English Morphology: The Study of Words and Meaning
English
Morphology
Dott.ssa Gloria
Cappelli
What
is a
word?
Word:
not a
strightforward
notion.
The
smallest meaningful unit of language is
a MORPHEME
certain,
mean,
linguist
:
free
morphemes
(they can stand
on
their
own)
-ly,
-ing, -less
:
bound
morphemes
(they can only
be
used
attached to
a
free
morpheme)
What
is
morphology?
•
T
h
e
s
u
b
d
i
s
c
i
p
l
i
n
e
o
f
l
i
n
g
u
i
s
t
i
c
s
w
h
i
c
h
s
t
u
d
i
e
s
t
h
e
i
n
t
e
r
n
a
l
s
t
r
u
c
t
u
r
e
o
f
w
o
r
d
s
,
t
h
e
r
u
l
e
s
t
h
a
t
g
o
v
e
r
n
i
t
,
a
s
w
e
l
l
a
s
t
h
e
w
a
y
s
o
f
c
r
e
a
t
i
n
g
n
e
w
w
o
r
d
s
.
Morphology
(1)
Morphology
is normally
subdivided into
two
branches:
1
.
D
e
r
i
v
a
t
i
o
n
a
l
(
o
r
L
e
x
i
c
a
l
)
M
o
r
p
h
o
l
o
g
y
it
studies the
means by
which
existing
words
have been
constructed
and by
which
new
words
might be
created.
2
.
I
n
f
l
e
c
t
i
o
n
a
l
M
o
r
p
h
o
l
o
g
y
it
studies the way words are
adapted
in different
grammatical
contexts.
(e.g.
making a noun
plural)
Morphemes
Word
analysis
involves
breaking a
word
into
its
morphemes
.
Literally,
the
word
"morpheme" means 'an element in a
system of
forms.'
Linguists
define it
more precisely
as
the smallest
form
which
is paired with a particular
meaning
.
We
say
that each
form
(i.e.
MORPH
)
plus
the
meaning
linked
to it is a single
morpheme
.
Meaningful units
(1)
How
can
we
identify which part in a
word is
meaningful
and
what meaning
it
has?
S
H
Y
N
E
S
S
•
‘shy’
=
‘nervous and embarrassed about meeting and speaking to other
people’.
a
meaningful unit,
a
morpheme
.
•
-
n
e
s
s
=
?
There is
no
such a
word in
English.
BUT
the fact that there are
many
words that contain the unit
‘ness’
makes
us think that it might be
a
morpheme.
To
verify this,
we should
find out if it has
a
meaning
, by
paraphrasing
different words containing ‘-
ness’, in order to
see
whether it contributes any meaning to the
overall
meaning of these
words.
Meaningful units
(2)
•
shy
ness
=
‘the state
or
property of being
shy’
•
loud
ness
=
‘the state
or
property of being
loud’
•
sad
ness
=
‘the state
or
property of being
sad’
•
happi
ness
=
‘the state
or
property of being
happy’
-
NES
S
=
‘the state
or
property of being
X’
it is
a
morpheme
it
cannot be
subdivided any further into meaningful
components
The same
thing happens
for:
dream,
shy,
loud,
sad,
happy
d
r
ea
m
shy
happy
sad
loud
These
words consist
of
only
one
morpheme.
M
O
N
O
M
O
R
P
H
E
M
I
C
o
r
P
O
L
Y
M
O
R
P
H
E
M
I
C
o
r
S
I
M
P
L
E
X
w
o
r
d
s
v
C
O
M
P
L
E
X
w
o
r
d
s
•
These
words consist
of
more
than
one
morpheme.
T
y
p
e
s
o
f
W
o
r
d
s
Complex
Words…
Clearly
morphemes
and
words
are
not
necessarily
the same
thing.
Words
may
be
composed of
one or
many
morphemes.
In fact,
most long
words in English
can
be
broken
down into
smaller
units.
The
longest
word
in English
(according to
Webster's
Unabridged
Dictionary) contains
45
letters; it
can
be
broken
down into
9
morphemes.
Morphology
vs.
Etymology
(3)
If
we compare the
paraphrases
of
words
containing ‘-
tain
’ and
‘
ped-
’, they
do
not
follow
the same pattern as was the case with the morphemes
‘-
less
’
or
‘-
ness
’.
The
meaning of these
Latin
morphemes
is
not
readily
traceable
.
It is
unclear
,
from
the point of
view
of
today’s
English,
what the meaning of ‘
-
tain
’
in
these
words
might
be.
These
words are
etymologically
complex
,
BUT
they
are
simplex
in
today’s
English
Morphology
≠
Etymology
Exercise…
Complex
or
Simplex
words?
t
h
i
n
k
e
r
C
t
h
i
n
k
-
e
r
s
t
u
d
e
n
t
S
s
t
u
d
e
n
t
u
n
f
a
i
r
C
u
n
-
f
a
i
r
e
x
c
e
l
l
e
n
t
C
e
x
c
e
l
(
l
)
-
e
n
t
u
g
l
y
S
u
g
l
y
p
o
s
t
m
o
d
e
r
n
i
s
t
C
p
o
s
t
-
m
o
d
e
r
n
-
i
s
t
p
a
p
e
r
S
p
a
p
e
r
c
l
a
s
s
r
o
o
m
C
c
l
a
s
s
-
r
o
o
m
t
r
i
a
l
C
t
r
y
-
a
l
s
a
d
l
y
C
s
a
d
-
l
y
d
o
g
s
C
d
o
g
-
s
Morphemes
vs.
Syllables
(1)
Morphemes
should
not
be confused
with
syllables
.
a
u
n
i
t
o
f
m
e
a
n
i
n
g
a
u
n
i
t
o
f
s
o
u
n
d
Sometimes a
single
morpheme
has
several
syllables.
e.g. English speakers would probably consider the
word
"
hurricane
" as a
single
morpheme
.
