix in II have more than one allomorph? If so, what are the allomorphs? What is their
distribution?

Assignment 1
 ENG 312.1 (HMe)
Full Marks: 15

1. The following words can be either nouns or verbs.

a) record f) outline k) report

b) journey g) convict l) outrage
c) exchange h) imprint m) answer
d) remark i) record n) import
e) surprise j) retreat o) cripple

i. For each word, determine whether stress placement, can be used to make the distinction
between noun and verb.
ii. Think of two more English examples illustrating the process of stress shift to mark a category
distinction.

2. The following Samoan data illustrate one of the morphological processes discussed in this
chapter.

a) mate ‘he dies’ mamate ‘they die’

b) nofo ‘he stays’ nonofo ‘they stay’
c) galue ‘he works’ galulue ‘they work
d) tanu ‘he buries’ tatanu ‘they bury’
e) alofa ‘he loves’ alolofa ‘they love’
f) taoto ‘he lies’ taooto ‘they lie’
g) atamaʔi ‘he is intelligent’ atamamaʔi ‘they are intelligent’

i. What morphological process is illustrated by these data?

ii. Describe how this process works?
iii. If ‘he is strong’ in Samoan is malosi, how would you say ‘they are strong’ in Samoan?

3. The following data from Agta (spoken in the Philippines) illustrate a specific type of affix.

a. dakal ‘big’ dumakal ‘grow big, grow up’

b. darág ‘red’ dumarág ‘redden’
c. furáw ‘white’ fumuráw ‘become white’

i. What is the affix in Agta meaning ‘become X’?

ii. What type of affix is it?
iii. Describe its placement.
7. In this chapter, an argument was presented in favour of the following structure for the word
unhappiness.

Using the same type of argument, justify tree structures for the words incomprehensible, redisposal
and disestablishment. (Hint: This will involve determining the type of the syntactic category with
which the affixes in these words can combine; see Table 4.13.)

8. In English, the suffix –ercan be added to a place name. Examine the words in the two columns
below.

Column A Newfoundlander

Londoner Winnipeger

New Yorker New Zealander

Berliner Column B

Dubliner *Glasgower
*Denverer *Victoriaer

*Sydneyer *Calcuttaer

*Australiaer *Bristoler

a) In general terms, what does the suffix –er mean in these words?

b) How is this –erdifferent in meaning from the –erfound in the words skater and walker?

c) State the constraint on the distribution of –erillustrated above in your own words.

d) Does this constraint also apply to the type of –er used in the word skater? (Hint: What would you
call ‘one who discovers’ or ‘one who ploughs’?)

9. The following words have all been formed by compounding. Draw a tree structure for each word.
(Hint: If you are in doubt as to the lexical category of the compound, remember that the category of
the head determines the category of the word.)

a) football i) tree trunk q) milestone

b) yardstick j) lead free r) coffee table
c) sunbather k) supermarkets s) flower-power
d) in-crowd l) girlfriend t) blueprint
e) fastfood m) city centre u) Greenpeace
f) software n) failsafe v) space ship
g) freeze-dry o) potato peel w) brain dead
h) overbook p) bitter sweet x) kill-joy

10. In this chapter, several ways of identifying compounds were discussed. Using the tests given in
the left-hand column, verify the compound status of the compounds in the right hand column.

Test Compound

a) past tense blowdry

b) compatible with very loudmouth

c) plural headlamp

d) stress poorhouse

11. Examine the following compounds and answer the questions below.

A a) bigmouth
 b) skinhead h) cutthroat

c) kill-joy i)pickpocket

d) bath towel j) spoilsport

e) death blow k) crybaby

f) bird-brain l) brain-dead

g) Walkman m) blow-dry

B n) armchair

i. For each of the compounds in column A, determine whether they are endocentric or exocentric.
ii. How do you form the plural of Walkman and bigmouth? (Hint: See Table 4.17. Also, pay special
attention to the pronunciation of mouth. Is it any different here from what is it when it is used
as an independent word?)

12. The words in column 2 have been created from the corresponding word in column 1. Indicate the
morphological process responsible for the creation of each word in column 2.

