Chapter 3 Morphology

Chapter 3 Morphology 河南大学外语学院姜玲

outline 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Morpheme 3.2.1 Free morpheme 3.2.2 Bound morpheme 3.3 Morphs and Allomorphs 3.4 Types of Word Formation 3.4.1 Compounding 3.4.2 Derivation 3.4.3 Other ways (Conversion, Backformation, Clipping, Blending, Acronym, Initialism) 河南大学外语学院姜玲

3.1 Introduction • Definition of morphology • Morphology is a branch of grammar which studies the internal structure, forms and classes of words. • un -+-ly → unfriendly;unhappily; unkindly; unlonely • -fy → purify; simplify; falsify; amplify 河南大学外语学院姜玲

3.2 Morpheme • It is a minimal unit of meaning or grammatical function. • tourists: tour; -ist; -s • talks; talker; talked; talking • Types of morpheme: free morpheme and bound morpheme 河南大学外语学院姜玲

3.2.1 Free morpheme • Free morphemes are independent units of meaning and can be used freely all by themselves. friend, happy, kind, simple, false, tour, talk, etc. • Root: the basic element of a word that can stand by itself: talk, internationalism, work/shop, black/bird • Stem: the element involved in a word without the last added bound morpheme:friends, friendships 河南大学外语学院姜玲

Stem • A stem may be: • a simple stem consisting of only one morpheme, in which case the root and the stem are the same: work, talk • a root plus a derivational affix: workers • two or more roots: work\shops 河南大学外语学院姜玲

Lexical (open) morphemes vs Functional (close) morphemes • Lexical (open) morphemes are the set of ordinary nouns, verbs and adjectives that carry the content of message we convey. Since we can create new lexical morphemes for the language rather easily, they are called an open class of words: book, desk, house, love, look, long, happy • Functional (close) morphemes consist of the functional words in the language such as conjunctions, articles, prepositions and pronouns. As we almost never add new functional morphemes to the language, they are called a closed class of words: and, but, because, if, when, on, above, in, it, the, that 河南大学外语学院姜玲

3.2.2 Bound morpheme • Bound morphemes are those that cannot be used independently but have to be combined with other morphemes, either free or bound, to form a word. They are actually affixes, including prefixes and suffixes: -ly, un-, -ist, -s, -er, -ed, -ing. In some languages, there are also infixes. • Prefixes are joined to the beginning of the root or stem. They can change the meaning or function of the word. Impossible, unbelievable, enrich • Suffixes are joined to the end of the root or stem. They can also change the meaning or function of the word. hopeless, kindness 河南大学外语学院姜玲

Derivational morphemes vs Inflectional morphemes • Derivational morphemes are OFTEN used to make new words of a different grammatical category from the stem. –ness, -less, -ful, -ly; re-, pre-, dis-, co-, im-, un- • Inflectional morphemes manifest various grammatical relations or grammatical categories such as number, tense, degree and case. 河南大学外语学院姜玲

Inflectional morphemes in English • English has only eight inflectional morphemes: • -’s: possessive • -s: plural • -s: 3rd person present singular • -ing: present participle • -ed: past tense and past participle • -en: past participle • -er: comparative • -est: superlative 河南大学外语学院姜玲

Differences between derivational morpheme and inflectional morpheme • Derivational morphemes can change the grammatical category of a word, creating an entirely new word. Inflectional morphemes never alter the grammatical category of a word. 河南大学外语学院姜玲

Summary Lexical morpheme Free morpheme Functional morpheme morpheme Derivational morpheme Bound morpheme Inflectional morpheme 河南大学外语学院姜玲

3.3Morphs and Allomorphs • Morphs: the smallest meaningful phonetic segments of an utterance on the level of parole. They are the phonological (spoken) or orthographic (written) forms which realize morphemes. They are minimal carriers of meaning. • Allomorph: a member of a set of morphs which represent the same morpheme. Allomorphs are phonological or orthographic variants of the same morpheme. 河南大学外语学院姜玲

