English Morphology and Lexicology Shao Guangqing shaoguangqing@gmail.com www.windofspring.weebly.com

What is morphology? Morphology is the study of word formation, of the structure of words.

From observations to theory Some words can be divided into parts which still have meaning. play replay unable playing boldest carelessness the morphemes play replay=re + play unable=un + able playing=play + ing boldest=bold + est carelessness=care + less + ness

From observations to theory Many words have meaning by themselves; but some words have meaning only when used with other words. boy food door car Lexical morphemes at/in/on… -ed/-ing/-s/-es -est/-er Grammatical morphemes

From observations to theory Some of the parts into which words can be divided can stand alone as words; but others cannot. boy food door at/in/on Free morphemes -ed/-ing/-s/-es -est/-er Bound morphemes

From observations to theory Those word-parts that can occur only in combination must be combined in the correct way. -s/-es/-er/-est -ing/-ed Inflectional morphemes un-/in-/im- -ly/-ment/-ful/-less Derivational morphemes

From observations to theory Language create new words systematically. This is called the process of word-formation. un + able=unable work +er=worker Derivation bedroom put-down outside Compound

Morphemes A morpheme can be defined as a minimal unit having more or less constant meaning and more or less constant form. buyers =buy + er + s evidence? Each can occur in other combinations of morphemes without changing its meaning. buy: buying; buys -er: seller; fisher; buyer -s: boys; girls; dogs

Morphemes Morphemes can vary in size: neither the number of syllables nor the length of a word can indicate what is a morpheme and what isn’t. For example, Albatross is a long word but a single morpheme; -y (as in dreamy) is also a single morpheme.

Morphemes Linguists have viewed morphemes as made up of combinations of semantic features. For example, we can analyze a word like girls in terms of both its morphological and its semantic structure: Morphological: girls = {girl} + {s} Semantic: {girl} = [-adult; -male; +human, ...] + {s} = {PLU} = [plural]

Morphemes Two different morphemes may be pronounced (and even sometimes spelled) the same way. V+-er: buyer the agentive morpheme {AG} since it indicates the agent of an action Adj.+-er: shorter the comparative morpheme {COMP} since it indicates the comparative degree of an adjective

Morphemes We can’t always hold to the definition of a morpheme as having unchanging form. boys: {boy} + {-s}={boy} + {PLR} boxes: {box} + {-es}= {box} + {PLR} men: {man} + {PLU} walked: {walk} + {-ed}= {walk} + {PAST} went: {go} + {PAST}

Morphemes Sometimes it is very difficult to identify morpheme boundaries. For example, the word hamburger originally meant {Hamburg} = ‘a city in Germany’ + {er} =‘originating from.’ But probably most people now understand the word as meaning {ham} = ‘ham’ + {burger} = ‘hot patty served on a round bun.’

Summary: Morpheme A morpheme is a short segment of language that meets three criteria: It is a word or a part of a word that has meaning; It cannot be divided into smaller meaningful parts; It recurs in differing verbal environments with a relatively stable meaning.

Practice: how many morphemes does each of the following word contain? 1. play ____ 2. replay ____ 3. date ____ 4. antedate ____ 5. weak ____ 6. weaken ____ 7. man ____ 8. manly ____ 9. miniskirt ____ 10. cheaper ____

Practice: write the meaning of the underlined morphemes 1. antedate ____________________ 2. replay ______________________ 3. manly ______________________ 4. keeper ______________________ 5. unable ______________________ 6. rainy _______________________ 7. inactive _____________________ 8. malfunction __________________ before again -like, having the attributes of one who… not inclined to not badly

Morphemes

Lexical and Grammatical Morphemes Lexical morphemes are those that having meaning by themselves (more accurately, they have sense). Nouns, verbs, adjectives ({boy}, {buy}, {big}) are typical lexical morphemes. Grammatical morphemes specify a relationship between other morphemes. Prepositions, articles, conjunctions ({of}, {the}, {but}) are grammatical morphemes.

Free and Bound Morphemes Free morphemes are those that can stand alone as words. They may be lexical morphemes ({serve}, {press}), or grammatical morphemes ({at}, {and}). Bound morphemes can occur only in combination—they are parts of a word. They may be lexical morphemes (such as {-clude} as in include, exclude, preclude) or they may be grammatical (such as {PLU} = plural as in boys, girls, and cats).