(derived
from
Spanish,
which
in
turn
drew
the
word
from
Taino,
an
Arawak
language from the
Caribbean)
At
other
times a
morpheme
will
use
less
than
one
syllable.
cats
has
two
morphemes
in
one
syllable:
'feline'
+
'plural'.
cats’
has
three
morphemes
in a single syllable:
'feline'
+
'plural'
+
'belonging
to'.
Characteristics of
Morphemes
Morphemes
have
four
defining characteristics
:
1.
They
cannot
be
subdivided
.
2.
They
add
meaning
to a
word.
3.
They can
appear in
many
different
words
.
4.
They can
have
any
number of syllables
.
1.
One form,
two
(or
more)
meanings
Two
different
meanings
can
be
expressed
using the
same
arrangement of
sounds
. Since
there are clearly
two
different
and
unrelated
meanings, we
would want to
say
that
there are
two
different
morphemes
.
The
case
of
‘
in
-’:
in-
→
'not'
in words
like
in
capable,
in
sufficient
i
n
-
→
'
i
n
t
o
,
w
i
t
h
i
n
'
,
a
s
i
n
i
n
v
a
d
e
,
i
n
c
l
u
d
e
These
similarities are just
accidental
and
typically
the
origins
of the two
morphemes
are completely
unrelated
.
2.
Two
(or
more)
forms,
one
meaning
When
two
different
forms
have
the
same
meaning
,
they
could
be
different
morphemes
,
or
they
might
be
a
single
morpheme
.
T
wo
forms, one meaning
=
two
morphemes
There
are
two
situations in
which two forms
have
the same meaning, but
they
are different
morphemes.
1.
The
forms
are usually
rather
different
from
one
another.
andr
→
'man, male'
as
in
andr
oid
vir
→
'man, male'
as
in
vir
ile
Both morphemes
mean
the
same
thing,
but
they are
very
different in
form.
They
have completely different origins,
and we want to think of them as
different
morphemes
.
Allomorphs
The
same
morpheme
can
be
realised in different
ways.
The
different
realisations
of the
same
morpheme
are
called
ALLOMORPHS
.
This
is usually
the
result
of
phonology
interacting
with
morphology
.
in-elegant
im-polite
il-legal
ir-regular
‘
in
-’,‘
im
-’,‘
il
-’,
‘
ir
-’
→
allomorphs
Consider the
different realisations
of the
morpheme
{plural}:car
>
car
s
→
(Regular
form)
m
ou
se
>
m
i
ce
→
vowel
change
t
oo
th
> t
ee
th
→
vowel
change
ch
i
ld
>
ch
i
l
dren
→
vowel
change
+
suffix
‘-
ren
’
sheep
>
sheep
→
zero
morph
B
a
s
e
s
•
agree
•
c
on
s
tr
u
c
t
•
cheer
•
create
•
disagree
•
construction
•
cheerful
•
recreation
•
d
i
s
ag
r
ee
m
e
•
c
on
s
tr
u
c
t
i
onal
•
cheerfulnes
•
recreational
Words
in (1)
give
the bases
for
the derivatives in (2), which in turn contain the
bases
for
the derivatives in
(3).
However,
bases in (1)
differ
from bases in
(2).
Bases in (1)
do
not
contain any further morphemes,
therefore
they
cannot be
analysed into constituent morphemes,
unlike
bases in
(2).
Bases in (1)
are
simplex
and
they
are
called
ROOTS
.
Bases in (2)
are
complex
:
‘
disagree
’
→
dis-, agree
→
2
constituent morphemes
‘
recreation
’
→
re-,
create,
-ion
→
3
constituent
morphemes
Roots,
Bases
and
Stems
ROOT
:The
morpheme
which
lies at
the core of a complex word
form. Words
may have multiple
roots.
BASE
:Any
form (morpheme
or
word)
which enters a
word- formation
process
which
yields
a more complex
form.
The
term "
stem
"
is reserved for inflectional processes .
STEM
:A
form
without
any inflectional
endings.
WINNERS:
"
winner
"
is
the
stem
. Also,
{WIN
}
is
the
root.
WINNER: {WIN
}
is
the
root
and "
win
"
is (also)
the
base
.
PLAYFUL:
{PLAY
}
is
the
root
of the word and
"
play
" is its
base.
PLAYFULNESS:
the
root
is
still {PLAY
},
but the
base
is "
playful
".
FAIRPLAY:
two
roots
,
{FAIR
}
and
{PLAY
}.
Types
of morphemes
(3)
•
u
n
h
a
p
p
y
•
d
i
s
l
i
k
e
•
m
i
s
p
r
o
n
o
u
n
c
e
•
m
a
l
n
u
t
r
i
t
i
o
n
•
m
a
n
a
g
e
m
e
n
t
•
m
o
t
h
e
r
h
o
o
d
•
c
h
e
e
r
f
u
l
•
s
e
t
t
l
e
m
e
n
t
Bound
morphemes,
such
as
‘
un
-’
and
‘-
ment
’,
which
appear
only
attached to
other,
usually
free,
morphemes
are
termed
AFFIXES
.
Affixes
attached
before
the base
are
PREFIXES
.
Affixes
attached
after
the base
are
SUFFIXES
.
Affixes
can
differ
in their
position
with respect to their
bases.
Cases
in which the affix
is
inserted
into
the base
→
INFIXES
.
In English, infixation generally
only
happens with
swear words
such
as ‘fan-fucking-tastic’
or
‘
abso-
bloody-lutely’.
Types
of morphemes
(4)
Irregular
words
do
not
obey the
general rules for
forming
plurals
or
past tenses.
