NHA TRANG UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

AN INTRODUCTION TO
ENGLISH MORPHOLOGY
Hoang Cong Binh, Ph.D.
Vo Nguyen Hong Lam, Ph.D.
Le Cao Hoang Ha, M.A.

Autumn 2020

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 Table of Contents
Table of contents ............................................................................................................................ 1
Notational Symbols ......................................................................................................................... 2
UNIT ONE: WORD FORMATION ....................................................................................................... 3
1. Definition ............................................................................................................................................ 3
2. Classification ....................................................................................................................................... 3
Coinage, Borrowing, Blending, Clipping, Acronymy ........................................................................... 3
Conversion, Affixation, Back-formation, Compounding ..................................................................... 7
..............................................................................................................................................................
UNIT TWO: MORPHEMES .............................................................................................................. 22
1. Definition & Characteristics .............................................................................................................. 22
2. Morphemes vs. Phonemes, Syllables vs. Words............................................................................... 23
3. Classification of morphemes ............................................................................................................ 24
Bound vs. Free morphemes .............................................................................................................. 24
Bases vs. Affixes ................................................................................................................................ 25
4. Variations of morphemes - Allomorphs............................................................................................ 27
UNIT THREE: DERIVATION & INFLECTION ....................................................................................... 33
1. Derivation ......................................................................................................................................... 33
2. Inflection ........................................................................................................................................... 34
3. Distinguish Derivation from Inflection.............................................................................................. 36
UNIT FOUR: IMMEDIATE CONSTITUENTS IN MORPHOLOGY............................................................ 40
1. Definition .......................................................................................................................................... 40
2. Recommendations on IC Division ..................................................................................................... 41
3. Diagram............................................................................................................................................. 41
Study questions ............................................................................................................................ 43
Common Greek and Latin Roots .................................................................................................... 46

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 NOTATIONAL SYMBOLS

Most of the symbols used in this text follow conventions, but since conventions vary, the
following list indicates the meanings assigned to them here.
n = noun
[U] = uncountable
[C] = countable
pl = plural
sing = singular
adj = adjective adv =
adverb
prep = preposition
v = verb
phr v = phrasal verb
sth = something
sb = somebody
mono-trans = mono-transitive
verb complex trans = complex transitive verb
etc = et cetera meaning “and other similar things” or “and so on”
fig = figurative
esp = especially
usu = usually
fml = formal
infml = informal
derog = derogatory, insulting
attrib = attributive
pred = predicative
Brit = British
abbr = abbreviated
I = intransitive verb
Ipr = intransitive verb + prepositional phrase
Ip = intransitive verb + adverbial particle
La = linking verb + adjective (phrase)
Tn = transitive verb + noun (phrase)
Tn.pr = transitive verb + noun (phrase) + prepositional phrase
Tn.p = transitive verb + noun (phrase) + adverbial particle
Cn.t = complex transitive verb + noun (phrase) + to-infinitive phrase
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UNIT ONE

WORD FORMATION
1. DEFINITION

‘The word may be described as the basic unit of language. Uniting meaning and form, it is
composed of one or more morphemes, each consisting of one or more spoken sounds or their
written representatives.’ [Arnold, 1986: 27]
A word is ‘the smallest linguistic unit which can occur on its own in speech or writing.

In writing, word boundaries are usually recognised by spaces between words. In speech,
word boundaries may be recognised by slight pauses.’ [Richards, Platt & Weber, 1987: 311]
2. CLASSIFICATION OF WORDS ACCORDING TO THEIR WORD-FORMATION
PROCESSES

2.1. COINAGE ( Invention) is the creation of totally new words by:

- Inventing names for new products: nylon, aspirin, etc.

- Using specific brand names such as Vaseline or Frigidaire as the generic name for
different brands of these types of products.

- Changing proper names of individuals or places to common nouns: sandwich was

named for the fourth Earl of Sandwich, who put his food between two slices of bread so
that he could eat while he gambled; robot was named after the mechanical creature in the
Czech writer Karel Capek’s play R.U.R., the initials standing for ‘Rossum’s Universal Robot’;
gargantuan was named for the creature with a huge appetite created by Rabelais; jumbo was
named after an elephant brought to the U.S by P.T. Barnum; lazy Susan was derived from the
Susan, an unknown servant; denim was originally borrowed form de Nimes (meaning ‘from
Nimes’) in France.
Interestingly, COINAGE is one of the most uncommon processes of word formation
in English.

2.2. BORROWING is the process by which words in a language are borrowed from
another. It is one of the most common processes in word formation. English words have been
borrowed:
from French: champagne, garage, beige, rouge, couchette, etc.;

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 from German: rucksack, kindergarten, etc.;
from Italian: cantata, opera, concerto, etc.;

from American Indian languages: shampoo, cot, etc.

Exercise: Identify the origin of each of these words:

1. algebra
2. entrepreneur
3. pizza
4. anchor
5. embargo
6. cappuccino
7. freight
8. cot
9. cacao
10. tsunami
11. boomerang
12. chocolate
13. tatoo
14. curry
15. giraffe
2.3. BLENDING is the fusion of two words into one, usually the first part of one word with the
last part of another.

For example, ‘sm− ’ in smoke has been combined with ‘−og’ in fog to create a new word for
the blend smog, which refers to a type of air pollution. Another recent example is chunnel,
which is the blend of tunnel and the English channel.
Some other blends (also called blendings, fusions) are smaze, from smoke and haze; motel,
from motor (or motorist’s) and hotel; slimnastics, from slim and gymnastics;
breathalyzer/bloodalyzer, from breath/blood and analyzer; brunch, from breakfast and lunch;
Frenglish, from French and English; slanguage, from slang and language; transceiver, from
transmitter and receiver; bit, from binary digit; positron, from positive electron; spam, from
spiced ham; etc,
Lewis Carroll, the author of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and ‘Through the looking glass’ made a

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 special technique of using blends coined by himself such as chortle, from chuckle and snort;
galumph, from gallop and triumph; slithy, from lithe and slimy; mimsy, from flimsy and
miserable, etc.
‘Blends, although not very numerous altogether, seem to be on the rise, especially in
terminology and also in trade advertisements.’ [Arnold, 1986]
Exercise: Write the words from which these words are formed.
1. Advertainment
2. Emoticon
3. Biopic
4. Infortainment
5. Webinar
6. Sexploitation
7. Sportcast
8. Staycation
9. Singlish
10. Medivac
2.4. CLIPPING is the process of cutting off the beginning or the end of a word, or both, leaving
a part (the abbreviation or the clipped word) to stand for the whole (the full form).
2.4.1. The end of the word is deleted in exam (from examination), ad or advert (from
advertisement), fan (from fanatic), lab (from laboratory), dorm (from dormitory), prof (from
professor), bike (from bicycle), gym (from gymnasium), nark (from narcotics agent), demo (from
demonstration), mike (from microphone), telly (from television set), tec or dick (from detective),
trank (from tranquilizer), vac (from vacuum cleaner), etc.

