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Understanding Words and Morphology in Language

Dive into the unit of expression recognized by native speakers. Explore word classifications, types of morphemes, and word formation rules.

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Understanding Words and Morphology in Language

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  1. Chapter 3 Lexicon

  2. 1. What is word? • A unit of expression that has universal intuitive recognition by native speakers, whether it is expressed in spoken or written form. • A vague definition. Three senses are involved in defining “word”, none of which is satisfactory to cope with all the situations.

  3. A set of forms:walk, walks, walking, walked • How many words are there? • I usually have dinner at 6 but yesterday I had it at seven. • How many times did the word “have” occur?

  4. A lexical item or a lexeme • A lexical item is an entry in a dictionary. A lexemeWRITE includes all of its grammatical forms: • write, writes, writing, wrote, written

  5. A grammatical unit: sentence clause phrase word morpheme • Problem: blackboard

  6. 1.2 Identification of words • Stability: stable linguistic units. • chairman, but not *manchair • Relative uninterruptibility: though we recognize three components in the word disappointment, we cannot pause and add another component in between, as in *disinterestappointment. • But we can add another word between words: Paul, (John) and Mary ...

  7. A minimum free form: the smallest unit that can constitute a complete utterance by itself, eg • --Is Jane coming tonight? • --Possibly. • Hi. • Wonderful.

  8. 1.3 Classification of words • Variable vs. Invariable Words: • Variable words:write, writes, writing, wrote, written; cat, cats. • Invariable words:since, when, seldom, through, etc.

  9. Grammatical vs. Lexical Words: • Grammatical/Function words: conjunctions, prepositions, articles, pronouns. • Lexical/Content words: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs.

  10. Closed-class vs. Open-class Words: • Closed-class words: New members cannot normally be added, eg pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, articles, auxiliaries. • Open-class words: New members can be added, eg nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.

  11. Word class: known as Parts of Speech in traditional grammar. • Noun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, pronoun, conjunction, interjection, article, etc. • Some new terms in word class: • Particle: infinitive to, negative not, subordinate units in phrasal verbs “get by”, “look back”, etc. • Auxiliary:do, have • Modal verbs:can, will, may, must, etc.

  12. Pro-forms: substitutes for other terms. • Pronoun:he, she, I, they, everyone • Pro-adjective: Your car is red. So is his. • Pro-verb: He speaks English better than he did. • Pro-adverb: He hopes to win and I hope so too. • Pro-locative: He went there.

  13. Determiner: all the articles, demonstratives, and quantifiers that appear before the noun and its modifiers. • As many as three determiners may be used in each case and there is a fixed order when there is more than one.

  14. Predeterminers:all, both; half, one-third, three-quarters …; double, twice, three times …; such, what (exclamative) • Central determiners:the; this, these, that, those; PossP; we, us; you; which, what (relative), what (interrogative); a, another, some, any, no, either, neither; each, enough, much, more, most, less; a few,a little • Postdeterminers:every; many, several, few, little; one, two, three …; (a) dozen

  15. *their all trouble • *five the all boys • *all this boy • *all both girls

  16. 2. Morphology • Morphology: the study of word-formation, or the internal structure of words, or the rules by which words are formed from smaller components -- morphemes.

  17. 2.1 Morphemes • The smallest unit of language in terms of relationship between expression and content, a unit that cannot be further divided into smaller units without destroying or drastically altering the meaning, whether it is lexical or grammatical.

  18. 2.2 Types of morphemes • Free vs. Bound morphemes: • Free morphemes: those that may constitute words by themselves, eg boy, girl, table, nation. • Bound morphemes: those that cannot occur alone, eg -s, -ed, dis-, un-.

  19. Root: the base form of a word that cannot be further analyzed without total loss of identity, eg friend as in unfriendliness. • Roots may be • free: those that can stand by themselves, eg black+board; nation+-al; or • bound: those that cannot stand by themselves, eg -ceive in receive, perceive, conceive.

  20. Affix: the type of formative that can be used only when added to another morpheme. Normally divided into • prefix (dis-, un-) and • suffix (-en, -ify).

  21. Base: a morpheme to which an affix is added, eg • friend root>base • friendly root/base+suffix>base • unfriendly prefix+base>base • unfriendliness base+suffix>base?

  22. Stem: a morpheme or combination of morphemes to which an inflectional affix may be added, eg friend+-s; write+-ing, possibility+-es. • Inflection: grammatical endings, eg plural, tense, comparative, etc. • Derivation: combination of a base and an affix to form a new word, eg friend+-ly > friendly.

  23. 2.3 Word-formation

  24. 2.3.1 Inflection • Nominal forms:boys, boy’s • Verb forms:wants, wanted, wanting • Adjective/adverb forms:smaller, smallest

  25. 2.3.2 Compounding • Two or more free roots combine to make a new word. • Noun compounds:daybreak, playboy, haircut, windmill • Verb compounds:brainstorm, lipread, babysit • Adjective compounds:gray-haired,insect-eating, dutyfree • Preposition compounds:into, throughout

  26. Endocentric & exocentric • Endocentric: one element serves as the head, the relationship of “a kind of”; eg • self-control: a kind of control • armchair: a kind of chair • Exocentric: there is no head, so not a relationship of “a kind of something”, eg • scarecrow: not a kind of crow • breakneck: not a kind of neck

  27. Written forms of compounds • Solid: blackboard, teapot, bodyguard • Hyphenated: wedding-ring, wave-length • Open: coffee table, washing machine • Free variation: • businessman, business-man, business man • winebottle, wine-bottle, wine bottle • no one, no-one, noone

