Полещук Елена БЛГ-20

1. What is a sign? What is specific to a language sign?

Language is a system of signals (linguistic signs), interconnected and interdependent. It is this
network of interdependent elements that forms the object of linguistics as an independent
science.
The linguistic sign is bilateral, i.e. it has both form and meaning. We understand the meaning of
the linguistic sign as reflecting the objects, events, situations of the outside world.
The linguistic sign is “absolutely arbitrary” (in the sense that there is nothing obligatory in the
relation of the sound form of the word to the object it denotes) and it is “relatively motivated” (in
the sense that in the system of language the linguistic sign is connected with other linguistic
signs both in form and meaning).
2. What is the correlation between notional and functional words?
Modern classifications, proposed by different scholars, distinguish, as a rule, between notional
parts of speech, having a full nominative value, and functional parts of speech characterized by a
partial nominative value.
Notional parts of speech have both lexical & grammatical meanings
Functional parts of speech are characterized mainly by the grammatical meaning while their
lexical meaning is either lost completely or has survived in a very weakened form.
Another most important difference between functional & notional parts of speech is revealed on
the level of sentence. Where every notional word performs a certain synthetic function while
functional words have no synthetic function at all. They serve as indicators of a certain part of
speech (to + verb; a, the + noun). Prepositions are used to connect 2 words & conjunctions to
connect 2 clauses or sentences
Functional words: prepositions, conjunctions, articles, particles, postpositions
Notional words: nouns; adjectives; verbs; adverbs; pronouns; numerals; statives; modal words;
interjections.
Notional words
1) Complete nominative force
2) Self-dependent functions in a sentence
3) Can be used in isolation
4) Can be substituted by a word of a more general meaning
5) Open classes (new items can be added to them, they are indefinitely extendable)

Functional words
1) Incomplete nominative force
2) Non-self-dependent mediatory functions: linking or specifying
3) Obligatory combinability
4) Cannot be substituted
5) Closed classes (closed systems, including a limited number of members. As a rule, they
cannot be extended by creating new items)

3. What is the basic difference between the morpheme and the word as language units?
What is a Word?
A word can be defined as a meaningful element of a language. Unlike a morpheme, it can always
stand alone. A word can consist of a single morpheme or a number of morphemes. For example,
when we say ‘reconstruct,‘ it is a single word, but it is not a single morpheme but two
morphemes together (‘re‘ and ‘construct‘). When forming phrases or sentences, we use a number
of words.
What is a Morpheme?
A morpheme refers to the smallest meaningful element of a word. A morpheme cannot be further
broken into parts. For example, chair, dog, bird, table, computer are all morphemes. As you can
see they express a direct meaning yet cannot be further separated into smaller parts. However, a
morpheme is not similar to a syllable as it carries a meaning. For example, when we say giraffe,
it consists of a number of syllables but a single morpheme. However, this is not always the case.
Sometimes a single word can carry a number of morphemes. If we take the word ‘regained’, this
word consists of 3 morphemes. They are, ‘re’ , ‘gain’ and ‘ed’.
 When looking at semantic meaning you are looking at the smallest linguistic sound within a
word that has meaning. For example when looking at “prehistorical” the morpheme would be
“pre” meaning “before” in terms of the word history.
 As opposed to a word a morpheme may or may not stand alone. We saw that the word
“historical” can stand alone and has meaning. “Pre” is a morpheme in “prehistorical”
however “pre” cannot stand alone.
 For example, the morpheme "star" can stand by itself, but the morpheme "-s" cannot