2.4.2. The beginning part of the word is removed in bus (from

omnibus), plane (from airplane), phone (from telephone), etc.
2.4.3. Influenza and refrigerator have been clipped at both ends, producing flu and fridge
(with a slight change of spelling in the latter example).
These clipped words are usually used in casual speech rather than in writing or
formal speech.

Exercise: Write the originals of the following clipped words.

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 1. Demo - Demonstration
2. intro
3. lab
4. lit
5. pub
6. varsity
7. van
8. prof
9. dorm
10. fax
11. sitcom
12. satcom
13. Amerindian
14. Incoterm
15. copy

2.5. ACRONYMY is the process whereby a word is formed from the initials or beginning
segments of a succession of words.

Acronyms can occur in capital or small letters. Sometimes the initials are pronounced; in other
cases, the initials and/or beginning segments are pronounced as a commonly spelled word would
be. In the case of proper nouns, the resulting word is usually written in capital letter.
NATO ‘North Atlantic Treaty Organization’
UNESCO ‘United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization’ NASA ‘National Aeronautics and Space Administration’
UNO ‘United Nations Organization’
WHO ‘World Health Organization’
G.I. ‘Government Issue’
M.P. ‘Member of Parliament’, also ‘military police’
P.M. ‘Prime Minister’
S.O.S ‘Save Our Souls’
TV or T.V. ‘television’
But in other cases, we have what looks like a common noun.
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 laser ‘light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation’

scuba ‘self-contained underwater breathing apparatus’

radar ‘radio detecting and ranging’

snafu ‘situation normal; all fucked up’

Exercise: Indicate how these acronyms are spoken and then write their originals.
1. HIV

2. TESOL

3. PIN

4. ATM

5. ICT

6. FBI

7. LC

8. VAT

9. BBC

10. MC

2.6. CONVERSION consists of two subcategories:

2.6.1. COMPLETE CONVERSION is the process of shifting a word from one word class to
another without adding an affix. In other words, a word which previously could only be used
in a certain way to make sentences begins to be used in another way though no change in
form takes place. Most instances involve the conversion of nouns to verbs or of verbs to nouns.
The following examples are basically based on Quirk at al [1973: 441-444]:
2.6.1.1. Major categories of complete conversion:
Lexical Verb → noun:
- ‘State’ (from stative verbs to nouns): doubt, love
- ‘Event/ activity’ (from dynamic verbs to nouns): laugh, walk
Adjective → noun:
Miscellaneous examples are daily (‘daily newspaper’), comic (‘comic actor’), (young)
marrieds (‘young married people’; informal).
Noun → lexical verb
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Silence (n) → silence (v) [Tn] cause (sb/sth) to be silent or
quiet(er): His voice silenced everyone else.
Campaign (n) → campaign (v) [Tn] organize a campaign: Communists in
Newcastle are campaigning against rent
increase.
Carpet (n) → carpet (v) [Tn] cover (sth) with a carpet: We are going
to have the hallway carpeted.
Adjective → lexical verb

- Transitive verbs meaning ‘make (more) Adj’: calm, dirty, wet

- Intransitive verbs meaning ‘become Adj’: dry, empty
wet adj covered, soaked or moistened with
liquid, esp. water: wet roads, grass, clothes,
etc.

wet v [Tn] make (sth) wet: Wet the clay a bit more
before you start to mould it.
2.6.1.2. Minor categories of complete conversion
Auxiliary Verb → noun:
must (n) [C] thing that must be done, seen, heard,
etc: This novel is a must for all lovers of crime
fiction.
Phrase → noun: When I gamble, my horse is one of the also-rans (i.e. one of the
horses which ‘also ran’ but was not among the winners)
Phrase → adjective: I feel very under-the-weather (i.e. indisposed), Have you ever
experienced such an under-the- weather feeling?
Affix → noun: Ism [noun-forming suffix → countable noun] theory, doctrine,
movement: Patriotism and any other isms you’d like to name.
Non-count noun → count noun:
- ‘A unit of N’: two coffees (‘cups of coffee’)
- ‘A kind of N’: Some paints are more lasting than others
- ‘A instance of N’ (with abstract nouns): a difficulty
Count noun → non-count noun:
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 ‘N viewed in terms of a measurable extent’ (normally only after expressions of
amount): a few square feet of floor.
floor n [C, usu singular] surface of a room on which
one stands, walks, etc: The bare concrete floor
was cold on my feet.
floor n [U] extent, range, area, length
Proper noun → common noun (initial capital usually retained):

- ‘A person or place called N’: There are several Cambridges (‘places called
Cambridge’) in the world.
- ‘A product of N or a sample or collection of N’s work’: a Rolls Royce (‘a car
manufactured by Rolls Royce’), a Sony, a complete Shakespeare
Stative noun → dynamic noun
fool n [stative] person who lack in good sense or
judgement; idiot: Remember that she’s not a
fool.
fool n [dynamic] (formerly) man employed by a king,
noble, etc. to amuse others with jokes and tricks;
clown or jester: He’s being a fool. (‘He’s
behaving like a fool.’)
Intransitive Verb → transitive verb
run v [I] move at a speed faster than a walk, never
having both or all the feet on the ground at the
same time: She ran out of the house to see what
was happening.
run v [Tn] ‘cause to V’: London Transport run extra
trains during the rush-hour.
Transitive Verb → intransitive verb
- ‘Can be V-ed’ (often followed by an adverb such as well or badly): Your book reads
well.
- ‘V oneself’: Have you washed yet? (washed yourself’)
- ‘V someone/something/etc’: We have eaten already.
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 - ‘Be V-ed’: The door opened.
Intransitive Verb → intensive verb
- ‘Current meaning’:
lie v [I] have or put one’s body in a flat or resting
position on a horizontal surface: He was lying on
his front/side/back.
lie v [intensive] be, remain or be kept in a certain
state: He lay flat.
- ‘Resulting meaning’:
fall v [I] come or go down from force of weight,
loss of balance, etc.; descend or drop: The rain was
falling steadily.
fall v [intensive] become; pass into a specified state: He
fell flat/silent/ill/asleep. She
fell an easy prey to his charm.
Intensive verb → intransitive verb
turn v [I] become; pass into a specified state:
The milk turned sour in the heat. turn v
[I] become sour: The milk turned.
2.6.2. APPROXIMATE CONVERSION is the process by which ‘a word, in the course of
changing its grammatical function, may undergo a slight change of pronunciation or spelling.

