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LIN HW 2 Morphology - This is a homework assignment for

LIN 1.
Intro to Linguistics (University of California Davis)

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2. Dividing words into morphemes

Divide the following words by placing a + between their morphemes. (Some of the
words may be monomorphemic and therefore indivisible.)

Example:​ replaces = re + place + s

a. Retroactive → retro + active

b. Befriended → be + friend + ed

c. televise → tele + vise

d. margin

e. Endearment → en + dear + ment

f. Psychology → psych + ology

g. Unpalatable → un + palate + able

h. holiday

i. Grandmother → grand + mother

j. Morphemic → morph + emic

k. Mistreatment → mis + treatment

l. Deactivation → de + activate + tion

m. saltpeter

n. Airsickness → airsick + ness

o. Bureaucrat → bureau + crat

p. Democrat → demo + crat

q. Aristocrat → aristo + crat

r. Plutocrat → pluto + crat

s. Democracy → demo + cracy

t. Democratic → demo + crat + ic

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u. Democratically → demo + cratic + ally

v. democratization → demo + crat + iz + ation

w. Democratize → demo + crat + ize

x. Democratizer → demo + crat + iz + er

y. Democratizing → demo + crat + iz + ing

z. Democratized → demo + crat +ize + ed

4. Matching morpheme types

Write the one proper description from the list under B for the italicized part of each word
in A.

A B

a. terroriz​ed ​3) (1) free root

b. un​civil​ized (1) (2) bound root
c. terror​ize ​(4) (3) inflectional suffix
(4) derivational suffix
d. ​luke​warm (2)
(5) inflectional prefix
e. ​im​possible (6) (6) derivational prefix
(7) inflectional infix
(8) derivational infix

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5. Zulu
Part One

Consider the following nouns in Zulu and proceed to look for the recurring forms.

umfazi​ 'married woman'

umfani​ 'boy'

umzali​ 'parent'

umfundisi​ 'teacher'

umbazi​ 'carver'

umlimi​ 'farmer'

umdlali​ 'player'

umfundi​ 'reader'

abafazi​ 'married women'

abafani​ 'boys'

abazali​ 'parents'

abafundisi​ 'teachers'

ababazi​ 'carvers'

abalimi​ 'farmers'

abadlali​ 'players'

abafundi 'readers'

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a. What is the morpheme meaning 'singular' in Zulu?

The morpheme meaning singular in Zulu is “um.”

b. What is the morpheme meaning 'plural' in Zulu?

The morpheme meaning plural in Zulu is “aba.”

c. List the Zulu stems to which the singular and plural morphemes are attached, and
give their meanings.

Stems (singular) Meanings

um + fazi​ (married woman) prefix + adjective + noun

um + fani ​(boy) prefix + noun

um + zali​ (parent) prefix + noun

um + fundisi​ (teacher) prefix + verb + suffix

um + bazi​ (carver) prefix + verb + suffix

um + limi​ (farmer) prefix + verb + suffix

um + dlali​ (player) prefix + verb + suffix

um + fundi​ (reader) prefix + verb + suffix

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Stems (plural) Meanings

aba + fazi​ (married women) prefix + verb + noun

aba + fani​ (boys) prefix + noun + suffix

aba + zali​ (parents) prefix + noun+ suffix

aba + fundisi​ (teachers) prefix + noun + suffix

aba + bazi​ (carvers) prefix + noun + suffix

aba + limi​ (farmers) prefix + noun + suffix

aba + dlali​ (players) prefix + noun + suffix

aba + fundi​ (readers) prefix + noun + suffix

Part 2

The following Zulu verbs are derived from noun stems by adding a verbal suffix.

fundisa​ 'to teach'

lima​ 'to cultivate'

funda​ 'to read'

baza​ 'to carve'

d. Compare these words to the words in section A that are related in meaning, for
example, ​umfundisi ​'teacher,' ​abafundisi​ 'teachers,' ​fundisa​ 'to teach.' What is the
derivational suffix that specifies the category verb?

The derivational suffix that species the category verb is “-a.”

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e. What is the nominal suffix (i.e., the suffix that forms nouns)?

The nominal suffix that forms nouns is “-i.”

f. State the morphological noun formation rule in Zulu

In Zulu, nouns are formed by having having the suffix -i at the end of a word.

g. What is the stem morpheme meaning 'read'?

The stem morpheme ‘read’ is um + fun → umfun

h. What is the stem morpheme meaning 'carve'?

