Morphology: the analysis of word structure 107

Another class of words that are problematic for morphological analysis includes items
such as receive, deceive, conceive, and perceive, or permit, submit, and commit. These items were
O'Grady, W. & Archibald, J. (Eds.) (2016). Contemporary linguistic analysis: An Introduction
borrowed into English from Latin (usually via French) as whole words, and their component
(8th ed.). Toronto, Canada: Pearson.
syllables have no identifiable meaning of their own. Unlike the in- of inept, which retains the
meaning of negation, the re- of receive does not have the sense of ‘again’ that it does in redo,
and no specific meaning can be assigned to -ceive or -mit. For this reason, we will not treat
these word parts as morphemes.

4.2 Derivation
Derivation uses an affix to build a word with a meaning and/or category distinct from that
of its base. One of the most common derivational affixes in English is the suffix -er, which
combines with a verb to form a noun with the meaning ‘one who Vs’ as shown in table 4.5.
(Do not confuse this suffix with the -er that applies to a noun in cases such as Quebecer and
islander or the -er that combines with an adjective in cases such as taller and smarter.)

TABLE 4.5 The derivational affix -er

Verb base Derived noun

sell sell-er (one who sells)
write writ-er (one who writes)
teach teach-er (one who teaches)
sing sing-er (one who sings)
think think-er (one who thinks)

Other examples of derivation include treatment, in which the suffix -ment combines with
the verb treat to give the noun treatment; unkind, in which the prefix un- combines with the
adjective kind to give a new adjective with a different meaning; and the other derived words
illustrated in figure 4.5.

FIGURE 4.5
Some words formed
by derivation

Once formed, derived words become independent lexical items that receive their own
entry in a speaker’s mental dictionary. As time goes by, they often take on special senses that
are not predictable from the component morphemes. The word writer, for example, is often
used not just for someone who can write but rather for someone who writes for a living
(e.g., She’s a writer); comparable (with stress on the first syllable) means ‘similar’ rather than
‘able to be compared’; profession usually denotes a career rather than the act of professing;
and so on.
108 Chapter Four

4.2.1 Some English derivational affixes

Table 4.6 provides a partial list of English derivational affixes, along with information about
the category of their usual base (ignoring bound roots) and of the resulting derived word. The
entry for -able (line 7) states that it applies to a verb base and converts it into an adjective. Thus,
if we add the affix -able to the verb fix, we get an adjective (with the meaning ‘able to be fixed’).

TABLE 4.6 Some English derivational affixes

Affix Change Examples

Suffixes    
-al V→N refus-al, dispos-al, recit-al
-ant V→N claim-ant, defend-ant
-(at)ion V→N realiz-ation, assert-ion, protect-ion
-er V→N teach-er, work-er
-ing1 V→N the shoot-ing, the danc-ing
-ment V→N adjourn-ment, treat-ment, amaze-ment
-able V→A fix-able, do-able, understand-able
-ing2 V→A the sleep-ing giant, a blaz-ing fire
-ive V→A assert-ive, impress-ive, restrict-ive
-dom N→N king-dom, fief-dom
-ful N→A faith-ful, hope-ful, dread-ful
-(i)al N→A president-ial, nation-al
-(i)an N→A Arab-ian, Einstein-ian, Albert-an
-ic N→A cub-ic, optimist-ic, moron-ic
-ize1 N→V hospital-ize, crystal-ize
-less N→A penni-less, brain-less
-ous N→A poison-ous, lecher-ous
-ish A→A green-ish, tall-ish
-ate A→V activ-ate, captiv-ate
-en A→V dead-en, black-en, hard-en
-ize2 A→V modern-ize, national-ize
-ity A→N stupid-ity, prior-ity
-ness A→N happi-ness, kind-ness
Prefixes    
anti- N→N anti-abortion, anti-pollution
ex- N→N ex-president, ex-wife, ex-friend
de- V→V de-activate, de-mystify
dis- V→V dis-continue, dis-obey
mis- V→V mis-identify, mis-place
re- V→V re-think, re-do, re-state
un1- V→V un-tie, un-lock, un-do
in- A→A in-competent, in-complete
un2- A→A un-happy, un-fair, un-intelligible
Note: Unlike suffixes, English prefixes typically do not change the category of the base.
 Morphology: the analysis of word structure 109