- Voicing of final consonants (noun → verb): advice → advise, thief → thieve,

sheath → sheathe, and (not shown in spelling) house → house.

- Shift of stress: when verbs of two syllables are converted into nouns, the stress is sometimes
shifted from the second to the first syllable: conduct, conflict, contrast, convert, convict,
export, extract, import, insult, permit, present, produce, rebel, record.

Exercise: Identify the type of conversion which the following words have undergone. Then
write the meaning of the converted words.

1. Fool N →V

2. Travel

3. Sail
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 4. Start

5. Ship

6. Rise

7. Contract

8. Google

9. Permit

10. Export

2.7. AFFIXATION is the process by which an affix is added to a base to form a new word.

This process can be subdivided into prefixation and suffixation.

2.7.1. PREFIXATION is the addition of a prefix in front of a base like in pro-life, recycle,
deselect, etc.
Below are a number of prefixes, including some initial combining forms and initial segments
that appropriately belong with them even if by some criteria they are more properly analysed as
initial bases in compounds. The following list is basically based on Greenbaum [1996: 444-452]:
Pro – meaning ‘on the other side of’: pro-choice, pro-life, pro-market, etc
anti– meaning ‘against’ or ‘opposed to’: antibody,anti-abortion, anticoagulant, etc;
‘spurious’: anti-hero, antichrist, anticlimax, etc ‘preventing’: antiseptic, antifreeze, antacid, etc.
contra– meaning ‘against’: contraception, contra-indicate, etc;
dis– meaning ‘reverse of ’ or ‘do the opposite of’: disqualify, disinvite,
disenfranchise, etc; ‘remove from’: disillusion, disambiguate, disarm,
etc; ‘not’: disloyal, distrust, disagree, etc.
un– meaning ‘reverse of ’ or ‘do the opposite of’: unscramble, untie, unlock, etc;
‘remove from’: unleaded, unmask, unfrock, etc; ‘not’: uninviting,
unknown, unhappily, etc.
mal– meaning ‘bad’ or ‘wrong’: mal-practice, mal-formation, mal- nutrition,etc;
‘badly’ or ‘wrongly’: mal-function, mal-treat, mal- adjusted.
mis– meaning ‘wrong’: mismanagement, misinformation, mismarriage, etc;
‘wrongly’: miscalculate, misgovern, mishandle, etc.

pseudo– meaning ‘false’: pseudo-education, pseudo-intellectual, pseudo- science.

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 ‘imitation’: pseudo-Elizabethan, pseudo-Gothic, etc.
ante– meaning ‘before’ (place): ante-chamber, ante-room, etc; ‘before’ (time): antenatal,
antedate, etc.
circum– meaning ‘around’: circumlocution, circumcision, circumnavigate, etc
extra– meaning ‘outside’ or ‘beyond’: extramaterial, extracurricular, extrasensory, etc
fore– meaning ‘in front’ (place): forefinger, forecourt, foreskin, etc;
‘front part of’ (place): forehead, forefront, foreground, etc;
‘before’ (time): foresee, foretell, foreplay, etc.
in– (and also il–, im– and ir–) meaning ‘in’: ingathering, indoors, in-patient, etc;
‘into’: ingrown, immigrate, import, etc.
inter– meaning ‘between’: interratial, international, interdiscilinary, etc
intra– meaning ‘inside’: intramural, intra-uterine, intravenous, etc
mid– meaning ‘middle’ (place): midfield, mid-point, midway, etc;
‘middle’ (time): mid-afternoon, midwinter, midnight, etc.
out– meaning ‘out of’ or ‘outside’: outdoor, out-patient, outlook, etc;
‘surpass’: outdistance, outbid, outnumber, etc.
over– meaning ‘from above’ or ‘outer’: overthrow, overshadow, overcoat, etc;
‘excessive’: overemphasis, over-enthusiasm, etc.
sub– meaning ‘under’ or ‘below’: subway, subsoil, sub-conscious, etc;
‘secondary’: sub-editor, sub-dean, etc;
‘below the normal’: subhuman, substandard, subzero, etc;
‘subordinate part (of)’: subcommittee, sub-pilot, sublet, subtitle, etc.
super– meaning ‘above’ or ‘over’: superstructure, superimpose, superior, etc;
‘excessive’: superconformity, superconfidence, superterestrial, etc;
‘excessively’: supersensitive, superubundant, supercritical, etc;
‘beyond the norm’: superhuman, supergun, superstar, etc.
supra– meaning ‘above’: supranational, supramundance, etc
sur– meanin ‘above’: surtax, surcharge, surtitle, etc
tele– meaning ‘at a distance’: telecommunication, telephoto, television, etc
trans– meaning ‘across’: transatlantic, transnational, transsexual, etc
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 ultra– meaning ‘beyond’: ultraviolet, ultrasonic, etc;
‘excessively’ or ‘extremely’: ultramodest, ultra-thin, ultra-modern, etc.
under– meaning ‘below’: underground, undercarriage, underclothes, etc;
‘too litle’: under-charge, underpay, undercook, etc;
‘subodinate’: under-secretary, underclass, etc.
micro– meaning ‘small’: microtransmitter, micro-computer, microsurgery, etc;
‘minute’: micro-organism, microgram, microscope, etc.
macro– meaning ‘large’: macrocosm, macro-organism, macro-economics, etc
mini– meaning ‘small’: miniseries, minibreak, minicab, etc
midi– meaning ‘medium’: midibus, midicomputer, etc
maxi– meaning ‘maximum’: maxiskirt, maximize, maximal, etc
mega– meaning ‘very large’: megastar, megastore, megawatt, etc
hyper– meaning ‘huge and complex’: hypersensitive, hypercritical, hypertension
ex– meaning ‘former’: ex-wife, ex-president, ex-colony, etc
neo– meaning ‘new’ or ‘reform of’: neo-colonialism, neo-conservative,
neo-imperialist, etc.
post– meaning ‘after’ (time): post-modernism, post-structuralist, etc
pre– meaning ‘before’ (time): prepay, pre-existing, predate, preview, etc
re– meaning ‘again’: reprint, reapply, renew, etc
arch– meaning ‘chief’: archbishop, archangel, arch-rival, etc
co– meaning ‘joint’: co-author, co-founder, co-presenter, etc
vice– meaning ‘deputy’: vice-president, vice-chancellor, vice-admiral, etc
mono– meaning ‘single’ or ‘one’: monotheism, monorail, monoplane, etc
uni– meaning ‘one’: unidirectional, unidimentional, unilateral, etc
poly– meaning ‘many’: polysyllabic, polytheism, polygraph, etc
2.7.2. SUFFIXATION is the addition of a suffix at the end of a base like in ageism, marginalize,
additive, etc.
Below are suffixes that continue to be productive in English. The following list is basically
based on Greenbaum [1996: 454-457]:
verb-forming suffixes:
–fy,–ify: beautify, countrify, purify, classify, personify, etc
–ise, – ize: capitalize, modernize, popularize, terrorize, etc
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 adjective-forming suffixes:
–able, –ible: readable, profitable, edible, visible, etc
–al, –ial: capital, national, managerial, editorial, etc
–ed: bored, cultured, heavy-handed, etc
–ing: boring, interesting, charming, etc
–ful: powerful, careful, resentful, etc
–less: careless, harmless, restless, etc
–ic: Arabic, aristocratic, dramatic, Arabic, etc
–ish: Swedish, feverish, youngish, moreish (or morish), etc
–like: childlike, godlike, statementlike, etc
–y: funny, sleepy, choosy, etc
the adverb-forming suffix {–ly}: candidly, surprisingly, amiably, etc
suffixes of concrete nouns:
–ant, –ent: informant, claimant, solvent, etc
–ee: trainee, mortgagee, absentee, etc
–er: teacher, carer, toaster, etc
–ery, –ry: brewery, machinery, weaponry, etc
–ing: clothing, flooring, drawing, etc
–ist: socialist, novelist, sexist, etc
suffixes of abstract nouns:
–age: postage, spillage, drainage, etc
–al: betrayal, dismissal, deferral, etc
–dom: freedom, martyrdom, officialdom, etc
–ery, –ry: snobbery, chemistry, summitry, etc
–ing: cleaning, gardening, manufacturing, etc
–ism: idealism, favoritism, ageism, etc
–ity: responsibility, technicality, publicity, etc
–ment: arrangement, embarrassment, bewilderment, etc