4. What is a morph?
In linguistics, a morph is a word segment that represents one morpheme (the smallest unit of
language that has meaning) in sound or writing. It's a written or pronounced portion of a word,
such as an affix (a prefix or suffix). For example, the word infamous is made up of three morphs
—in-, fam(e), -eous—each of which represents one morpheme. The word has two affixes, both a
prefix (in-) and a suffix (-eous) attached to a root word.
 Morphs are portions of a word, such as affixes.
 Morphs that are also whole words are called free morphs.
 The different sounds that pronounce a morph are its allomorphs.
 A morpheme is a description, such as "a past-tense verb ending." This morpheme is often
represented by the morph –ed
Morph is the phonetic realization of a morpheme which study the unit of form, sounds and
phonetic symbol. The morphs can be devided into two important classes, lexical and
grammatical.
Lexical morph is the morph that denote directly objects actions, qualities and other pieces of real
word (ex : table, dog, walk, etc.)
Grammatical morph is the morph that has been modifiying the meaning of the lexical morphs by
adding a certain element to them. (ex : un-, -able, re-, -d, in-, -ent, -ly, -al, -ize, -a-, -tion, anti-,
dis-, -ment, -ari-, -an, -ism)
5. What does the difference between a morpheme and an allomorph consist in?
A morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit of a language. In this sense, a morpheme conveys a
meaning. An allomorph, on the other hand, refers to the different forms of a single morpheme.
These different variants can be noted in the morpheme plural, the past participle ending, etc. The
specialty is that an allomorph has the ability to bring about changes in the pronunciation and the
spellings.
 A morpheme is the smallest meaningful elements of a language.
 There two types of morphemes as free morphemes and bound morphemes.
 An allomorph can be defined as a single variety of a morpheme.
 A single morpheme can have different allomorphs.
6. What principles underlie the traditional study of the morphemic composition of the
word?
In traditional grammar the study of the morphemic structure of the word was conducted in the
light of the two basic criteria: positional criterion (the location of the marginal morphemes in
relation to the central ones) and semantic or functional criterion (the correlative contribution of
the morphemes to the general meaning of the word). The combination of these two criteria in an
integral description has led to the rational classification of morphemes that is widely used both in
research linguistic work and in practical lingual tuition.
In accord with the traditional classification, morphemes on the upper level are divided into root-
morphemes (roots) and affixal morphemes (affixes). The roots express the concrete, "material"
part of the meaning of the word, while the affixes express the specificational part of the meaning
of the word, the specifications being of lexico-semantic and grammatico-semantic character.
The roots of notional words are classical lexical morphemes.
The affixal morphemes include prefixes, suffixes, and inflexions (in the tradition of the English
school, grammatical inflexions are commonly referred to as "suffixes"). Of these, prefixes and
lexical suffixes have word-building functions, together with the root they form the stem of the
word; inflexions (grammatical suffixes) express different morphological categories.
The root, according to the positional content of the term (i.e. the border-area between prefixes
and suffixes), is obligatory for any word, while affixes are not obligatory. Therefore one and the
same morphemic segment of functional (i.e. non-notional) status, depending on various
morphemic environments, can in principle be used now as an affix (mostly, a prefix), now as a
root.
7. What principles is the distributional analysis of morphemes based on?
Distributional analysis helps to describe the word’s meaning. In the distributional analysis at the
morphemic level the study is conducted in two stages. At the first stage, the analyzed text is
divided into recurrent segments consisting of phonemes called “morphs”. At the second stage,
the environmental features of the morphs are established and the corresponding identifications
are effected. Three main types of distribution are: contrastive, non-contrastive and
complementary. The morphs are said to be in contrastive distribution if their meanings are
different. Such morphs constitute different morphemes (eg. played, playing). The morphs are
said to be in non-contrastive distribution if their meaning is the same (eg. burned, burnt).
Complementary distribution concerns different environments of formally different morphs which
are united by the same meaning, these morphs are allomorphs of the same morpheme (eg. desks,
girls, glasses).
By the term distribution we understand the occurrence of a lexical unit relative to other lexical
units of the same level (words relative to words / morphemes relative to morphemes, etc.). In
other words by this term we understand the position which lexical units occupy or may occupy in
the text or in the flow of speech.
The distributional analysis is used to fix and study the units of language in relation to their
contextual environments, i. e. adjoining elements in the text. In the distributional analysis at the
morphemic level, phonemic distribution of morphemes and morphemic distribution of
morphemes are discriminated. The study is conducted in two stages.
At the first stage, the analyzed text is divided into recurrent segments consisting of phonemes.
These segments are called “morphs”. At the second stage, the environmental features of the
morphs are established and the corresponding identifications are effected.
Three main types of distribution are discriminated: contrastive, non-contrastive and
complementary.
Contrastive and non-contrastive distribution concern identical environments of different
morphs. The morphs are said to be in contrastive distribution if their meanings are different.