The category of the base to which an affix attaches is sometimes not obvious. In the case
of worker, for instance, the base (work) is sometimes used as a verb (as in They work hard) and
sometimes as a noun (as in The work is time-consuming). How then can we know the category
of the base for -er? The key is to find words such as teacher and writer, in which the category of
the base can be unequivocally determined. Because teach and write can only be verbs, we can
infer that the base with which -er combines in the word worker is also a verb.

Complex derivations
Since derivation can apply to a word more than once, it is possible to create words with mul-
tiple layers of internal structure, as in the following example.

FIGURE 4.6
A word with a
multilayered
internal structure

As can be seen here, each layer of structure reflects the attachment of an affix to a base of the
appropriate type. In the deepest layer, the affix -ive attaches to the verbal base act to give an
adjective. In the next layer, -ate attaches to the adjective and converts it into a verb (activate).
Finally, the affix -ion is added, converting the verb into the noun activation.
In some cases, the internal structure of a complex word may not be so transparent. The
word unhappiness, for instance, could apparently be analyzed in either of the ways indicated
in figure 4.7. However, by considering the properties of the affixes un- and -ness, it is possible
to determine that the structure in figure 4.7a is the right one. The key observation is that the
prefix un- combines quite freely with adjectives but not with nouns, as shown in table 4.7.

FIGURE 4.7
Two possible structures
for the word
unhappiness

TABLE 4.7 The prefix un-

un + A un + N
unable *unknowledge
unkind *unhealth
unhurt *uninjury
110 Chapter Four

This suggests that un- must combine with the adjective happy before it is converted into a
noun by the suffix -ness, exactly as depicted in figure 4.7a.
By contrast, in a word such as unhealthy, the prefix un- can be attached only AFTER the
suffix has been added to the root. That is because -y turns nouns into adjectives (as in wealthy
and cloudy), creating the category of word with which un- can combine (see figure 4.8).

FIGURE 4.8
The internal structure
of the word unhealthy

Constraints on derivation
Derivation is often subject to special constraints and restrictions. For instance, the suffix -ant
(see table 4.6) can combine with bases of Latin origin, such as assist and combat, but not with
those of native English origin, such as help and fight. Thus, we find words such as assistant
and combatant but not *helpant and *fightant.
In other cases, derivation may be blocked by the existence of an alternative word. For
instance, the word cooker (to mean ‘one who cooks’) is blocked by the existence of the word
cook, which already has that meaning; famosity (from famous) is blocked by fame; and so on.
Sometimes, a derivational affix is able to attach only to bases with particular phonologi-
cal properties. A good example of this involves the suffix -en, which can combine with some
adjectives to create verbs with a causative meaning as shown in table 4.8 (whiten means
roughly ‘cause to become white’).

TABLE 4.8 Restrictions on the use of -en

Acceptable Unacceptable
whiten *abstracten
soften *bluen
madden *angryen
quicken *slowen
liven *greenen

The contrasts illustrated here reflect the fact that -en can be attached only to a monosyllabic
base that ends in a consonant other than /l/, /r/, /m/, or /n/. Thus, it can be added to white,
quick, mad, and live, which are monosyllabic and end in a consonant of the right type. But it
cannot be added to abstract, which has more than one syllable; to slow or blue, which end in
a vowel; or to green, which ends in the wrong type of consonant.

4.2.2 Two classes of derivational affixes

It is common to distinguish between two types of derivational affixes in English. Class 1
affixes often trigger changes in the pronunciation of the base’s consonants and vowels, and
may affect stress placement as well. In addition, they often combine with bound roots, as in
the last of the examples in table 4.9.