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 –ness: usefulness, carelessness, willingness, etc
–ship: dictatorship, editorship, scholarship, etc

–ion (also –tion, –sion, –xion, –ation and –ition): confession, objection, explosion,
collaboration, competition, etc
Affixation resembles conversion in that they may change the grammatical potential of a
word, but unlike conversion, affixation involves a change of form.
2.8. BACK-FORMATION is the process of deriving words by removing what is thought
to be a suffix from an existing word. This is just the reverse of the customary process of
suffixation. Words formed by such a process are actually content words.
Back-formation applies chiefly to the coining of verbs from nouns:
Ex.1: The three verbs emote, enthuse, televise were back-formed from the nouns emotion,
enthusiasm and television.
Ex.2: The verbs peddle, hawk, stoke, swindle, edit, baby-sit, and team-teach all came into
the language as back-formations — of peddler, hawker, stoker, swindler, editor, baby-sitter (or
baby-sitting), and team-teacher (or team- teaching).
Exercise 1 : Write the back-formed words of their originals given.
1. lazy → laze
2. gambler
3. greedy
4. legislator
5. manipulation
6. proofreader
7. shoplifter
8. vaccination
9. liaison
10. isolated
Exercise 2: Write the originals of the following back-formed words.
1. book-keep – book-keeping
2. handwrite –
3. bartend –
4. brain-drain –

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 5. complicit –
6. diplomat –
7. headhunt –
8. benefact
2.9. COMPOUNDING is the process of combining two or more existing words to form a
new one.
2.9.1. Compounds contrast with phrases, which consist of two or more words that are
grammatically related: a large card, beautiful pictures.
2.9.2. Compounds are found in all word classes:
Nouns: popgroup, whistle-blower, Adjectives:
class-ridden, heart-breaking, homesick
Verbs: cold-shoulder, highlight, babysit
Adverbs: good-naturedly, however, nowadays
Pronouns: anyone, everything, nobody
Numerals: sixty-three, nine-tenths
Prepositions: as for, because of, next to
Semi-auxiliaries: be going to, had better, have got to
Conjunctions: except that, rather than, whenever
2.9.3. Historically, compound verbs are derived chiefly from nouns. They may be derived
by conversion, simply a shift in word class from a compound noun without any other change:
black-mail, cold-shoulder, daydream. Or they may be derived by back-formation, the removal
of a suffix: babysit (from babysitting or babysitter), double-park (from double-parking), shoplift
(from shoplifting or shoplifter).
2.9.4. New coinages are mainly compound nouns and adjectives.
Nouns: heartache, bigwig, highbrow, flatfoot, bedclothes, houseboat,
turncoat, footballer, speedometer, teach-in, space-walk, heartburn, son-in-law, sergeant-at-
arms, smoke screen, mother-of-pearl, chain-smoker, wastepaper- basket, lighthouse-keeper,
man about town, eating apples, spending money, falling stars, laughing gas, etc.
Adjectives: up-and-coming, up-to-date, out-of-date, dim-witted, semi-
detached, heart-broken, worldly-wise, Afro-Asian, etc.
Exercise: Write the meaning of the followig compounds.

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 1. Forklift
2. Firefighter
3. Underestimate
4. Mass wedding
5. Middle class
6. Ballroom
7. Half sister
8. Black collar job
9. Bookworm
EXERCISES
EXERCISE 1 : Indicate whether each italicized and underlined expression is a
compound (Comp) or a grammatical structure (GS). Pay no attention to hyphens or spaces, for
these are deceptive. Complete the table given below:
1 Comp Jim’s car is a hardtop. (= a car with a metal roof)

2 GS This jar has a rather hard top.

(= The jar has a top which is rather hard.)
3 It was a jack-in-the-box.

4 The plant in the box is rare.

A ‘hot ,dog (= a hot sausage served in hot bread roll, often with onions and
5 mustard) is not a ,hot ‘dog.
6 GS A ‘hot ,dog is not a ,hot ‘dog. (= a dog which is hot)

7 He has a dog in the manger attitude.

8 He has a dog in the manger attitude.

9 She has a ,strong ‘hold on him.

10 She has a ‘stronghold on him.

11 George found his father-in-law.

12 George found his father in trouble.

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 13 They bought it in the ‘black ,market.