Such morphs constitute different morphemes (eg. played, playing). The morphs are said to be in
non-contrastive distribution-if their meaning is the same. Such morphs constitute “free
alternants”, or “free variants” of the same morpheme (eg. burned, burnt).
Complementary distribution concerns different environments of formally different morphs
which are united by the same meaning. If two or more morphs have the same meaning and the
difference in their form is explained by different environments, these morphs are said to be in
complementary distribution and considered the allomorphs of the same morpheme (eg. desks,
girls, glasses).
The morphemic analysis is one of possible methods of analyzing word structure along with the
word-building analysis. The morphemic analysis is a process of singling out morphs in a word
and stating their meaning. To state the borders between morphemes correctly, it is necessary to
study the word in a row of words which are structurally similar (words with the same root and
suffixes).
The procedure of the morphemic analysis states the morphemic structure of the word. The
procedure consists of two operations:
1) the stem is separated from the inflection by means of comparing word forms of the word;
2) relations between morphemes in the stem are stated by means of comparing cognate words.
The morphemic analysis based on the distributional analysis gave rise to such notions as morph,
allomorph, morpheme, etc
8. What are the determining features of the three types of distribution?
Contrastive and non-contrastive distribution concern identical environments of different morphs.
The morphs are said to be in contrastive distribution if their meanings are different. Such morphs
constitute different morphemes (eg. played, playing). The morphs are said to be in non-
contrastive distribution-if their meaning is the same. Such morphs constitute “free alternants”, or
“free variants” of the same morpheme (eg. burned, burnt).
Complementary distribution concerns different environments of formally different morphs which
are united by the same meaning. If two or more morphs have the same meaning and the
difference in their form is explained by different environments, these morphs are said to be in
complementary distribution and considered the allomorphs of the same morpheme (eg. desks,
girls, glasses).
9. What are the criteria of differentiating morphemes?
The distribution of morphemes differentiates a great many classes of morphemes and
combinations of morphemes: a) bound vs. free, b) roots vs. non roots, c) roots vs. stems, d)
nuclei vs. non nuclei, e) nuclear vs. peripheral j) closing vs. non-closing.
Bound morphemes never occur in isolation, that is are not regularly uttered alone in normal
discourse. Such bound forms include prefixes, suffixes, infixes, replacives, and some roots. Free
morphemes are those which may be uttered in isolation, e.g. boy, girl, man. They always consist
of a root. Stems, which consist of a root or a root plus some other morpheme, are by definition
always bound. What we usually mean to indicate by distinguishing free morphemes from bound
morphemes is the potential freedom of forms, not their actual free occurrences.
Roots constitute the nuclei (or cores) of all words. There may be more than one root in a single
word, e.g. blackbird, catfish, and hegoat, and some roots may have unique occurrences. For
example, the unique element cran- in cranberry does not constitute the nucleus of any other
words, but it occurs in the position occupied by roots; cf. redberry, blueberry, blackberry, and
strawberry. All other distributional types of morphemes constitute non-roots
All bound roots are stems, but not all stems (they are all bound) are roots. A stem is composed of
1) the nucleus, consisting of one or more roots, or 2) the nucleus plus any other non-root
morphemes, except the last "structurally added" morpheme that results in a word. The form man-
in manly is at the same time a root and a stem. The form breakwater is the stem of breakwaters,
but it is not a single root. There are two root morphemes, break and water. The stem [abil-] in
ability is a bound alternant of a root morpheme. It is not always easy to distinguish between roots
and non-roots. This is because some roots become non-roots and vice versa. For example, the
non-root -ism in such words as fatalism, pragmatism, fascism has become a full root, e.g. I'm
disgusted with all these isms. We may say that ism fills the position of both a root and a non-
root. As a suffix it is a non-root, and as a noun it is a root.
The nucleus of a morphological construction consists of 1) a root or. 2) a combination of roots
(including possible non-roots attributive to respective roots). The non-nucleus is made up of non-
roots. In the construction boyishness the element boy is the nucleus and -ishness constitutes the
non-nucleus.
A nuclear structure consists of or contains the nucleus, or constitutes the head of a subordinate
endocentric construction. A peripheral morpheme usually consists of a non-root and is always
"outside" of the nuclear constituent. In the word formal the nuclear element isform- and the
peripheral element -a/. In the word-formalize the nuclear structure is formal- and the peripheral
element is -ize. "Nuclear" and "peripheral" are simply names for the immediate constituents
Certain morphemes "close" the construction to further formation. For example, in English the
use of a genitive suffix closes the noun to further suffixation. No suffix follows the genitive
10. What does the notion of distribution imply?
By the term distribution we understand the occurrence of a lexical unit relative to other lexical
units of the same level (words relative to words / morphemes relative to morphemes, etc.). In
other words by this term we understand the position which lexical units occupy or may occupy in
the text or in the flow of speech. The distribution of a unit is the sum total of all its
environments. The environment of a unit may be either “right” or “left”. It is readily observed
that a certain component of the word-meaning is described when the word is identified
distributionally.