The stem morpheme meaning ‘read’ is um + ba → umba

6. Swedish
Sweden has given the world the rock group ABBA, the automobile Volvo, and the great
film director Ingmar Bergman. The Swedish language offers us a noun morphology that
you can analyze with the knowledge gained reading this chapter. Consider these
Swedish noun forms:

en lampa​ 'a lamp'

en stol​ 'a chair'

en matta​ 'a carpet'

lampor​ 'lamps'

stolar​ 'chairs'

mattor 'carpets'

lampan​ 'the lamp'

stolen​ 'the chair'

mattan​ 'the carpet'

lamporna​ 'the lamps'

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stolarna​ 'the chairs'

mattorna​ 'the carpets'

en bil ​'a car'

en soffa​ 'a sofa'

en tratt​ 'a funnel'

bilar​ 'cars'

soffor​ 'sofas'

trattar​ 'funnels'

bilen​ 'the car'

soffan​ 'the sofa'

tratten​ 'the funnel'

bilarna​ 'the cars'

sofforna​ 'the sofas'

trattarna 'the funnels'

a. What is the Swedish word for the indefinite article ​a ​(or ​an​)?

The Swedish word for the indefinite article a is “en.”

b. What are the two forms of the plural morpheme in this data? How can you tell which
form applies?

The two forms of the plural morpheme in this data are “-ar” and “-or.” The “-ar”
morpheme is used when a word ends in a consonant, while the “-or” morpheme is used
when a word ends with a vowel. I figured out how this form applies by observing the
plural and singular forms of the words.

Swedish word (singular) Proposed plural suffix Actual plural form

lamp​a -or lampor

matt​a -or mattor

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sto​l -ar stolar

bi​l -ar bilar

soff​a -or soffor

trat​t -ar trattar

By observing the words side by side, I saw a pattern with words that ended with a vowel
and words that ended with a consonant. I was able to see that words that ended with a
consonant had the “-ar” plural morpheme, while words that ended with a consonant had
a “-or” plural morpheme.

c. What are the two forms of the morpheme that make a singular word definite, that is,
correspond to the English article ​the​? How can you tell which form applies?

The two forms of the morpheme that make a singular word definite are “-en” and “-n.”
Similar to the previous question, I observed the singular form and the definite form in
order to find the two morpheme forms.

Swedish word (singular) Proposed definite suffix Actual definite form

sto​l -en stolen

matt​a -n mattan

bi​l -en bilen

soff​a -n soffan

trat​t -en tratten

This observation equates the observation from the previous question because the
pattern is the same. Words that end with a consonant have an “-en” definite morpheme,
while words that end with a vowel have an “-n” definite morpheme.

d. What is the morpheme that makes a plural word definite?

The morpheme that makes a plural word definite is “-na.” Again, I found this pattern by
using a table to compare plural word forms and their definite plural word forms.

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Swedish word (plural) Proposed definite form Actual definite form

lampor -na lamporna

mattor -na mattorna

stolar -na stolarna

bilar -na bilarna

soffor -na sofforna

trattar -na trattarna

e. In what order do the various suffixes occur when there is more than one?

The various suffixes occur following one another. For example, the word “lampa” uses
the plural form in order to get “lampor” and then if someone wanted the plural definite
form, then they would add the “-na” suffix, and if they want the singular form, then they
would add the singular definite form “-en.”

f. If ​en flicka​ is 'a girl,' what are the forms for 'girls,' 'the girl,' and 'the girls'?

These are the forms for ‘girls,’ ‘the girl,’ and ‘the girls’:

Plural form Definite form Definite plural form

flickor flicken flickorna

g. If ​bussarna​ is 'the buses,' what are the forms for 'buses' and 'the bus'?

These are the forms for ‘buses’ and ‘the bus’:

Plural form Definite form

bussar bussen

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15. Parent and Child Dialogue

Consider the following dialogue between parent and schoolchild:

PARENT: When will you be done with your eight-page book report, dear?

CHILD: I haven't started it yet.

PARENT: But it's due tomorrow, you should have begun weeks ago. Why do you
always wait until the last minute?

CHILD: I have more confidence in myself than you do.

PARENT: Say what?

CHILD: I mean, how long could it possibly take to read an eight-page book?

The humor is based on the ambiguity of the compound ​eight-page book report​. Draw
two trees similar to those in the text for ​top hat rack​ to reveal the ambiguity.

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