14 The electricity went off, and we caught in a black, completely lightless, market.

15 Comp His spending money was a source of annoyance to his father. (= the money
spent by him)
16 GS His spending money was a source of annoyance to his father. (= the way
according to which he spends his money)

EXERCISE 2: Give the original words from which these clipped words were formed.
Complete the table given below:
1 ad 13 memo
2 gas 14 cello
3 taxi 15 bus ← omnibus
4 cab ← cabriolet 16 coon ← racoon
5 frat ← fraternity 17 Phil
6 photo 18 Joe
7 gin ← Geneva 19 Tom
8 curio 20 Al ←Albert, Alfred or Alvin
9 wig 21 Fred
10 bra ← brassieøre 22 Bert
11 brandy 23 Gene
12 pike (road) ← turnpike 24 Beth

EXERCISE 3: Give the original of each of the following blends. Complete the table
given below:
1 smog
2 telecast ← television + broadcast
3 electrocute
4 splatter ← splash + spatter
5 Amerindian
6 Eurasian
7 newsboy
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 8 medicare

EXERCISE 4: Give the blends that result from fusing these words. Complete the table
given below:
1 happening + circumstances →

2 automobile + omnibus →

3 escalade + elevator → escalator

4 blare or blow + spurt →

5 squall+ squeak → squawk

EXERCISE 5: Pronounce these acronyms and give their originals. Complete the table
given below:
1 UN /,ju: ‘en/ United Nations
2 MC
3 BBC
4 AD
5 BC
6 TESL /,ti: i: es ‘el/ or /‘tesl/ Teaching English as a Second Language
7 EFL
8 VIP
9 FIFA
10 NAM /,en eɪ ‘em/ National Association of Manufacturers

EXERCISE 6: These verbs are back-formations. Write the words from which they are
formed. Complete the table given below:
1 bootleg ← bootlegger
2 typewrite
3 coronate
4 resurrect ← resurrection

19
 5 baby-sit
6 advance-register ← advance-registration
7 laze
8 jell
9 escalate
10 reminisce ← reminiscence
11 orate ← oration
12 donate
13 televise

EXERCISE 7: Indicate the meaning relation between the parts of the following
English compounds. Complete the table given below:
1 chessboard = board for playing chess on
2 flycatcher = bird that catches flies for food
3 sunlight
4 daybreak
5 frostbite = bite from frost
6 driftwood
7 popcorn
8 handshake
9 brainwashing (fig) = washing of the brain
10 match maker
11 mince-meat
12 drinking-water
13 typing-paper
14 sleepwalking = walking in one’s sleep
15 sunbather
16 homework
17 workbench

20
 18 motorcycle = cycle powered by a motor
19 silkworm
20 sawdust
21 doorknob = knob on a door
22 tape-measure
23 soap-flake
24 cowshed
= person with butter on his fingers, person who is likely to
25 butterfingers drop things.

EXERCISE 8: Name the word formation process of each of the following words:

1. doorknob:
2. telly:
3. nylon:
4. porter:
5. silence v (Tn):
6. radar:
7. chunnel:
8. cantata:
9. ESL:
10. televise:
13. motel:
14. fiance’:
15. stepmother:
16. responsibility:
17. transport (n):
18. belongingness:
19. FDI:
20. short-legged:

UNIT TWO MORPHEMES

21
1. DEFINITION – CHARACTERISTICS
What is a morpheme?
 ‘A morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit in a language.’
[Richards, Platt & Weber, 1987: 183]
 ‘A morpheme is a short segment of language that meets three criteria:
a It is a word or part of a word that has meaning.
b It cannot be divided into smaller meaningful parts without violation of its meaning or
without meaningless remainders.
c It recurs in different verbal environments with a relatively stable meaning.’ [Stageberg, 1965]
Ex.1: The English word unkind consists of two morphemes: the base kind the lexical
meaning of which is ‘friendly and thoughtful to others’ and the prefix un– the lexical
meaning of which is ‘not’; the English word talks consists of two morphemes: the base
talk the lexical meaning of which is ‘say something’ and the suffix –s, which has no lexical
meaning and which is used to show that the verb talks is in the third person singular present-
tense form.
In other words, we can recognize a morpheme by either its lexical or its grammatical
meaning.
Ex.2: Straight is an English adjective meaning ‘without a bend or curve’. By dividing
straight, we get smaller meaningful units of trait /tre1t/, rate /re1t/and ate/e1t/; but
their meanings violate the meaning of straight. We also get the meaningless remainders: /s–/,
/st–/ and /str–/. Therefore, straight must be considered a morpheme, the smallest meaningful
unit in English.
Ex.3: Bright means ‘light’, and brighten means ‘make light’. This leads us to conclude that
–en means ‘make’. We also know that –en recurs with a stable meaning in words like cheapen,
darken, deepen, soften, stiffen, etc. Therefore, –en must be considered a morpheme.

Exercise 1: How many morphemes are there in each following words?

1. antedate: 2
2. womanly:
3. sweater:
4. industralization:
22
 5. unfriendly:
6. discovery:
7. internet:
8. biology:
9. automobile:
10. undo:

Exercise 2: Divide these words into morphemes and name the meaning of each one.
1. malnutrition: mal/wrong; nutri = to nourish ; tion
2. submarine:
3. supersonic:
4. modernize:
5. readability:
6. enlargement:
7. transportation:
8. illegal:
2. HOW TO DISTINGUISH MORPHEMES FROM PHONEMES, SYLLABLES AND
WORDS?
2.1. MORPHEMES vs. PHONEMES

A morpheme differs from a phoneme in that the former has meaning whereas the
latter does not. Although phonemes have no meaning, they have distinctive features that help to
distinguish meaning.
Ex.1: The initial consonant of bitch is [− aspirated] while that of pitch is
[+ aspirated].

Ex.2: The vowel of pin is [+ close] and thus [− open] while that of pan is
[+ open] and thus [− close].

A morpheme may consist of only a single phoneme like the /–z/ in goes. But the phoneme
/z/ and this morpheme are by no means identical. The phoneme /z/ occurs many times where
it has nothing to do with this morpheme. For example, zoo /zu:/ and rose /r6 both contain /z/
but the /z/ here has nothing to do with the morpheme realized as /–z/ in goes.
23
 2.2. MORPHEMES vs. SYLLABLES

A morpheme happens to be identical to a syllable, e.g. the morpheme {strange} and

the syllable /streɪndʒ/; and so are many English morphemes. However, any matches
between morphemes and syllables are fortuitous. Many poly-syllabic words are mono-
morphemic.

E.g. lion /ˈlaɪən/: two syllables – one morpheme

crocodile /ˈkrɒkədaɪl/: three syllables – one morpheme

Connecticut /kəˈnetɪkət/: four syllables – one morpheme

In English, a morpheme is not identical with a syllable. The syllable is a phonological unit
whereas the morpheme is the basic unit in morphology.

2.3. MORPHEMES vs. WORDS

Words are made up of morphemes. In other words, morphemes are the constituents of
words.