However they are
still
considered
to
be
made
up
of the same number of
morphemes as
if they were
regular.
sheep
>
sheep
→
zero
morph
m
ou
se
>
m
i
ce
→
vowel
alternation
‘mice’
contains
two
morphemes as
it is
made
up
of the
root
‘mouse’
and
the
idea
of
plurality,
i.e.
the
morpheme
‘more
than one’.
g
i
ve
>
g
a
ve
→
vowel
alternation
‘gave’
also
contains
two
morphemes as
it is
made
up
of the
root “give”
and the
idea
of
past
tense.
Morphological Analysis
(1)
BLENDER
It consists of
2
morphemes:‘blend’ and
‘-er’.
‘blend’
is
the
root
and
the
base
to which the
suffix
‘-er’ is
attached.
GLOBALISATION
It contains
4
morphemes.
‘globe’
is
the
root
and
‘-al’, ‘-ise’
and
‘-ation’
are
t
suffixes
.
Each
suffix has
been
attached successively to that part of the
word
after which
it
appears:
‘-al’
appears after ‘globe’,
which
is
its
root
and
base
,
‘-ise’
appears after ‘global’, which
is
its
base
,
‘-ation’ appears after ‘globalise’,
which
is
its
base
.
Spelling
changes
may
occur
if affixes are
attached to
a
base.
!
Morphological Analysis
(2)
UNFEARFUL
It consists of
3
morphemes.
‘fear’ is
the
root
and
base
to which the
suffix
‘-ful’ is
attached.
‘un-’
is
the
prefix
attached to the
base
‘fearful’.
unfearful
fearful
fear
ful
un
M
o
r
p
h
o
l
o
g
i
c
a
l
A
n
a
l
y
s
i
s
→
i
t
s
h
o
w
s
w
h
a
t
m
o
r
p
h
e
m
e
s
a
w
o
r
d
c
o
n
s
i
s
t
s
o
f
,
i
t
d
e
s
c
r
i
b
e
s
t
h
e
s
e
m
o
r
p
h
e
m
e
s
i
n
t
e
r
m
s
o
f
t
h
e
i
r
t
y
p
e
,
a
n
d
i
t
a
l
s
o
i
d
e
n
t
i
f
i
e
s
t
h
e
o
r
d
e
r
i
n
w
h
i
c
h
t
h
e
y
a
r
e
c
o
m
b
i
n
e
d
Exercise…
M
o
r
p
h
o
l
o
g
i
c
a
l
a
n
a
l
y
s
i
s
:
F
o
r
t
h
e
f
o
l
l
o
w
i
n
g
w
o
r
d
s
i
d
e
n
t
i
f
y
t
h
e
n
u
m
b
e
r
o
f
m
o
r
p
h
e
m
e
s
,
a
l
l
r
o
o
t
s
,
b
a
s
e
s
a
n
d
a
f
f
i
x
e
s
.
•
p
r
e
m
o
d
e
r
n
i
s
m
3
m
o
r
p
h
e
m
e
s
:
p
r
e
m
o
d
e
r
n
i
s
m
•
u
n
c
i
v
i
l
i
s
e
d
4
m
o
r
p
h
e
m
e
s
:
u
n
c
i
v
i
l
i
s
e
d
•
d
e
m
i
l
i
t
a
r
i
s
a
t
i
o
n
4
m
o
r
p
h
e
m
e
s
:
d
e
m
i
l
i
t
a
r
i
s
a
t
i
o
n
•
h
i
s
t
o
r
i
c
i
t
y
3
m
o
r
p
h
e
m
e
s
:
h
i
s
t
o
r
i
c
i
t
y
•
m
i
n
i
m
a
l
i
s
t
s
4
m
o
r
p
h
e
m
e
s
:
m
i
n
i
m
a
l
i
s
t
s
•
r
e
c
r
e
a
t
i
o
n
3
m
o
r
p
h
e
m
e
s
:
r
e
c
r
e
a
t
i
o
n
•
r
e
m
o
v
a
b
l
e
3
m
o
r
p
h
e
m
e
s
:
r
e
m
o
v
a
b
l
e
•
e
x
c
e
p
t
i
o
n
a
l
l
y
4
m
o
r
p
h
e
m
e
s
:
e
x
c
e
p
t
i
o
n
a
l
l
y
Morphological
processes
BAKES
BAKED
They
are
not
two
different words,
but
two
different
forms
of the
same
word,
i.e.
bake
.
They
are
grammatically
fully
specified
forms
of
an
abstract unit, i.e.
bake
.
L
E
X
E
M
E
A
word
as
an
abstract
unit
in
the vocabulary of
a language
(e.g.
bake
)
W
O
R
D
-
F
O
R
M
S
(
o
r
g
r
a
m
m
a
t
i
c
a
l
w
o
r
d
s
)
T
h
e
d
i
f
f
e
r
e
n
t
g
r
a
m
m
a
t
i
c
a
l
l
y
s
p
e
c
i
f
i
e
d
f
o
r
m
s
o
f
a
g
i
v
e
n
l
e
x
e
m
e
(
e
.
g
.
b
a
k
e
s
,
b
a
k
i
n
g
,
b
a
k
e
d
)
BAKER
vs.
BAKES
/
BAKED
It
is
not
a
word-form
of the
lexeme
bake,
but
it is
a
different
lexeme
.
As a lexeme,
it
manifests itself in
different word-forms,
e.g.
baker
(sing.),
bakers
(pl.),
baker’s
(possessive).
Morphological
processes
(3)
I
N
F
L
E
C
T
I
O
N
D
E
R
I
V
A
T
I
O
N
The
morphological expression of
grammatical
information
and
categories.
Affixes
used
to
encode
grammatical
information
and
thus to create
different
word-
forms of the
same
lexeme.
‘-s’
in
bake
s
‘-ed’ in
bak
ed
Such
affixes are
called
inflectional
.
The
morphological process
for
the
creation
of
a
new
lexeme
by
affixation.
