MORPHOLOGY COURSE SPRING TERM 2016

Word Formation Inflection VS. Derivation Inflection: the process of producing new inflectional (grammatical) categories, e.g. tense, person, plural, etc. Make – Makes Cat – Cats Walk – Walked Drink - Drinking

Word Formation Inflectional suffixes (endings): {-s1} Plural (dogs); {-s2} Genitive (dog’s); {-s3} Third person present (walks); {-ed1} Past tense (walked); {-ed2} Past participle (perceived); {-ing} Present participle (walking); {-er} Comparative (sweeter); {-est} Superlative (sweetest)….

Word Formation Derivation: the process of producing new lexemes (organize- organization...) Some of English derivational patterns: adjective-to-noun: -ness (calm → calmness) adjective-to-verb: -ize (formal → formalize) adjective-to-adjective: -ish (blue → blu(e)ish) adjective-to-adverb: -ly (personal → personally) noun-to-adjective: -al (economy → economical) noun-to-verb: -fy (glory → glorify)

Word Formation Some of English derivational patterns: verb-to-adjective: -able (read → readable) verb-to-noun 1: -ance (perform → performance) verb-to-noun 2: -er (sing → singer) Ex. Provide your own examples to illustrate the above-mentioned patterns!

Word Formation Root vs. Stem vs. Base ROOT form which is not further analysable (either in terms of derivation or inflection) STEM morpheme(s) to which an inflectional affix is added BASE morpheme(s) to which affixes of any kind can be added (any root or stem can be termed a base)

Word Formation Ex. Identify the roots in the following examples: Knowingly Brainlessness Insufferable Actions Disinherited

Word Formation Ex. Identify the stems in the following words: Unbuckles Tightened Consultants Recovered Sisters Mother‘s

Word Formation Affixes : Collective term for bound morphemes! Suffixes/Infixes/Prefixes Suffixes – affixes which follow the base (e.g. table – tables, kick – kicked, etc.) Prefixes – affixes which precede the base (e.g. untidy, dishonest, etc.)