MORPHOLOGY definition; variability among languages

1. MORPHOLOGY • definition; • variability among languages

2. What is a morpheme? The smallest unit that has a meaning or grammatical function

3. Free morpheme v. bound morpheme • Free morphemes are single morphemes which constitute words. • Bound morphemes are morphemes which can only occur in words attached to other morphemes: prefixes, suffixes, infixes, etc.

4. Affixes An affix is a bound morpheme attached to a stem or root morpheme Types of affixes are: suffix, prefix, infix, circumfix

5. A single word may be composed of one or more morphemes 1 morpheme product 2 morphemes productive 3 morphemes productivity 4 morphemes unproductivity

6. What type of word is the suffix -er attached to? As the meaning (function) of this suffix can vary, we must consider these two different morphemes.

7. Derivational v. Inflectional affixes Derivational affixes • change part of speech or meaning of word • are not required by syntax • are not productive • occur before inflectional suffixes • may be prefixes or suffixes

8. Derivational v. Inflectional affixes Inflectional affixes • meaning isn’t changed; neither is part of speech. (different form of word produced) • required by syntax; typically indicate syntactic or semantic relations between different words • are very productive • occur at margin of word • in English, only suffixes

9. Content v. function morphemes Content morphemesare morphemes which carry semantic content. Function morphemesare morphemes which have a grammatical function derivational morphemes are content morphemes and inflectionalmorphemes are function morphemes

10. Are free morphemes content or function morphemes? BOTH