Morphology 1

ICROLINGUISTICS
MORPHOLOGY
GROUP 3
INTRODUCTION
One important aspect in the study of linguistic is
morphology. Considering the complex structure of
language one has to have a good knowledge about this.

The underlying goal in linguistics is to try to discover the

universals concerning language. The study on forms and
how forms of language arises needed to enrich the
knowledge and proficiency of every language user.
WHAT IS
MORPHOLOGY?
MORPHOLOGY
In linguistics, the study of the internal structure of
complex words and the processes by which words
are formed is called morphology.
For instance, the English word “unexpected” can
be analyzed as being composed of the three
morphemes “un-”, “expect” and -“ed”.
MORPHEMES
Word
No. of
prefix Root Word suffix
morphomes
unexpected un expect ed 3
MORPHEMES
Are the minimal units of words that have a
meaning and cannot be subdivided further. They
can be classified according whether they are
independent morphemes (known as root) or
whether they can only co-occur attached to other
morphemes.
DIFFERENT KINDS OF MORPHEMES:
1)Free Morphemes- can occur alone
Example: house, work, chair, book, etc.
2)Bound Morpheme- can be classified according to

their position in relation to the root.
Example: unclean, teacher, unplayable, etc.
WHAT IS
AFFIXES?
These serve to modify or elaborate the
meaning of the root.
Types of Affixes:
1)Prefixes- precede the root.
2)Suffixes -follow the root
3)Infixes- inserted in the middle of the root
4)Circumfixes- attached to the root at the
beginning and end.
Ablaut
means changing the meaning of words
by changing the phonological structure
of a word.

Example: the English word “run” which

is the past tense of “ran”.

Bound morphemes are further

divided into two subtypes:
1)Derivational Affixes
2)Inflectional Affixes
TWO GROUPS
OF WORDS
Lexical Words or
Content Word
Are called open class words and
include nouns, verbs, adjectives
and adverbs. new words can
regularly be added to this group
Function words or
Closed Class Words
are conjunctions, prepositions,
articles and pronouns; and new
words cannot be (or are very
rarely) added to this class.
Group of Words Parts of Speech Examples
Noun
Lexical Words
Verb girl, run, nice,
(Content Words) Adjective happy, sad, loud
Adverbs
Conjunctions
Function Words and, but, or, at,
Prepositions
in the, a, that, she,
(Closed class Words) Articles
he
Pronouns
TWO
CATEGORIES
OF AFFIXES

Affixes are lexical additions to the root

of a word. The purpose is to either
change the meaning or class of a word
(derivational) or to modify a word to
indicate its grammatical components
and function (inflectional).

DERIVATIONAL
AFFIXES
1.Derivational affixes are added to
morphemes to form new words that Derivational and inflectional affixes are
may or may not be the same part of added to nouns, verbs, adjectives and
speech adverbs. Examples of derivational affixes
The word “derivational” relates to include:
something having been placed under a For nouns: -ion, -ance, -ment, -ness
category, group, or classification. Hence, Example: kind- relates to categorizing (a
the affix is called derivational because kind of…)
the job of this particular lexical addition
is to change the word class of the

original root by making a completely
different word.
While kindness- completely a different word that means “a
good nature”, notice how the derivational affix changed the
word “kind”, an adjective, into kindness, which is a noun.
Derivational affixesthat create verbs are often en-, be-, de-,
ern-, and -ify… also, -ize, -en and -ate.
Examples: soft(noun) turns into soften (verb) with the affix -
en.

INFLECTIONAL
2. Inflectional are added to the end of an existing word for purely
grammatical reasons.
The word “inflectional” relates to expanding or changing the
function of a word. Hence, the affix in this case is called inflectional
because its task is to expand its grammatical function within the
word.
[the] eight inflectional affixes… depend on the function of a word in

a sentence. (Mark Canada, University of North Carolina at
Pembrooke)

Hence, inflectional affixes are the morphemes of the word that

indicate whether the word is:
·Singular or plural (for nouns)

·Past, present, or progressive (for verbs)
·Superlatives (for adjectives and adverbs)
For example:
·Big-bigger-biggest(-er, -est are inflectional affixes)
·Calls, called, calling (-s, -ed, ing, are inflectional affixes)
·Fox, foxes, fox’s, and foxes’ are inflectional because they
differentiate between singular/plural and possessives.
English has only eight inflectional affixes—that
is, affixes that depend on the function of a word
in a sentence. For example, the inflectional affix s
on the end of pot makes the word plural, the
remaining affixes in English are derivational
affixes, which makes the form of meaning of
words. (Mark Canada)

EIGHT INFECTIONAL AFFIXES

-s 3rd person singular present she waits
-ed past tense she waited
-ing Progressive she's eating
-en past participle she has eaten
-s Plural three apples
-'s Possessive Lori's son

-er Comparative you are taller
-est Superlative you are the tallest
BOUND ROOTS
The other types of bound morphemes are called
bound roots. These are morphemes (and not
affixes) that must be attached to another
morpheme and do not have a meaning of their
own.
Some examples are -ceive in perceive and -mit in
submit.
Bound Root
Morphome that do not have Example
meaning of their own
ceive perceive, deceive
mit submit, permit

Formation of
New Words

What is formation of new words?

In linguistics (particularly morphology and lexicology), word
formation refers to the ways in which new words are
formed on the basis of other words or morphemes.

6 ways to form new

words

1. Compounds are combination of words.

Example:
Dog house, classmates, high school, competency-
based, officer-in-charge, handkerchief, chalkboard,
praying mantis, sewing machine, safe house and etc.

2. Acronyms are derived from the initials of the words.

Example:
NBA (National Basketball Association)
AM (Ante Meridiem)
PM (Post Meridiem)
NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)
WHO (World Health Organization)
MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)
RTW (Ready-to-Wear)
OJT (On-the-Job-Training)

3. Back-formations are created from removing what is

mistakenly considered to be an affix.
Example:
edit from editor
act from actor

4. Abbreviations or clippings are shortening longer words.

Example:
phone from telephone demo from demonstration
mic from microphone ads from advertisement
sat from saturate confab from conference
sci from science lab from laboratory
prep from preparatory
admin from administration
exam from examination
grandpa from grandfather

5. Eponyms are created from proper nouns (names).

Example:
sandwich from Earl of Sandwich

6. Blending is combining parts of words into one.

Example:
smog from smoke and fog
brunch from breakfast and lunch

THANK YOU FOR

LISTENING!
Hope you had fun!

Morphology 1

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Morphology 1

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Morphology 1

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

ICROLINGUISTICS

The underlying goal in linguistics is to try to discover the

2)Bound Morpheme- can be classified according to

Example: the English word “run” which

Bound morphemes are further

Affixes are lexical additions to the root

is to change the word class of the

[the] eight inflectional affixes… depend on the function of a word in

Hence, inflectional affixes are the morphemes of the word that

·Singular or plural (for nouns)

EIGHT INFECTIONAL AFFIXES

-ed past tense she waited

-ing Progressive she's eating

-en past participle she has eaten

-s Plural three apples

-'s Possessive Lori's son

ceive perceive, deceive

mit submit, permit

What is formation of new words?

6 ways to form new

1. Compounds are combination of words.

2. Acronyms are derived from the initials of the words.

3. Back-formations are created from removing what is

4. Abbreviations or clippings are shortening longer words.

5. Eponyms are created from proper nouns (names).

6. Blending is combining parts of words into one.

THANK YOU FOR

You might also like

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.