Allomorph Allomorphs are in complementary distribution. {-s} (plurality) [-z]: meanings [-s]: maps [-iz]: watches [-ai-]: mice [-i:-]: feet [0]: deer {-ed} past tense [-t]: talked [-d]: stayed [-id]: created ( phonological) -d: changed -ed : worked (orthographic) 河南大学外语学院姜玲

3.4 Types of Word Formation • Word formation or word building is the creation of new words, which is useful to us because it can enrich our vocabulary by learning some major ways. The most important ways are compounding and derivation. 河南大学外语学院姜玲

3.4.1 Compounding • Definition: putting two words together. The first element receives the main stress, and the second one determines the new word’s class. • typewriter, workshop, tractor-driver, blackboard 河南大学外语学院姜玲

Types of compound words • a. noun compounds noun + noun: armchair, rainbow verb + noun: pickpocket, washcloth adjective + noun: bluebird, highchair • b. verb compounds noun + verb: vacuum-clean, manhandle verb + verb: sleepwalk adjective + verb: dry-clean • c. adjective compounds noun + adjective: color-blind, snow-white verb + adjective: stir-crazy adjective + adjective: dark-blue, pale-yellow 河南大学外语学院姜玲

3.4.2 Derivation • Definition: adding affixes to other words or morphemes • free morpheme + bound morpheme: unhappy; misunderstand; careful; careless • Affixes can be described by function or meaning: childhood; childlike; childless; childish • The derivational process may alter the grammatical or morphological form: anti-terrorist; computation; placement; colorful 河南大学外语学院姜玲

Computer words • -ware: software, hardware, shareware, freeware • cyber-/e-: cyberspace, cyberchat, e-commerce, e-cash • techno-: technobabble, technostress, technophobia 河南大学外语学院姜玲

Conversion: zero derivation • He’s papering the bedroom walls. • n→v: elbow; milk; skin; hammer; nurse; e-mail • v→n: doubt; attempt; must, guess, spy • adj→v: dry; free; better; down, dirty, empty • adj→n: native; short, crazy, nasty 河南大学外语学院姜玲

Backformation • Definition: remove the suffix to get a new word • edit; opt; enthuse; typewrite • Télévision (French)→ televise 河南大学外语学院姜玲

Clipping • Definition: abbreviation of longer words • fridge; bike; ad; copter; bus; gym; telecom; flu, prof, phone, gas, plane, sitcom 河南大学外语学院姜玲

Blending • Definition: combining two separate forms, taking only the beginning of one word and joining it to the end of another word • brunch: breakfast + lunch • motel: motor + hotel; • smog: smoke + fog 河南大学外语学院姜玲

Acronym • Definition: forming words from the first letters of a series of words, which are pronounced as single words. • NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization • UNESCO: United Nations Education, Social and Cultural Organization • AIDS: acquired immune deficiency syndrome • SARS: severe acute respiratory syndrome • laser: light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation 河南大学外语学院姜玲

Initialism • Definition: forming words from the first letters of a series of words, which are pronounced by saying each letter. • CD: compact disk • VIP: very important person • WTO: World Trade Organization • CPU: central processing unit • ID: identification card 河南大学外语学院姜玲

Summary 3.1 Definition 3.2 Morpheme 3.2.1 Free morpheme (lexical vs functional) 3.2.2 Bound morpheme (derivational vs inflectional) 3.3 Morphs and Allomorphs 3.4 Types of Word Formation 3.4.1 Compounding 3.4.2 Derivation 3.4.3 Other ways (Conversion, Backformation, Clipping, Blending, Acronym, Initialism) 河南大学外语学院姜玲

Exercise • 1. Define the following terms. • morphology, morpheme, free morpheme, bound morpheme, morph, allomorph, derivation, clipping, acronym, initialism, blending, root, stem, prefix, suffix • 2. Determine whether the words in each of the following groups are related to one another by processes of inflection or derivation. • A. discover, discovery, discoverer, discoverable, discoverability • B. inventor, inventor’s, inventors, inventors’ 河南大学外语学院姜玲

Thank you very much. Good bye! 河南大学外语学院姜玲

Chapter 3 Morphology