Affixes
used
for
the creation of new lexemes,
i.e.‘new’
stands
for ‘different
in meaning from
the
base’.
‘-er’
in
bak
er
‘-ery’ in
bak
ery
Such
affixes are
called
derivational
.
Inflectional
Affixes
The
inventory of
English
inflectional
affixes is
quite
small.
See
Ballard,
The
Frameworks
of English
,
Chapter
4
Derivational
Affixes
See
Ballard,
The
Frameworks
of English
,
Chapter
3.
Recap
on
Affixes
Recap
on
Affixes
D
E
R
I
V
A
T
I
O
N
A
L
A
f
f
i
x
e
s
•
they
encode grammatical
•
information
and
are
used to
create
word-forms
•
they are always
suffixes
•
they have consistently
the same
grammatical function
of the
word
they attach
to
•
they attach
to every word of a
given
class
•
they never
change
the
word-
class
of the
base.
•
they
create
new
lexemes
•
they can be
suffixes
or prefixes
•
they can have
different
meanings
in different words
•
they
attach to
certain words of
a given
class
•
they can change
the word-
class of the
base.
Word
Formation
See Ballard,
The
Frameworks
of
English
, Chapter
3.
Exercise…
Identify
the type of
word-formation process
by which the
following words have
been
created.
ad
edit
Ch
a
p
li
nesque
d
e
f
o
r
es
tat
i
on
phone
blackboard
NASA
YMCA
happily
flu
oxen
goes
motel
BACK
CLIPPING
→
‘advertisement’
BACKFORMATION
→
‘editor’
D
E
R
I
V
A
T
I
O
N
→
S
u
f
f
i
x
‘
-
e
s
q
u
e
’
(
A
d
j
)
D
E
R
I
V
A
T
I
O
N
→
P
r
e
f
i
x
‘
-
d
e
’
/
S
u
f
f
i
x
‘
-
a
t
i
o
n
’
FRONT
CLIPPING
→
‘telephone’
COMPOUNDING
→
Adj
+
N
ABBREVIATION
(Acronym)
ABBREVIATON
(Initialism)
D
E
R
I
V
A
T
I
O
N
→
S
u
f
f
i
x
‘
-
l
y
’
(
A
d
v
)
MIXED
CLIPPING
→
‘influenza’
INFLECTION
→
irreg.
plural
of
‘ox’
INFLECTION
→
3rd person sing. Present
B
L
E
N
D
I
N
G
→
m
o
t
o
r
w
a
y
+
h
o
t
e
l
Exercise…
Identify
the type of
word-formation process
by which the
following words have
s
l
o
w
•
s
l
o
w
n
e
s
s
A
d
j
→
N
m
e
m
o
r
y
•
m
e
m
o
r
i
s
e
N
→
V
r
e
c
r
e
a
t
i
o
n
•
r
e
c
r
e
a
t
i
o
n
a
l
N
→
A
d
j
g
l
o
r
y
•
g
l
o
r
i
f
y
N
→
V
d
r
i
n
k
•
d
r
i
n
k
a
b
l
e
V
→
A
d
j
d
e
l
i
v
e
r
•
d
e
l
i
v
e
r
y
V
→
N
r
i
c
h
•
e
n
r
i
c
h
A
d
j
→
V
D
e
t
e
r
m
i
n
e
•
d
e
t
e
r
m
i
n
a
t
i
o
n
V
→
N
l
o
v
e
•
l
o
v
i
n
g
V
→
A
d
j
p
o
w
e
r
•
p
o
w
e
r
f
u
l
N
→
A
d
j
h
a
p
p
y
•
h
a
p
p
i
l
y
A
d
j
→
A
d
v
Recap
1
•
Morphology
•
Morpheme
=
form
+
meaning
•
bound
vs
.
free
morphemes
•
Bases (simplex
or
complex),
roots, affixes
•
Affixes
→
prefixes,
suffixes,
infixes
•
Types
of morphemes
→
zero
morph,
vowel
change
(allomorphs)
•
Morphological
analysis
•
Morphological
processes
→
derivation
vs.
inflection
•
Derivational
vs
.
inflectional
affixes
•
Lexemes
vs.
word-forms
Recap
2
Word
Formation
New
Root
formation
•
Inheritance
•
Borrowing
→
domination, need,
prestige
•
Root creation
→
motivated,
ex
nihilo
Modification
Generation
Semantic
change
•
Folk
Etymology
•
Functional
Shift
→
conversion
•
Abbreviation
→
initialisms, acronyms,
clipping, back formation
•
Derivation
→
affixation
•
Compounding
→
endocentric,exocentric, appositional
•
Blending
•
G
enera
l
i
s
a
t
i
o
n
•
Specialisation
•
Metaphor
•
Shift
Exercise…
From the
following
list
of
words, identify words
with
inflectional
and
derivational
morphology.
e
l
em
ents
gain
and
unkind
as
some
case
example
features
great
had
speech
→
I
→
free
m.
→
free
m.
→
D
→
free
m.
→
free
m.
→
free
m.
→
free
m.
→
I
→
free
m.
→
I
→
free
m.
•
l
i
n
k
s
→
I
•
I
n
d
o
-
E
u
r
o
p
e
a
n
→
D
•
o
r
d
e
r
i
n
g
→
I
•
g
e
e
s
e
→
I
•
such
→
free
m.