A word may be composed of one or more morphemes:

One morpheme: boy, desire

Two morphemes: boy + –ish, desir(e) + –able
Three morphemes: boy + –ish + –ness, desir(e) + –abil + –ity
Four morphemes: gentle + man + –li + –ness
un– + desir(e) + –abil– + –ity
More than four morphemes: un– + gentle + man + –li + –ness
anti– + dis– + establish + –ment + –ari + –an + –ism

3. CLASSIFICATION OF MORPHEMES

It is always found that morphemes can be grouped into certain classes, each with a
characteristic distribution. There are two basic classes of morphemes: free morphemes and
bound morphemes. Affixes are almost always bound whereas bases can be either free or bound.

3.1. BOUND MORPHEMES vs. FREE MORPHEMES

3.1.1. FREE MORPHEMES

A free morpheme is ‘one that can be uttered alone with meaning’. [Stageberg]

24
 A free morpheme ‘can be used on its own’. [Richards, Platt & Weber, 1987: 31]

Free morphemes ‘may stand alone as words in their own right, as well as enter into the
structure of other words’. [Jackson, 1980: 53] E.g. Drink is a free morpheme which
occurs as a word on its own and as a free base in drinkable, undrinkable, drinking-
water, drinking-fountain, etc.
3.1.2. BOUND MORPHEMES

A bound morpheme ‘cannot be uttered alone with meaning. It is always annexed to one
or more morphemes to form a word’. [Stageberg, 1965: 87]

A bound morpheme ‘is never used alone but must be used with another morpheme’.

Bound morphemes ‘may occur only if they combine with another morpheme’.

E.g. the English suffix –ing must be used after a verb form: writing, living, driving, etc.
3.2. BASES (or ROOTS) vs. AFFIXES

3.2.1. A BASE (also called A ROOT) is ‘that morpheme in a word that has the principal
meaning’ [Stageberg, 1965: 87-88]. It is the central morpheme, the basic part of a word. There
are two kinds of bases:
A FREE BASE is a base ‘which may be a word on its own right once the other morphemes
have been stripped away’ [Jackson, 1980: 53].

E.g. break in unbreakable, act in deactivated, friend in friendship, etc.

A BOUND BASE is a base (i.e. it is the basic part of a word and has the principal meaning)
which can never occur on its own but can only be joined to other bound morphemes.

E.g. The bound base of audience, audible, audition, auditory, auditorium, etc. is audi–;
that of suicide, patricide, matricide, infanticide, etc. is –cide; and that of suspender, pendant,
pendulum, etc. is –pend or pend–.

3.2.2. AN AFFIX is a morpheme (usually a bound morpheme) ‘that occurs before or

behind a base’ [Stageberg, 1965: 87].

3.2.2.1. Classified according to their POSITION in words, affixes have three main
subclasses:

PREFIXES ‘occur before a base’ [Stageberg, 1965: 91] as in import,

prefix, reconsider, unkind, understate, over-react, etc.

25
 SUFFIXES ‘occur after a base’ [Stageberg, 1965: 92] as in shrinkage, noisy,
quickly, nails, dreamed, mouse-like, etc.

INFIXES are inserted within words, e.g. the infix –um–in Tagalog, which
shows that a verb is in the past tense: sulat (to write) Æ sumulat (wrote).

Affixes may be added directly to bases or to constructions consisting of a base plus one or
more (either free or bound) morphemes. Thus we have:

work +–s = works

worker +–s =workers

workshop + –s = workshops
3.2.2.2. Classified according to their FUNCTION in words, affixes have two main
subclasses:

INFLECTIONAL AFFIXES, ‘which are always suffixes in English, perform a

grammatical function; they are representatives of grammatical categories’.

The only eight inflectional suffixes in English are:

c the noun plural morpheme {–S1}: book–s, apple–s, box–es, etc.

d the noun possessive morpheme {–S2}: man–‘s, girl–‘s, students–‘, Alice–‘s, etc.

e the verb third person singular present tense morpheme {–S3}: walk–s, find–s, mix–
es, etc.

f the verb present participle morpheme {–ing1}: play–ing, typ(e)–ing, dig(g)–ing, etc.

g the verb past simple morpheme {–D1}: flow–ed, work–ed, creat(e)–ed, drank, broke,
thought, show–ed, etc.

h the verb past participle morpheme{–D2}: flow–ed, work–ed, creat(e)–ed, drunk,

broken, thought, show–n, etc.

i the adjective or adverb comparative morpheme {–er1}: small–er, saf(e)–er, thinn–er,

long–er, fast–er, hard–er, etc.

j the adjective or adverb superlative morpheme {–est1}: small–est, saf(e)–est,

thinn-est, long–est, fast–est, hard–est, etc.

26
 DERIVATIONAL AFFIXES, ‘which may be prefixes or suffixes in English, have
a lexical function; they create new words out of existing words or morphemes by their
addition’.
Derivational affixes may be of two kinds:

c Class-changing derivational affixes change the word class of the word to which they
are attached: –al added to nation makes an adjective out of a noun.

d Class-maintaining derivational affixes do not change the word class of the word to
which they are attached. Derivational prefixes are usually class-maintaining: re–mark,
dis–enthrone, un–refined, etc.

There is not usually more than one prefix in a word in English and from what was said in the
previous paragraphs, it is clear that English prefixes are always derivational. There is never
more than one inflectional suffix in English words and it always comes last. A number of
derivational suffixes may, however, occur. Derivational suffixes need not close off a word; that
is, after a derivational suffix one can sometimes add another derivational suffix and can
frequently add an inflectional suffix. The relative order of morphemes in the English word is,
then, as follows:

derivational prefix – base – derivational suffix(es) – inflectional suffix

Generally speaking, bases are central and affixes are peripheral. In

English, affixes are almost always bound morphemes and bases are nearly always free.

4. VARIATIONS OF MORPHEMES — ALLOMORPHS

4.1. DEFINITION:

An allomorph is ‘any of the different forms of a morpheme’.

[Richards, Platt & Weber, 1987: 9]

E.g. In English, the inflectional noun plural morpheme {–S} is often shown in writing by
adding –(e)s to the end of a singular noun, e.g. cat /kæt/ → cats /kæts/. Sometimes this
27
 morpheme is pronounced /–z/, e.g. dog /dɒɡ/ → dogs /dɒɡz/, and sometimes it is

pronounced /–ɪz/, e.g. box /bɒks / → boxes /bɒksɪz/. It is believed that /–s/, /–z/, /–ɪz/ are
three allomorphs of the inflectional noun plural morpheme {–S} because:
c They are in complementary distribution:

/–s / occurs only after the voiceless consonants /p, t, k, f, θ/;

/–ɪz / occurs only after the sibilant consonants /s, z, ∫, ʒ, t∫, dʒ/;

/–z/ occurs after voiced sounds, including all vowels and voiced
consonants except /z/, /ʒ/, and /dʒ/.

d They all have the same meaning, either lexical or grammatical:

/–s/, /–z/, /–ɪz/ all refer to ‘plurality’ and all mean ‘more than one’.