I. Do the morphemic analysis of the words on the lines of the traditional and distributional
classifications.
a) unmistakably
On the lines of the traditional classification the word "unmistakably" is treated as a five-
morpheme word consisting of the root “mis-“,"tak -" the prefix,the prefix "un-" and the lexical
suffixes "-abl" and "-ly".
On the lines of the distributional analysis the root "- tak-" is a bound, overt, continuous, additive
morpheme; the prefix "un-" is bound, overt, continuous, additive; the suffixes "-abl" and "-ly"
are bound, overt, continuous, additive.
children's (books)
On the lines of the traditional classification the word "children’s"is treated as a three-morpheme
word consisting of the root "child-", the lexical suffixes "-r-" and "-en’s" the inflexion.
On the lines of the distributional analysis the root "child -" is a free, overt, continuous, additive
morpheme; the suffixes "-r-" and the inflexion "-en‘s" are bound, overt, continuous, additive.
disfigured
On the lines of the traditional classification the word "disfigured" is treated as a three-morpheme
word consisting of the root "-figur-",the prefix "dis-" and the inflexion "-ed".
On the lines of the distributional analysis the root "figur-" is a bound, overt, continuous, additive
morpheme; the prefix "dis-" is bound, overt, continuous, additive; the inflexion "-ed" is bound,
overt, continuous, additive.
underspecified
On the lines of the traditional classification the word "underscpecified" is treated as a four-
morpheme word consisting of the root "-specif-",the prefix "under-", the lexical suffix "-i" and
the inflexion "-ed".
On the lines of the distributional analysis the root "-specif-" is a bound, overt, continuous,
additive morpheme; the prefix "under-" is free, overt, continuous, additive; the suffix "-i" and the
inflexion "-ed" are bound, overt, continuous, additive.
kingdom
On the lines of the traditional classification the word "kingdom" is treated as a two-morpheme
word consisting of the root "king-", and the lexical suffix "-dom".
On the lines of the distributional analysis the root "king-" is a free, overt, continuous, additive
morpheme; the lexical suffix "-dom" is bound, overt, continuous, additive.
brotherhood
On the lines of the traditional classification the word "brotherhood" is treated as a two-
morpheme word consisting of the root "brother-",and the lexical suffix "-hood".
On the lines of the distributional analysis the root "brother-" is a free, overt, continuous, additive
morpheme; the suffix "-hood" is semi-bound, overt, continuous, additive.
plentiful
On the lines of the traditional classification the word "plentiful" is treated as a two-morpheme
word consisting of the root "plenti-", and the lexical suffix "-ful".
On the lines of the distributional analysis the root "plenti-" is a bound, overt, continuous, additive
morpheme; the suffix "-ful" is bound, overt, continuous, additive.
imperishable
On the lines of the traditional classification the word "imperishable"is treated as a three-
morpheme word consisting of the root "perish-",the prefix "im-" and the lexical suffix "-able".
On the lines of the distributional analysis the root "perish-" is a bound, overt, continuous,
additive morpheme; the prefix "im-" is bound, overt, continuous, additive; the suffix "-able" is
free, overt, continuous, additive.
unprecedented
On the lines of the traditional classification the word "unprecedented" is treated as a three-
morpheme word consisting of the root "precedent-",the prefix "un-" and the lexical suffix "-ed".
On the lines of the distributional analysis the root "precedent-" is a free, overt, continuous,
additive morpheme; the prefix "un-" is bound, overt, continuous, additive; the suffix "-ed" is
bound, overt, continuous, additive.
embodiment
On the lines of the traditional classification the word "embodiment" is treated as a three-
morpheme word consisting of the root "bodi-", the prefix "em-" and the lexical suffix "-ment".
On the lines of the distributional analysis the root "bodi-" is a bound, overt, continuous, additive
morpheme; the prefix "em-" is bound, overt, continuous, additive; the suffix "-ment" is semi-
bound, overt, continuous, additive.