  28. 2.3.3 Derivation • Class-changing: • N>V: lengthen, hospitalize, discard • N>A: friendly, delightful, speechless • V>N: worker, employee, inhabitant • V>A: acceptable, adorable • A>N: rapidness, rapidity • A>V: deafen, sweeten • Adj>Adv: exactly, quickly

  29. Class-preserving: • N>N: nonsmoker, ex-wife, booklet • V>V: disobey, unfasten • A>A: grayish, irrelevant

  30. 3. Lexical change • Formation of new words • Phonological change • Morphosyntactic change • Semantic change • Orthographic change

  31. 3.1 Word-formation through lexical change 3.1.1 Invention/Coinage • Kodak, Coke, nylon, Xerox, Bandit, Lycra

  32. 3.1.2 Blending • transfer+resistor>transistor • smoke+fog>smog • motorist+hotel>motel • breakfast+lunch>brunch • modulator+demodulator>modem • dance+exercise>dancercise • advertisement+editorial>advertorial • education+entertainment>edutainment • information+commercial>infomercial

  33. 3.1.3 Abbreviations • Clipping • Back-clippings:ad(vertisement), chimp(anzee), deli(catessen), exam(ination), hippo(potamus), lab(oratory), piano(forte), reg(ulation)s • Fore-clippings:(ham)burger, (omni)bus, (violin)cello, (heli)copter, (alli)gator, (tele)phone, (earth)quake. • Fore-and-aft clippings: (in)flu(enza), (de)tec(tive).

  34. Acronym • AIDS, Aids: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome • ASAP: as soon as possible • CD-ROM: compact disc read-only memory • dink(y): double income, no kids • WASP: white Anglo-Saxon protestant

  35. Initialism • AI: artificial intelligence • a.s.a.p.: as soon as possible • ECU: European Currency Unit • HIV: human immunodeficiency virus • PC: personal computer • PS: postscript • RSVP: répondez s’il vous plait (‘please reply’ in French)

  36. 3.1.4 Back-formation • burgle, commentate, edit, peddle, scavenge, sculpt, swindle • air-condition, babysit, brainstorm, brainwash, browbeat, dry-clean, house-hunt, housekeep, sightsee, tape-record • articulate, assassinate, coeducate, demarcate, emote, intuit, legislate,marinate, orate, vaccinate, valuate

  37. diagnose < diagnosis • enthuse < enthusiasm • laze < lazy • liaise < liaison • reminisce < reminiscence • statistic < statistics • televise < television

  38. 3.1.5 Analogical creation • From irregular to regular: • work: wrought > worked • beseech: besought > beseeched • slay: slew > slayed? • go: went > goed???

  39. 3.1.6 Borrowing • French: administration, parliament, public, revenue, tax; court, crime, defendant, judge, jury, justice, pardon, sue; army, enemy, guard, officer, peace, soldier, war; clergy, faith, prayer, religion, sermon, service; coat, costume, dress, fashion, frock, jewel, lace; boil, dinner, feast, fry, roast, supper, toast; bargain, butcher, customer, grocer, money, price, value; art, college, music, poet, prose, story, study

  40. Latin: admit, client, conviction, custody, discuss, equal, index, infinite, intellect, library, medicine, minor, opaque, prosecute, pulpit, scribe, scripture, simile, testimony • Greek: acme, bathos, catastrophe, cosmos, criterion, idiosyncrasy, kudos, misanthrope, pathos, pylon, therm

  41. Spanish and Portuguese: anchovy, armada, banana, barbecue, cafeteria, cannibal, canoe, canyon, cargo, cask, chilli (or chili), chocolate, cigar, cocaine, cockroach, cocoa, desperado, embargo, guitar, mosquito, negro, port (wine), potato, ranch, renegade, sherry, siesta, tango, tank, tobacco, tomato, vanilla

  42. Italian: aria, artichoke, bandit, broccoli, cameo, carnival, casino, concerto, duet, finale, ghetto, graffiti (singular graffito), incognito, inferno, influenza, larva, libretto, macaroni, maestro, mafia, malaria, paparazzi (singular paparazzo), piano, pizza, ravioli, regatta, replica, scampi, solo, soprano, spaghetti, studio, umbrella, vendetta, vermicelli, volcano

  43. Dutch: apartheid, booze, boss, brandy, buoy, coleslaw, commando, cookie, cranberry, cruise, deck, decoy, dock, dollar, dope, easel, excise, freight, furlough, gin, kit, knapsack, landscape, luck, onslaught, pickle, reef, sketch, skipper, slim, smuggle, snap, snip, trek, waffle, wagon, yacht

  44. Hebrew: amen, babel, cabbala (or cabala, kabbala, kabala), camel, cherub, jubilee, manna, messiah, sabbath, satan, seraph, shibboleth • Arabic: admiral, albatross, alchemy, alcohol, alcove, algebra, alkali, almanac, amber, assassin, candy, cipher (or cypher), harem, hazard, lemon, magazine, nadir, safari, sherbet, sofa, syrup, zenith, zero

  45. Indian: bungalow, cashmere, chutney, cot, curry, dinghy, ginger, guru, juggernaut, jungle, jute, loot, mango, pariah, polo, punch, pundit, pyjamas (or pajamas), shampoo, swastika, thug, toddy, veranda (or verandah), yoga • Chinese: chop suey, chow, chow mein, ginseng, gung-ho, ketchup (or catchup or catsup), kung fu, tea, tofu (via Japanese), typhoon

  46. 3.1.7 Types of loan words • Loanwords: • au pair, encore, coup d’etat, kungfu, sputnik • Loanblend • coconut: coco (Spanish) + nut (English) • Chinatown: China (Chinese) + town (English) • Loanshift • bridge: meaning as a card game borrowed from Italian ponte

  47. Loan translation, or calque • free verse < L verse libre • black humor < Fr humour noir • found object < Fr objet trouvé

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