Inflectional and Derivational Morphemes Inflectional Affixes Derivational Affixes All are suffixes May be either suffixes or prefixes Have a wide range of application. E.g. most English nouns can be made plural, with {PLU} May have a wide or narrow range

Inflectional and Derivational Morphemes Inflectional Affixes Derivational Affixes All native to English (since Old English was spoken around 500-1000 AD) Many were adopted from Latin, Greek, or other languages. (Though others, especially the suffixes, are native, including {-ful}, {-like}, {-ly}, and {AG})

Inflectional Affixes -s in boys -’s in boy’s -er in older {PLU}=plural -’s in boy’s {POSS}=possessive -er in older {COMP}=comparative -est in oldest {SUP}=superlative boys={boy}+{PLU} boy’s= {boy}+{POSS} older= {old}+{COMP} oldest= {old}+{SUP}

Inflectional Affixes -s in walks -ed in walked -en in driven {PRES}=present -ed in walked {PAST}=past -en in driven {PAST PART}=past participle -ing in driving {PRES PART}=present participle walks= {walk}+{PRES} walked= {walk}+{PAST} driven= {drive}+{PAST PART} driving= {drive}+{PRES PART}

Inflectional Affixes Irregular forms {sheep}+{PLU} {good}+{COMP} better {good}+{COMP} best {good}+{SUP} drove {drive}+{PAST}

Inflected form: Present tense {root}+{PRES} John loves Mary. ={love}+{PRES}= {love}+{-s} I love Mary. ={love}+{PRES}= {love}+{ ∅ }

Inflected form: Past tense {root}+{PAST} John walked. ={walk}+{PAST}= {walk}+{-ed} I drove. ={drive}+{PAST}

summary: features of inflectional suffixes 1. They do not change the part of speech. Eg: boy, boys (nouns) cough, coughed (verbs) cold, colder (adjectives) 2. They come last in a word. Eg: shortened, girls, coldest

summary: features of inflectional suffixes 3. They go with all stems of a given part of speech. Eg: He eats, drinks, dreams, entertains… the quickest, slowest, coldest, … 4. They do not pile up; only one ends a word. Eg: flakes, working, higher, written *workinged carelessness (derivational suffix) Exception: the students’ worries students’ ={root}+{PLU}+{POSS}

Derivational Affixes derivational suffixes: {ize} attaches to a noun and turns it into a verb: rubberize {ize} also attaches to an adjective and turns it into a verb: normalize {ful} attaches to a noun and turns it into an adjective: playful, helpful {ly} attaches to an adjective and turns it into an adverb: grandly, proudly A different {ly} attaches to a noun and changes it into an adjective: manly, friendly

Features of derivational suffixes 1. A derivational suffixe usually changes the part of speech of the word to which it is added. 2. Derivational suffixes usually do not close a word; that is, after a derivational suffix one can sometimes add another derivational suffix and can frequently add an inflectional suffix. care + ful + ness=carefulness fertilize + er + s=fertilizers

Derivational Affixes derivational prefixes {un-}, {dis-}, {a-}, {anti-}, all of which indicate some kind of negation: unhappy, dislike, atypical, anti-aircraft. {pre-} indicates the meaning of “before”: predict, pre-election… {post-} indicates the meaning of “after”: postpone, post-graduation, postwar www.windofspring.weebly.com for more

Word formation 1. derivation 2. category extension 3. compound replay; disagree; movement; careful… 2. category extension chair (noun) chair (verb) 3. compound class+room=classroom; break+fast=breakfast 4. root creation (invention) Kodak; nylon; quark…

Word formation 5. clipped form (clipping) 6. blend 7. acronym laboratory-lab; dormitory-dorm; gymnasium-gym; professor-prof; examination-exam 6. blend smoke+fog=smog; gasoline+alcohol=gasohol stagnation+inflation=stagflation 7. acronym National Aeronautics and Space Administration-NASA North Atlantic Treaty Organization-NATO

Word formation 8. proper name 9. folk etymology 10. back formation Hamburg- hamburger 9. folk etymology A foreign word is assimilated to native forms. cucuracha (Spanish)-cockroach (English) 10. back formation burglar-burgle; beggar-beg; editor-edit

Practice: clipping Give the original words from which these clipped words were formed. math __________ mike __________ psych _________ disco __________ taxi __________ memo __________ bus __________ pike ___________ flu ___________ fridge ___________ microphone mathematics psychology discotheque taxicab memorandum omnibus turnpike refrigerator influenza

Practice: acronym Give the originals of the following acronyms radar UNESCO OPEC OK Radio Detection and Ranging United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries oll korrect

Practice: blending Give the originals of these blends simulcast telecast Give the blends that result from these words transfer+resistor automobile+omnibus escalade+elevator  simultaneous broadcast television broadcast transistor autobus escalator

Practice: back-formation Write the words from which they are back-formed. housekeep typewrite baby-sit peddle televise greed

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