•
f
l
e
w
→
I
•
t
h
e
s
e
→
I
•
w
i
t
h
i
n
→
D
•
J
o
h
n
’
s
→
I
•
b
e
l
o
v
e
d
→
D
•
t
h
o
u
g
h
t
→
I
•
u
n
c
o
m
f
o
r
t
a
b
l
e
→
D
Exercise…
Analyse
the
following
words
:
mismatched
telebanking
rosewater
pos
t
m
a
s
te
r
sh
i
p
beloved
sang
Indo-European
(many)
sheep
inputs
economics
academically
cleverer
→
3
m
s
:
m
i
s
m
a
t
c
h
e
d
/
D
-
I
→
3
m
s
:
t
e
l
e
b
a
n
k
i
n
g
/
D
-
D
→
2 ms:
rose
+
water
/
Compound
→
3
m
s
:
p
o
s
t
m
a
s
t
e
r
s
h
i
p
/
D
-
D
→
3
m
s
:
b
e
l
o
v
e
d
/
D
-
D
→
2
m
s
:
s
i
n
g
+
P
a
s
t
T
e
n
s
e
/
I
→
3
m
s
:
I
n
d
o
+
E
u
r
o
p
e
a
n
/
C
o
m
p
.
D
→
2
m
s
:
s
h
e
e
p
+
p
l
u
r
a
l
/
I
→
3
m
s
:
i
n
p
u
t
s
/
D
-
I
→
3
m
s
:
e
c
o
n
o
m
i
c
s
/
D
-
D
→
4
m
s
:
a
c
a
d
e
m
i
c
a
l
l
y
/
D
-
D
–
D
→
2
m
s
:
c
l
e
v
e
r
+
c
o
m
p
a
r
a
t
i
v
e
-
e
r
/
I
Exercise…
1.
mistreatment
1
.
treat (root)
+
mis-
(derivational)
+
-ment
(derivational)
2.
disactivation
3.
psychology
4
.
te
r
r
o
riz
e
d
2.
act (root)
+
-ive (derivational)
+
-ate (derivational)
+
-ion (derivational)
+
dis-
(derivational)
3.
psych- or psyche
(root)
+ -ology
(derivational)
4.
terror (root)
+
-ize (derivational)
+
PAST
(inflectional) if the
word
is
a
verb
form
OR
terrorized
=
terror (root)
+
-ize
(derivational)
+
-ed (derivational) if
the
word
is
an
adjective
Exercise…
When
a compound has
more
than
2
roots,
two
of
them
might form a compound which
then
combines with a third
root
to form
another
compound.
drop-in center
drop
-
in
+
center
Exercise…
Identify the relations between the elements of the following
compounds:
disk
operating
system
disk
+
[operating
+
system]
Dutch elm
desease
[
Dutch
+
Elm
] +
desease
fair-weather
friend
fair-
weather
+
friend
fine-tooth
comb
fine-
tooth
+
comb
local
area
network
local
+
[
area
+
network
]
optical
character recognition
optical
+ [
c.
+
r.
]
repetitive strain
injury
[
r
.
+
s
.]
+
injury
dual
carriageway
dual
+
carriage
way
Exercise…
Aanalyse the following lexical
items:
filling
stations
Root(s):
fill,
station
A
ff
i
x
e
(
s
)
:
-ing,
-s
Morphological
process(es):
I (pres.
part.)
+
D
(compound)
+
I
(pl) ([[fill+ing]
+
station]
+
s)
Word-class:
Noun
Exercise…
Aanalyse the following lexical
items:
radio-controlled
Root(s):
radio,
control
Affixe(s):
-ed
Morphological
process(es):
D
(compound)
+
I (past
part.)
([radio
+
control]
+
(l)ed)
Word-
class:
Adj
Exercise…
Aanalyse the following lexical
items:
absent-minded
Root(s):
absent,
mind
Affixe(s):
-ed
Morphological
process(es):
D
(compound)
+
D
(-ed) ([absent
+
mind]
+
ed)
Word-class:
Adj
Exercise…
Aanalyse the following lexical
items:
radio-controlled
Root(s):
radio,
control
Affixe(s):
-ed
Morphological
process(es):
D
(compound)
+
I (past
part.)
([radio
+
control]
+
(l)ed)
Word-
class:
Adj
Exercise…
Which part is the combining
form
(part
of
a
neo- classical
compound)?
meritocracy
merito
cracy
(“rule”)
pesticide
pesti
cide
(“killing”)
neorosurgery
neuro
surgery
(“nerve”)
anglophile
anglo
phile (“fond
of”)
technophobia
techno
phobia
(“fear”)
television
tele
vision
(“distant”)
Exercise…
Which one is the semantic
head
in the
following
compounds?
Pinhead
the
head
of
a
pin
Pinhole
a
small
hole
made
with
or as
if with a pin
Pin
money
money
for
incidental
expenses
Pinprick
a slight
puncture
made by or as
if
by
a
pin
Exercise…
Which one is the meaning
relation between
the components in the
following
compounds?
bookworm
One
who spends
much
time
reading or
studying.
brainbox
a
clever
person
egghead
an
intellectual, a
highbrow
mastermind
A highly intelligent
person, especially
one who plans and
directs
a complex
or
difficult
project
Identify
the
inflectional
morphemes
The
place fascinated
us, as
it should have. For this was the kitchen
midden
of all the civilization
we
knew.
It
gave
us
the most tantalizing glimpses into our neighbors'
lives
and
our own; it provided
an
aesthetic
distance from which to know
ourselves.
The
town dump was our poetry
and
our
history.We
took it home with
us by
the wagonload, bringing back
into town the things the town
had
used
and
thrown
away.
Some little
part
of what
we
gathered, mainly
bottles,
we
managed to bring back to usefulness,
but
most of our gleanings
we
left lying around barn or
attic or cellar until in some
renewed
fury
of spring cleanup our families carted them
off
to the dump
again,
to
be
rescued
and
briefly treasured
by
some other
boy.
Occasionally something
we
really valued with
a
passion was snatched from
us
in horror
and
returned
at once.That
happened to the mounted head of
a
white mountain goat, somebody's
trophy
from old times
and
the
far
Rocky Mountains, that
I
brought
home one
day.
My
mother took one look
and
discovered
that his beard was
full
of moths.
I
remember
that goat;
I
regret
him
yet.
Poetry is seldom
useful, but
always memorable.