Thus, an allomorph can also be defined as a variant of a morpheme which occurs in a certain
definable environment. And a morpheme is a group of two or more allomorphs which conform
to certain, usually rather clearly definable, criteria of distributionand meaning. The
concept of morphemes and allomorphs is one of the most basic in descriptive linguistics. Its
importance both as a tool and as an insight into the operation of language can hardly be
underestimated.

4.2. SELECTION OF ALLOMORPHS:

The three allomorphs /–z/, /–s/ and /–ɪz/ of the inflectional noun plural morpheme {–S} are
phonologically conditioned since each can occur only when a certain clearly defined condition
occurs. In this case, the conditioning factor is the phonetic nature of their preceding phoneme:
/–s/ occurs only after the voiceless consonants /p, t, k, f, θ/; /–ɪz/ occurs only after the groove

fricatives and affricates /s, z, ∫, ʒ, t∫, dʒ/; and /–z/ occurs only after voiced sounds, except
the three voiced sibilants /z, 2, d2/:

cat / kæt/ + –s /–s/ → cats / kæts/

voiceless

dog /dɒɡ/ + –s /–z/ → dogs /dɒɡz/

28
 voiced

box /bɒks/ + –es /–ɪz/ → box /’bɒksɪz/

sibilant

4.3. TYPES OF ALLOMORPHS

a. ADDITIVE ALLOMORPHS

To signify some difference in meaning, something is added to a word. For example, the past
tense form of most English verbs is formed by adding the suffix –ed which can be pronounced
as either /–t/, or /–d/ or /–ɪd/: ask + –ed /a:sk/ + /–t/, liv(e) + –ed /lɪv/ + /–d/, need + –ed /ni:d/

+ /–ɪd/.

b. REPLACIVE ALLOMORPHS

To signify some difference in meaning, a sound is used to replace another sound in a word.
For example, the /ɪ/ in drink is replaced by the /æ/ in drank to signal the simple past. This is
symbolized as follows:

c. SUBTRACTIVE ALLOMORPHS

To signify some difference in meaning, something is deleted from a word. For example, the
letter a is deleted from zopa to signal that this Russian noun is in the plural form of the
possessive case.

d. SUPPLETIVE ALLOMORPHS:

To signify some difference in meaning, there is a complete change in the shape of a word.

For example: go + the suppletive allomorph of {–D1} = went;

be + the suppletive allomorph of {–S3} = is;

bad + the suppletive allomorph of {–er1} = worse;

good + the suppletive allomorph of {–est1} = best.

e. THE ZERO ALLOMORPH:

There is no change in the shape of a word though some difference in meaning is identified.

29
For example, the past tense form of hurt is formed by adding the zero allomorph of {–D1} to
this word.

EXERCISES

A. THE EXERCISES OF MORPHEMES

EXERCISE 1: Identify the number of the morphemes in each of the given words. Complete
the table given below.
1 play 1 11 keeper
2 replay 2 (re– and play) 12 able
3 date 13 unable
4 antedate 14 mahogany 1
5 hygiene 15 rain
6 weak 16 rainy
7 weaken 17 cheap
8 man 18 cheaply 2 (cheap and –ly)
9 manly 19 cheaper
10 keep 20 honest

EXERCISE 2: Identify the bound morpheme(s) in of each of the given words.

Complete the table given below.
1 speaker –er 6 delivery
2 kingdom 7 intervene inter–, –vene
3 phonemic 8 revise
4 idolize 9 dreamed
5 selective 10 undone

EXERCISE 3: Underline the base in each of the given words. Complete the
table given below.
1 womanly 6 lighten 11 unlikely
2 endear 7 enlighten 12 pre-war
3 failure 8 friendship 13 subway
4 famous 9 befriend 14 falsify
30
 5 infamous 10 Bostonian 15 unenlivened

EXERCISE 4: Identify the meaning of the affix in of each of the given words.
Complete the table given below.
1 antedate The prefix ante– means ‘before’.
2 replay
3 manly
4 keeper The suffix –er means ‘a person who …’.
5 unable
6 rainy
7 cheapest
8 subway
9 import
10 maltreat

EXERCISE 5: Match each expression under A with the one statement under B that
characterizes it.
A B
a. noisy crow 1. compound noun
b. eat crow 2. base morpheme plus derivational prefix
c. scarecrow 3. phrase consisting of adjective plus noun
d. the crow 4. base morpheme plus inflectional suffix
e. crow-like 5. base morpheme plus derivational suffix
f. crows 6. idiom
7. grammatical morpheme followed by lexical morpheme

B. THE EXERCISES OF ALLOMORPHS

EXERCISE 8: Explain why ‘a’ and ‘an’ are two allomorphs of the same morpheme.

EXERCISE 9: Identify the allomorphs of the inflectional verb past simple

morpheme {was} verb ‘be’. How are they conditioned?
31
EXERCISE 10: What are homophones? Give examples. Do they belong to the same
morpheme?

32
UNIT THREE
DERIVATION AND INFLECTION

1. DERIVATION
1.1. DEFINITION: Derivation is ‘the formation of new words by adding affixes to other
words or morphemes. For example, the noun insanity is derived from the adjective sane by
addition of the negative prefix in− and the noun- forming suffix −ity’ [Richards, Platt &
Weber, 1987: 77].

1.2. TYPES OF DERIVATIONAL AFFIXES: There are two subgroups:

Class-changing derivational affixes change the word class, (also called the grammatical
category or the part of speech) of the words to which they are attached.

Thus, when a verb is conjoined with the suffix −able, the result is an adjective, as
in desire + −able or adore + −able.

A few other examples are:

noun to adjective verb to noun adjective to adverb noun to verb boy +

−ish acquit(t) + −al exact + −ly mortal + −ise
virtu(e) + −ous clear + −ance quiet + −ly vaccin(e) + −ate
Elizabeth + −an accus(e) + −ation beauty + −fy

Class-maintaining derivational affixes do not change the word class of the words to
which they are attached.

Many prefixes fall into this category:

a− + mortal mono− + theism

auto− + biography re− + print
ex− + wife semi− + annual
super− + human sub− + minimal

There are also suffixes of this type:

vicar + −age New Jersey + −ite

Americ(a) + −an pun + −ster
 1.3. MORPHOLOGICAL RULES: New words may enter the dictionary in this fashion,
created by the application of morphological rules. A few of them are:

(1) VERB + −able = ‘able to be VERB-ed’

ACCEPT + −able = ‘able to be ACCEPTed’

(2) un− + ADJECTIVE = ‘not + ADJECTIVE’

un− + TRUE = ‘not + TRUE’

Among the words which have been derived from this morphological rule are unjust, unkind,
unfair, unfit, unavoidable, unrelieved, unscientific, unshrinking, unskilled, etc.