Column 1 m) Action on Smoking and Health

a) automation n) megabyte

b) humid o) teleprinter, exchange

c) information, entertainment p) influenza

d) love, seat q) They have finished

e) progress Column 2

f) typographical error → automate

g) aerobics, marathon →humidifier

h) act →infotainment

i) International, police →loveseat

j) parambulator →progress

k) (a)comb →typo

l) beef, buffalo →aerobathon

→ deactivate → ASH

→ Interpol →meg

→pram →telex

→ comb (your hair) →flu

→beefalo →They’ve finished

13. Here are five instances where a new word is needed. Create a word for each of these definitions
using the word formation process suggested. Fill in the blanks with your new words.

a) Use an acronym . . . for your uncle’s second oldest brother.

‘We visited my                        at Christmas.’
b) Use onomatopoeia . . . for the sound of a coffee percolator at work.
‘I can’t concentrate because my perc is                            ing.’
c) Use conversion . . . for wrapping something breakable in bubbles.
‘You’d better                                 that ornament or else it might break.’
d) Use a compound . . . for the annoying string of cheese stretching from a slice of hot pizza to
one’s mouth.
‘As the                                hung precariously from my lips, our eyes met!’
e) Use backformation . . . for the action of backformation.
‘We had to                                   words in Linguistics today.’

14. Create new words for each of the following situations.

a) Use a product name…for the act of scrubbing with Ajax.

‘I                        ed the tub after giving Fido a bath.’
b) Use a proper name . . . for the act of breaking dishes, which Jonathan does regularly.
‘He’s going to                     all of my best dishes.’
c) Use clipping . . . for a course in ovinology (the study of sheep).
‘Have you done your                      assignment yet?’
d) Use derivation . . . for being able to be contacted.
‘The counsellor is not very                               .’
 e) Use a blend . . . for the name of a cafeteria that serves only chocolate beverages, cakes, ice-
creams etc.
‘Let’s meet later at the                            for a drink.’

15. Determine whether the words in each of the following groups are related to one another by
processes of inflection or derivation.

a) go, goes, going, gone

b) discover, discovery, discoverer, discoverable, discoverability
c) lovely, lovelier, loveliest
d) inventor, inventor’s, inventors, inventors’
e) democracy, democrat, democratic, democratize

16. The following sentences contain both derivational and inflectional affixes. Underline all of the
derivational affixes and circle the inflectional affixes.

a) The farmer’s cows escaped. g) The pit bull has bitten the cyclist.
b) It was raining. h) She quickly closed the book.
c) These socks are inexpensive. i) The dramatization went well.
d) Jill needs the newer copy. j) The dispute was eventually resolved
e) Fido has a broken leg. after protracted negotiations.
f) The strongest rower won.

17. Each of the following corpora of data illustrates inflection of some type:

I. GERMAN
a) Der Mann istkrank.
‘The man is sick’
b) Die Frau istkrank.
‘The woman is sick’
II. GREEK
c) O erɤatisfonazi ton andra
‘The worker calls the man’
d) O andrasplironi ton ererɤati.
‘The man pays the worker’
e) o andrasineafstiros
 ‘The man is strict’
III. BASQUE
f) Aitakbazuenfabrikeaundi
Father owned factory big
‘Father owned a big factory’
g) Aiteizango da
‘Father will be (there)’
IV. ITALIAN
h) Le zίesonoamerikáne.
‘The aunts are American.’
i) Glizίisonostudiósi.
‘The uncles are studious.’
j) La zía e studiósa.
‘The aunt is studious.’
k) Lo zío e amerikáno.
‘The uncle is American.’
V. ENGLISH
l) I am biting my tongue.
m) You are biting your tongue.
n) She is biting her tongue.

i. What type of normal inflection do the German sentences illustrate?

ii. What type of normal inflection is exemplified in the Greek data? It is marked morphologically in
two ways. Identify both ways.
iii. Of the two patterns of case-marking discussed in the chapter, which does the Greek data show?
iv. How is the pattern of case-marking different in Basque from that of Greek?
v. In the Italian data, there are four different forms of the word meaning ‘the’. Name two
inflectional contrasts that are present in each of those four forms.
vi. What type of verbal inflection is illustrated in the Italian sentences?
vii. Examine the English data in V. What types of verbal inflection are present on the verb ‘to be’?
What types of nominal inflection are present on the six pronouns in these sentences?