If I
were
a
sociologist anxious to study in detail the life of any community
I
would
go
very early to its refuse piles. For
a
community
may
be as
well
judged
by
what it throws
away
-
what it
has
to throw
away
and
what it
chooses to
- as by
any other evidence. For whole civilizations
we
sometimes
have
no
more
of the poetry
and
little
more
of the history than this (from
Wolf
Willow
1955:
35-36).
Additional
Readings
The Cambridge
Encyclopedia of
the English Language,
Chapter
14,
p.
198-205.
Mandatory
Readings
Introducing
English
Language
,
Sections
A2,
C2.
The
Frameworks
of English
,
Chapters 3 and
4.
Possible
questions
Analyse
the
following
words
in terms of
base,
affixes,
morphological process(es),
word
category
Identify
bound and
free
morphemes
Identify
the
morphological
process
at
work
English Morphology delves into the structure of words, exploring morphemes as the building blocks of linguistic meaning. From free morphemes like "certain" to bound morphemes like "-ly," the discipline uncovers how words are constructed and adapted grammatically. By examining the derivational and inflectional branches, linguists unravel the ways in which new words are formed and existing words are modified. The analysis of meaningful units in words, such as "shyness" and "loudness," reveals the intricate relationship between morphology and semantics in language.
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Presentation Transcript
English Morphology Dott.ssa Gloria Cappelli
What is a word? Word: not a strightforward notion. The smallest meaningful unit of language is a MORPHEME certain,mean,linguist:free morphemes (they can stand on their own) -ly, -ing, -less: bound morphemes (they can only be used attached to a free morpheme)
What is morphology? The subdiscipline of linguistics which studies the internal structure of words, the rules that govern it, as well as the ways of creating new words.
Morphology (1) Morphology is normally subdivided into two branches: 1.Derivational (or Lexical) Morphology it studies the means by which existing words have been constructed and by which new words might be created. 2. Inflectional Morphology it studies the way words are adapted in different grammatical contexts. (e.g. making a noun plural)
Morphemes Word analysis involves breaking a word into its morphemes. Literally, the word "morpheme" means 'an element in a system of forms.' Linguists define it more precisely as the smallest form which is paired with a particular meaning. We say that each form (i.e. MORPH) plus the meaning linked to it is a single morpheme.
Meaningful units (1) How can we identify which part in a word is meaningful and what meaning it has? SHYNESS shy = nervous and embarrassed about meeting and speaking to otherpeople . a meaningful unit, a morpheme. -ness = ? There is no such a word in English. BUT the fact that there are many words that contain the unit ness makes us think that it might be a morpheme. To verify this, we should find out if it has a meaning, by paraphrasing different words containing - ness , in order to see whether it contributes any meaning to the overall meaning of these words.
Meaningful units (2) shyness = the state or property of being shy loudness = the state or property of being loud sadness = the state or property of being sad happiness = the state or property of being happy - = the state or property of being X NESS it is a morpheme it cannot be subdivided any further into meaningful components The same thing happens for: dream,shy,loud,sad,happy
Types of Words dream shy happy sad loud These words consist of more than one morpheme. These words consist of only one morpheme. MONOMORPHEMIC orPOLYMORPHEMIC or SIMPLEX words v COMPLEX words
Complex Words Clearly morphemes and words are not necessarily the same thing. Words may be composed of one or many morphemes. In fact, most long words in English can be broken down into smaller units. The longest word in English (according to Webster's Unabridged Dictionary) contains 45 letters; it can be broken down into 9 morphemes.
Morphology vs. Etymology (3) If we compare the paraphrases of words containing -tain and ped- , they do not follow the same pattern as was the case with the morphemes - less or -ness . The meaning of these Latin morphemes is not readily traceable. It is unclear, from the point of view of today s English, what the meaning of -tain in these words might be. These words are etymologically complex, BUT they are simplex in today s English Morphology Etymology
Exercise Complex or Simplex words? C S C C S C paper S classroom C trial C sadly C dogs C think - er student un - fair excel(l) - ent ugly post - modern - ist paper class - room try - al sad - ly dog - s thinker student unfair excellent ugly postmodernist
Morphemes vs. Syllables (1) Morphemes should not be confused with syllables. a unit of meaning a unit of sound Sometimes a single morpheme has several syllables. e.g. English speakers would probably consider the word "hurricane" as a single morpheme. (derived from Spanish, which in turn drew the word from Taino, an Arawak language from the Caribbean) At other times a morpheme will use less than one syllable. cats has two morphemes in one syllable: 'feline' + 'plural'. cats has three morphemes in a single syllable: 'feline' + 'plural' + 'belonging to'.
Characteristics of Morphemes Morphemes have four defining characteristics: 1.They cannot be subdivided. 2.They add meaning to a word. 3.They can appear in many differentwords. 4.They can have any number of syllables.
1.One form, two (or more) meanings Two different meanings can be expressed using the same arrangement of sounds. Since there are clearly two different and unrelated meanings, we would want to say that there are two different morphemes. The case of in- : in- 'not' in words like incapable, insufficient in- 'into, within', as in invade, include These similarities are just accidental and typically the origins of the two morphemes are completely unrelated.
2.Two (or more) forms, one meaning When two different forms have the same meaning, they could be different morphemes, or they might be a single morpheme. Two forms, one meaning = two morphemes There are two situations in which two forms have the same meaning, but they are different morphemes. 1. The forms are usually rather different from one another. andr 'man, male' as in android vir 'man, male' as in virile Both morphemes mean the same thing, but they are very different in form. They have completely different origins, and we want to think of them as different morphemes.