b) inconceivable,

On the lines of the traditional classification the word "inconceivable" is treated as a three-
morpheme word consisting of the root "-conceiv-",the prefix "in-" and the lexical suffix "-able".

On the lines of the distributional analysis the root "-conceiv-" is a bound, overt, continuous,
additive morpheme; the prefix "in-" is semi-bound, overt, continuous, additive; the suffix "-able"
is semi-bound, overt, continuous, additive.
Prefigurations

On the lines of the traditional classification the word "prefigurations" is treated as a four-
morpheme word consisting of the root "-figur-", the prefix "pre-"; the lexical suffix "-ation"
and inflexion “-s”. 

On the lines of the distributional analysis the root "-figur-" is a bound, overt, continuous, additive
morpheme; the prefix "pre-" is bound, overt, continuous, additive; the suffix "-ation" is bound,
overt, continuous, additive; inflexion “-s “ is bound, overt, continuous, additive

Southernism

On the lines of the traditional classification the word "southernism" is treated as a three-
morpheme word consisting of the root "-south-" and two lexical suffixes "-ern" and “-ism”.

On the lines of the distributional analysis the root "-south -" is a free, overt, continuous, additive
morpheme; the suffix "-ern" is bound, overt, continuous, additive; the suffix "-ism" is bound,
overt, continuous, additive.

Semidarkness

On the lines of the traditional classification the word "semidarkness”is treated as a three-
morpheme word consisting of the root "-dark-",the prefix "semi-" and the lexical suffix "-ness".

On the lines of the distributional analysis the root "-dark-" is a free, overt, continuous, additive
morpheme; the prefix "semi-" is bound, overt, continuous, additive; the suffix "-ness" is bound,
overt, continuous, additive.

Adventuresses

On the lines of the traditional classification the word "adventuresses" is treated as a three-
morpheme word consisting of the root "-adventur-",the suffix “ess" and the inflexion"-es".

On the lines of the distributional analysis the root "-adventur-" is a bound, overt, continuous,
additive morpheme; the suffix "ess" is bound, overt, continuous, additive; the inflexion "-es" is
bound, overt, continuous, additive.

