Morphology

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Morphology

I. Basic concepts and terms


II. Derivational processes
III. Inflection
IV. Function words
V. Problems in morphological description
VI. Interaction between morphology and phonology
VII. Collocations

Basic Concepts and Terms (1)


Morphology:
 The study of the structure of words & how words are formed (from morphemes)
Morpheme:
Morpheme:
 The smallest unit of language that carries meaning (maybe a word or not a word)
 A sound-meaning unit
 A minimal unit of meaning or grammatical function
 The level of language at which sound and meaning combine
I. Free morpheme: lexical & functional morpheme
II. Bound morpheme: derivational & inflectional

Basic Concepts and Terms (2)


Stem (root, base): the morpheme to which other morphemes are added
free (e.g. teacher, dresses, unkind)
Stem
bound (e.g. inept, unkempt)

Free Morpheme
 can occur by itself, not attached to other morphemes
Examples: girl, teach, book, class, the, of, etc.
Two kinds
Lexical morpheme (open class)
 has lexical meaning; new examples can be freely added
examples: N, Verb, Adj, Adv (content words)
Functional morpheme (closed class)
 new examples are rarely added (but not impossible to add)
examples: Pro, Prep, Conj, Art. (function words)

Bound Morpheme
 must be attached to another morpheme
Derivational morpheme
 may change syntactic class
 to form new words
 examples: -able, un-, re-, etc.
Inflectional morpheme
 Different forms of the same word
 Not change syntactic class
 Only 8 kinds in English: -’s, -s (plural nouns), -ing, ed/-en, -est, -er, -s (S-V agreement)
Basic Concepts and Terms (3)
Affix:
Prefix e.g. Unhappy
Infix e.g. Absogoddamlutely
(see Nash 56)
Suffix e.g. happiness

Morphemes
lexical
free (open classes)
Morphemes functional (closed classes)

Bound derivational
(affixes) Inflectional

Derivational Processes: a method to get new words


1. Derivation: (or Derivational affixation, Affixation)
2. Compounding: combine two or more morphemes to form new words
3. Reduplication: full or partial repetition of a morpheme
4. Blending: parts of the words that are combined are deleted
5, Clipping: part of a word has been clipped off
6. Acronyms: abbreviate a longer term by taking the initial letters
7. Back formation: A word (usually a noun) is reduced to form another word of a different type
(usually a verb)
8. Extension of word formation rules : Part of a word is treated as a morpheme though it’s not
9. Functional shift (Conversion): A change in the part of speech
10. Proper names > Common words
11. Coining: Creating a completely new free morpheme
12. Onomatopoeia: words imitate sounds in nature
13. Borrowing: The taking over of words from other languages

1. Derivation (1)
 derived by rules; it can also be called derivational affixation or affixation.
A. different rules e.g. V + affix - N
N + affix - V
ADJ + affix - V
N + affix - ADJ
B. multiple combination
e.g. organizational

2. Compounding (1)
 combine two or more free morphemes to form new words
Ex:
NOUN
noun + noun adj + noun verb + noun preposition + noun
fire engine green house jump suit after thought
wall paper blue bird kill joy out patient
book case
text book

ADJECTIVE
noun + adj adj + adj preposition + adj
nation wide red hot over ripe
sky blue far stretched in grown
pitch black out spoken
out standing

VERB
Noun + verb adj + v preposition + v v+v
Spoon feed white wash out live blow dry
Steam roller dry clean under estimate break dance

NOUN
noun + noun + noun noun + noun + noun + noun
dog food box stone age cave man

3.Reduplication
 full or partial repetition of a free morpheme; sometimes with variation
full partial with variation
so-so zigzag
bye-bye dilly-dally
hotch potch
hodge podge
mishmash

4. Blending
 similar to compounding, but parts of the free morphemes involved are lost (usually 1st
part of 1st word + end of 2nd word)

e.g. brunch (breakfast+ lunch)


smog (smoke+ fog)
motel (motor+ hotel)
newscast (news + broadcast)
perma-press (permanent press)

5. Clipping
 part of a free morpheme is cut off (i.e., shortening a polysyllabic word); often in casual
speech
e.g. prof. auto (also in names)
phys-ed lab Liz
ad bike Kathy
poli-sci porn Ron
doc sub Lyn
6. Acronyms (1)
 abbreviate a longer term by taking the initial letters
A. follow the pronunciation patterns of Eng
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
TOEFL (Test of Eng. as a Foreign Language)
AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome)
NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)
Acronyms (2)
B. If unpronounceable  each letter is sounded out separately
ATM (automatic teller machine)
I.Q. (intelligence quotient)
MRT (Mass Rapid Transit)
MTV (music television)
TVBS (television broadcasting service)
VCR (video cassette recorder)

Acronyms (3)
C. Customary to sound out each letter even if the combined initials can be pronounced.
AIT (American Institute in Taiwan)
UCLA (Univ. of California at Los Angeles)

7. Back formation
 A word (usually a noun) is reduced to form another word of a different type
(usually a verb)

e.g. editor edit


donation donate
burglar burgle
zipper zip
television televise
babysitter babysit

8. Extension of word formation rules


 Part of a word is treated as a morpheme though it’s not
burger (mar)athon (alco)holic
hamburger telethon workaholic
cheese burger danceathon
buffalo burger walkathon

9. Functional shift (Conversion)



A change in the part of speech V N a guess, a must, a spy, a printout,
walk, run, laugh, touch
N > V position, process, contact, notice, party, fax, butter, bottle
(computer-related term) input, output, window
V > ADJ see-thru, a stand-up, comedian

10. Eponyms
Proper names > Common words
A. People
Jack > lumberjack, jack of all trades
Tom > tomcat, tomboy, peeping Tom
B. Real people
Earl of Sandwich, teddy bear, Marquis de
Sade
C. Places
Hamburger, marathon, bikini, Shanghai, champagne, cognac,
D. Mythology
Tantalus > tantalize
Eros > erotic; Narcissus > narcissistic
Mars > martial, psyche, panic, Echo

E. Brand names
band-aid, zipper, Xerox, coke, Scotch tape,
Kleenex, Vaseline

11. Coining (Coinage)


Creating a completely new free morpheme, which is unrelated to any existing morphemes; a rare
thing
e.g. googol pooch Nylon

12. Onomatopoeia
 words imitate sounds in nature (or in technology)
e.g. A dog: bow wow or woof-woof
A clock: tick-tock
A rooster: cock-a-doodle-doo
A camera: click
A duck: quack
A cat: meow
A bell: ding-dong
A cow: moo
A bee: buzz
A snake: hiss

13. Borrowing
 The taking over of words from other languages
e. g.
Cherub
Kindergarten
Tycoon

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