Allomorphs The same morpheme can be realised in different ways. The different realisations of the same morpheme are called ALLOMORPHS. This is usually the result of phonology interacting with morphology. in-elegant il-legal allomorphs im-polite ir-regular in- , im- , il- , ir- Consider the different realisations of the morpheme {plural}: car > cars (Regular form) mouse > mice vowel change tooth > teeth vowel change child > children vowel change + suffix -ren sheep > sheep zero morph
Bases disagree construction cheerful recreation agree construct cheer create disagreeme constructional cheerfulnes recreational Words in (1) give the bases for the derivatives in (2), which in turn contain the bases for the derivatives in (3). However, bases in (1) differ from bases in (2). Bases in (1) do not contain any further morphemes, therefore they cannot be analysed into constituent morphemes, unlike bases in (2). Bases in (1) are simplex and they are called ROOTS. Bases in (2) are complex: disagree dis-, agree 2 constituent morphemes recreation re-, create, -ion 3 constituent morphemes
Roots, Bases and Stems ROOT:The morpheme which lies at the core of a complex word form. Words may have multiple roots. BASE:Any form (morpheme or word) which enters a word- formation process which yields a more complex form. The term "stem" is reserved for inflectional processes . STEM:A form without any inflectional endings. WINNERS: "winner" is the stem. Also, {WIN} is the root. WINNER: {WIN} is the root and "win" is (also) the base. PLAYFUL: {PLAY} is the root of the word and "play" is its base. PLAYFULNESS: the root is still {PLAY}, but the base is "playful". FAIRPLAY: two roots, {FAIR} and {PLAY}.
Types of morphemes (3) management motherhood cheerful settlement unhappy dislike mispronounce malnutrition Bound morphemes, such as un- and -ment , which appear only attached to other, usually free, morphemes are termed AFFIXES. Affixes attached before the base are PREFIXES. Affixes attached after the base are SUFFIXES. Affixes can differ in their position with respect to their bases. Cases in which the affix is inserted into the base INFIXES. In English, infixation generally only happens with swear words such as fan-fucking-tastic or abso- bloody-lutely .
Types of morphemes (4) Irregular words do not obey the general rules for forming plurals or past tenses. However they are still considered to be made up of the same number of morphemes as if they were regular. sheep > sheep zero morph mouse > mice vowel alternation mice contains two morphemes as it is made up of the root mouse and the idea of plurality, i.e. the morpheme morethan one . give > gave vowel alternation gave also contains two morphemes as it is made up of the root give and the idea of past tense.
Morphological Analysis (1) BLENDER It consists of 2 morphemes: blend and -er . blend is the root and the base to which the suffix -er is attached. GLOBALISATION It contains 4 morphemes. globe is the root and -al , -ise and -ation are t suffixes. Each suffix has been attached successively to that part of the word after which it appears: -al appears after globe , which is its root and base, -ise appears after global , which is its base, -ation appears after globalise , which is its base. Spelling changes may occur if affixes are attached to a base. !
Morphological Analysis (2) UNFEARFUL It consists of 3 morphemes. fear is the root and base to which the suffix -ful is attached. un- is the prefix attached to the base fearful . unfearful fearful un fear ful Morphological Analysis it shows what morphemes a word consists of, it describes these morphemes in terms of their type, and it also identifies the order in which they are combined
Exercise Morphological analysis: For the following words identify the number of morphemes, all roots, bases and affixes. premodernism 3 morphemes: premodernism uncivilised 4 morphemes: uncivilised demilitarisation 4 morphemes: demilitarisation historicity 3 morphemes: historicity minimalists 4 morphemes: minimalists recreation 3 morphemes: recreation removable 3 morphemes: removable exceptionally 4 morphemes: exceptionally
Morphological processes BAKES BAKED They are not two different words, but two different forms of the same word, i.e. bake. They are grammatically fully specified forms of an abstract unit, i.e. bake. WORD-FORMS LEXEME (or grammatical words) The different grammatically specified forms of a given lexeme (e.g. bakes, baking, baked) A word as an abstract unit in the vocabulary of a language (e.g. bake) BAKER vs. BAKES/BAKED It is not a word-form of the lexeme bake, but it is a different lexeme. As a lexeme, it manifests itself in different word-forms, e.g. baker (sing.), bakers (pl.), baker s(possessive).
Morphological processes (3) DERIVATION INFLECTION The grammatical categories. Affixes used to encode grammatical information and thus to create different word- forms of the same lexeme. -s in bakes -ed in baked morphological expression information of The morphological process for the creation of a new lexeme by affixation. Affixes used for the creation of new lexemes, i.e. new stands for different in meaning from the base . -er in baker -ery in bakery and Such affixes are called derivational. Such affixes are called inflectional.
Inflectional Affixes The inventory of English inflectional affixes is quite small. See Ballard, The Frameworks of English, Chapter 4
Derivational Affixes See Ballard, The Frameworks of English, Chapter 3.
Recap on Affixes Recap on Affixes DERIVATIONAL Affixes they encode grammatical information and are used to create word-forms they are always suffixes they have consistently the same grammatical function of the word they attach to they attach to every word of a given class they never change the word- class of the base. they create new lexemes they can be suffixes or prefixes they can have different meanings in different words they attach to certain words of a given class they can change the word- class of the base.
Word Formation See Ballard, The Frameworks of English, Chapter 3.