insurmountable
On the lines of the traditional classification the word "insurmountable " is treated as a four-
morpheme word consisting of the root "-mount-", the prefixes "in-" and “sur-“ and the lexical
suffix "-able".
On the lines of the distributional analysis the root "-mount-" is a semi-bound, overt, continuous,
additive morpheme; the prefix "in-" is semi-bound, overt, continuous, additive; the prefix “sur-“
is bound, overt, continuous, additive; the suffix "-able" is bound, overt, continuous, additive.
susceptibility
On the lines of the traditional classification the word "susceptibility" is treated as a two-
morpheme word consisting of the root "-suscept-",and the lexical suffix "-ibility".
On the lines of the distributional analysis the root "-suscept-" is a bound, overt, continuous,
additive morpheme; the suffix "-ibility" is bound, overt, continuous, additive.
ineptitude
On the lines of the traditional classification the word "inseparable"is treated as a three-morpheme
word consisting of the root "-ept -", prefix “in-“ and the lexical suffix "-itude".
On the lines of the distributional analysis the root "-ept-" is a bound, overt, continuous, additive
morpheme; the prefix "in-" is bound,
overt, continuous, additive; the suffix "-itude" is bound, overt, continuous, additive.
unfathomable
On the lines of the traditional classification the word "inseparable"is treated as a three-morpheme
word consisting of the root "-fathom-", the prefix "un-" and the lexical suffix "-able".
On the lines of the distributional analysis the root "-fathom-" is a free, overt, continuous, additive
morpheme; the prefix "un-" is bound,overt, continuous, additive; the suffix "-able" is bound,
overt, continuous, additive.
insufficiency
On the lines of the traditional classification the word "insufficiency"is treated as a four-
morpheme word consisting of the root "-suffic-",the prefix "in-" and two lexical suffixes "-ien"
and “-cy”.
On the lines of the distributional analysis the root "-suffic-" is a bound, overt, continuous,
additive morpheme; the prefix "in-" is bound,
overt, continuous, additive; the suffixes "-are bound, overt, continuous, additive
to prejudge
On the lines of the traditional classification the word "prejudge"is treated as a two-morpheme
word consisting of the root "-judge",the prefix "pre-".
On the lines of the distributional analysis the root "-judge" is a free, overt, continuous, additive
morpheme; the prefix "pre-" is bound,
overt, continuous, additive.
cranberry
On the lines of the traditional classification the word "cranberry"is treated as a two-morpheme
word consisting of the roots “cran-“ and "-berry".
On the lines of the distributional analysis the root “cran-“ is bound, overt, continuous, additive
morpheme, the root “-berry“ is a free, overt, continuous, additive morpheme.
II. Define the type of the morphemic distribution according to which the given words are
grouped.
a) impeccable, indelicate, illiterate, irrelevant;
The morphs -im, -in, -ir and -il are in complementary distribution as they have the same meaning
but are different in their form which is explained by their different environments.
b)undisputable, indisputable;
The morphs -un and -in are in complementary distribution, as they have the same meaning, but
are different in their form which is explained by their different environments.
c) published, rimmed;
The morphs -ed and -ed are in non-contrastive distribution as they express the same meaning, but
it has different form.
d) seams, seamless, seamy.
The morphs -s, -less and -y are in contrastive distribution because they change the meaning of
the word.

III. Group the words according to a particular type of morphemic distribution.

a) burning - burns - burned - burnt;
burned – burnt; the allomorphs "–ed" and "–t" are in non-contrastive distribution
burning – burns; the allomorphs –ing and –s are in contrastive distribution
b) dig - digs - digging - digged - dug - digger;
The allomorphs –s, -ing, -ed, -er are in contrastive distribution
The allomorphs dig-, dug are in contrastive distribution
c) light - lit - lighted - lighting - lighter;
The allomorphs light- and lit are in contrastive disctribution
The allomorphs –ed, -ing, -ed are in contrastive disctribution
d) worked - working - worker - workable - workoholic.
Worker – workaholic; the allomorphs -er and –holic are in complementary distribution
Worked – working; the allomorphs -ed and –ing are in contrastive distribution

IV. Group the words according to a particular type of morphemic distribution:

1. mice, leapt, appendices, kittens, cats, witches, leaping, children, leaped, leaps, formulae,
stimuli, matrices, sanatoria;
Mice- cats – contrastive distribution
Kittens- cats - complementary distribution
Leaps- leaped- leaping - contrastive ( -/ed/ing)
2. geese, dogs, chickens, deer, mats, bade, bid, phenomena, formulae, formulas, genii,
geniuses, scissors;
Bid- bade complementary;
dogs, chickens, geese, deer (s/zero allomorph complementary distribution);
genii- geniuses- (ii/ ius non-contrastive distribution)