Exercise Identify the type of word-formation process by which the following words have been created. ad edit Chaplinesque deforestation phone blackboard NASA YMCA happily flu oxen goes motel BLENDING motorway + hotel BACK CLIPPING advertisement BACKFORMATION editor DERIVATION Suffix -esque (Adj) DERIVATION Prefix -de / Suffix -ation FRONT CLIPPING telephone COMPOUNDING Adj + N ABBREVIATION (Acronym) ABBREVIATON (Initialism) DERIVATION Suffix -ly (Adv) MIXED CLIPPING influenza INFLECTION irreg. plural of ox INFLECTION 3rd person sing. Present
Exercise Identify the type of word-formation process by which the following words have slow slowness memory memorise recreation recreational glory glorify drink drinkable deliver delivery rich enrich Determine determination love loving power powerful happy happily Adj N N V N Adj N V V Adj V N Adj V V N V Adj N Adj Adj Adv
Recap 1 Morphology Morpheme = form + meaning bound vs. free morphemes Bases (simplex or complex), roots, affixes Affixes prefixes, suffixes, infixes Types of morphemes zero morph, vowel change Morphological analysis Morphological processes derivation vs. inflection Derivational vs. inflectional affixes Lexemes vs. word-forms (allomorphs)
Recap 2 Inheritance Borrowing domination, need, prestige Root creation motivated, ex nihilo Word Formation New Root formation Modification Folk Etymology Functional Shift conversion Abbreviation initialisms, acronyms, clipping, back formation Generation Semantic change Derivation affixation Compounding endocentric,exocentric, appositional Blending Generalisation Specialisation Metaphor Shift
Exercise From the following list of words, identify words with inflectional and derivational morphology. I free m. free m. D free m. free m. free m. free m. I free m. I free m. links Indo-European ordering geese such flew these within John s beloved thought uncomfortable I D I I free m. I I D I D I D elements gain and unkind as some case example features great had speech
Exercise Analyse the following words: 3 ms: mismatched / D - I 3 ms: telebanking / D - D 2 ms: rose + water / Compound 3 ms: postmastership / D - D 3 ms: beloved / D - D 2 ms: sing + Past Tense / I 3 ms: Indo + European / Comp. D 2 ms: sheep + plural / I 3 ms: inputs / D - I 3 ms: economics / D - D 4 ms: academically / D - D D 2 ms: clever + comparative -er / I mismatched telebanking rosewater postmastership beloved sang Indo-European (many) sheep inputs economics academically cleverer
Exercise 1. treat (root) + mis- (derivational) + -ment (derivational) 2. act (root) + -ive (derivational) + -ate (derivational) + -ion (derivational) + dis- (derivational) 1.mistreatment 2. disactivation 3.psych- or psyche (root) + -ology (derivational) 4.terror (root) + -ize (derivational) + PAST (inflectional) if the word is a verb form OR terrorized = terror (root) + -ize (derivational) + -ed (derivational) if the word is an adjective 3. psychology 4. terrorized
Exercise When a compound has more than 2 roots, two of them might form a compound which then combines with a third root to form another compound. drop-in center drop-in + center
Exercise Identify the relations between the elements of the following compounds: dual carriageway dual + carriageway disk operating system Dutch elm desease fair-weather friend fine-tooth comb local area network optical character recognition optical + [c. + r.] repetitive strain injury disk + [operating + system] [Dutch + Elm] + desease fair-weather + friend fine-tooth + comb local + [area + network] [r. + s.] + injury
Exercise Aanalyse the following lexical items: filling stations Root(s): fill, station Affixe(s): -ing, -s Morphological process(es): I (pres. part.) + D (compound) + I (pl) ([[fill+ing] + station] + s) Word-class: Noun
Exercise Aanalyse the following lexical items: radio-controlled Root(s): radio, control Affixe(s): -ed Morphological process(es): D (compound) + I (past part.) ([radio + control] + (l)ed) Word- class: Adj
Exercise Aanalyse the following lexical items: absent-minded Root(s): absent, mind Affixe(s): -ed Morphological process(es): D (compound) + D (-ed) ([absent + mind] + ed) Word-class: Adj
Exercise Aanalyse the following lexical items: radio-controlled Root(s): radio, control Affixe(s): -ed Morphological process(es): D (compound) + I (past part.) ([radio + control] + (l)ed) Word- class: Adj
Exercise Which part is the combining form (part of a neo- classical compound)? meritocracy meritocracy ( rule ) pesticide pesticide ( killing ) neorosurgery neurosurgery ( nerve ) anglophile anglophile ( fondof ) technophobia technophobia ( fear ) television television ( distant )
Exercise Which one is the semantic head in the following compounds? Pinhead the head of a pin Pinhole a small hole made with or as if with a pin Pin money money for incidental expenses Pinprick a slight puncture made by or as if by a pin
Exercise Which one is the meaning relation between the components in the following compounds? bookworm One who spends much time reading or studying. brainbox a clever person egghead an intellectual, a highbrow mastermind A highly intelligent person, especially one who plans and directs a complex or difficult project
Identify the inflectional morphemes The place fascinated us, as it should have. For this was the kitchen midden of all the civilization we knew. It gave us the most tantalizing glimpses into our neighbors' lives and our own; it provided an aesthetic distance from which to know ourselves. The town dump was our poetry and our history.We took it home with us by the wagonload, bringing back into town the things the town had used and thrown away. Some little part of what we gathered, mainly bottles, we managed to bring back to usefulness, but most of our gleanings we left lying around barn or attic or cellar until in some renewed fury of spring cleanup our families carted them off to the dump again, to be rescued and briefly treasured by some other boy. Occasionally something we really valued with a passion was snatched from us in horror and returned at once.That happened to the mounted head of a white mountain goat, somebody's trophy from old times and the far Rocky Mountains, that I brought home one day. My mother took one look and discovered that his beard was full of moths. I remember that goat; I regret him yet. Poetry is seldom useful, but always memorable. If I were a sociologist anxious to study in detail the life of any community I would go very early to its refuse piles. For a community may be as well judged by what it throws away - what it has to throw away and what it chooses to - as by any other evidence. For whole civilizations we sometimes have no more of the poetry and little more of the history than this (from Wolf Willow 1955: 35-36).
Additional Readings The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, Chapter 14, p. 198-205.
Mandatory Readings Introducing English Language, Sections A2, C2. The Frameworks of English, Chapters 3 and 4.
Possible questions Analyse the following words in terms of base, affixes, morphological process(es), word category Identify bound and free morphemes Identify the morphological process at work