(3) un− + VERB = ‘do the opposite of + VERB+ −ING’

= ‘reverse + VERB+ −ING’
un− + LOCK = ‘do the opposite of + LOCKING’
= ‘reverse + LOCKING’

Among the words which have been derived from the this morphological rule are unnerve,
unlock, untie, undo, untread, unzip, unfasten, undress, uncurl, unfold, etc.
2. INFLECTION
2.1. DEFINITION: Inflection is ‘the process of adding an affix to a word or changing
it in some other way according to the rules of the grammar of a language. For example,

English verbs are inflected for 3rd-person singular: I work, he works and for past tense: I
worked. Most nouns may be inflected for plural: horse – horses, flower – flowers, man –
men’ [Richards, Platt & Weber, 1987: 77].

2.2. VARIOUS KINDS OF INFLECTION

2.2.1. NOUN INFLECTION

Almost all English nouns have two forms: the plain form (also called the unmarked form)
used in the constructions like ‘a book’ or ‘the book’ and the inflected form (also called the
marked form) which is formed by adding inflectional suffixes to the plain form. The plain
34
form and its three inflected forms together make up a four-form inflectional noun paradigm,
which is a set of relative forms of a noun. Not all nouns have three inflected forms:

one plain form three inflected forms

(= the stem) (= the stem + inflectional suffixes)
mother (singular noun) mothers (plural noun)
mother ‘s (singular-possessive noun)
mothers’ (plural-possessive noun)

2.2.2. VERB INFLECTION

The inflections of a verb are more complicated than those of a noun. The paradigm of
an irregular verb has four inflected forms: breaks, breaking, broke, and broken.

Although the past simple and the past participle inflected forms of a regular verb are just
the same, they carry quite different meanings.
Therefore, it is much more convenient to assign all English verbs to a five- form
inflectional paradigm.
one plain form four inflected forms
(= the stem) (= the stem + inflectional suffixes)
work works, working, worked, worked

break breaks, breaking, broke, broken

2.2.3. ADJECTIVE INFLECTION and ADVERB INFLECTION

There is a three-form inflectional paradigm for adjectives of one or two syllables and
for monosyllabic adverbs though it does not apply to all members of either the adjective or
the adverb class.
Most one-syllable adjectives and adverbs and many two-syllable adjectives have a
comparative form with an ‘−er’ inflection and a superlative form with an ‘−est’ inflection.

35
 one plain form two inflected forms
(= the stem) (= the stem + inflectional suffixes)

POSITIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE

short shorter shortest
big bigger biggest
ADJECTIVES happy happier happiest
pure purer purest
fast faster fastest
ADVERBS hard harder hardest

3. HOW TO DISTINGUISH DERIVATION FROM INFLECTION

3.1. DERIVATION
3.1.1. Derivation can be observed in the following formula:

A BASE (also called A ROOT) + DERIVATIONAL AFFIXES → NEW DERIVED WORDS

3.1.2. DERIVATIONAL AFFIXES serve to supply the base with ‘components

of lexical and lexico-grammatical meanings, thus form different words’ [Arnold, 1986: 87].
Adding derivational affixes to English base morphemes (which are of various grammatical
categories/ word classes/ parts of speech), we have various DERIVATIONAL
PARADIGMS: mother, motherhood, motherly, motherliness. Motherless and motherlike form
a derivational paradigm; break, breakable, unbreakable, breakabil ity, unbreak abil ity,
breakage and breaker form another derivational paradigm; pure, purely, purist, purism,
purify, puri fic ation, pureness (= purity), impure, and impurity form still another derivational
paradigm.
3.1.3. THE BASE (also called THE ROOT) of a derivational paradigm is ‘the ultimate
constituent element which remains after the removal of all functional and derivational affixes
and does not admit any further analysis’ [Arnold, 1986: 78]. Thus, HEARTen, HEARTen
ed, disHEARTen, disHEARTen ed, HEARTy, HEARTi ly, HEARTi ness HEARTless,
HEARTless ly, and HEARTless ness, all share the same base: HEART.
36
 3.1.4. A DERIVATIONAL PARADIGM is ‘a set of related words composed of the
same base morpheme and all the derivational affixes that can go with this base’.

3.2. INFLECTION

3.2.1. Inflection can be observed in the following formula:

A STEM + INFLECTIONAL SUFFIXES → INFLECTED FORMS OF ONE

AND THE SAME WORD

3.2.2. INFLECTIONAL (also called GRAMMATICALorFUNCTIONAL) SUFFIXES

‘serve to convey grammatical meaning. They build different forms of one and the same word’
[Arnold, 1986: 87]. Adding inflectional suffixes to English stems (which are only nouns, verbs,
adjectives and adverbs), we have INLECTIONAL PARADIGMS: mother, mothers, mother’s
and mothers’ form an inflectional noun paradigm; break, breaking, breaks, broke and
broken form an inflectional verb paradigm; long, longer and longest form an inflectional
adjective or adverb paradigm.
3.2.3. THE STEM (of an inflectional paradigm) is the part of a word that remains after
the removal of all inflectional suffixes. In other words, the stem is that part of a word that is
in existence before any inflectional suffixes. The stem of the inflectional adjective paradigm
HEARTy–HEARTier–(the) HEARTiest is HEARTy. It is a free stem, but it consists of A BASE
and an affix; it is not simple but derived. Thus, a stem containing one or more affixes is ‘a
derived stem’ [Arnold, 1986: 78].
3.2.4. AN INFLECTIONAL PARADIGM is a set of related words composed of the
same stem and all the inflectional suffixes that can go with this stem.
EXERICES
EXERCISE 1: Identify all the possible the suffixes in each of the given words.
Complete the table given below.
1 organists

2 personalities

3 flirtatiously 3 suffixes −ation, −ous, −ly

37
 4 atomizers

5 contradictorily

6 trusteeship

7 greasier

8 countrified

9 friendliest

10 responsibilities

EXERCISE 2: Each group contains a base and a few suffixes. Make each into a word.
Complete the table given below.
1 −ed, live, −en livened
2 −ing, −ate, termin−
3 −er, −s, mor, −al, −ize
4 province, −s, −ism, −al
5 −ly, −some, grue
6 −ity, work, −able
7 in, −most, −er
8 marry, −age, −ity, −able
9 −dom, −ster, gang
10 −ly, −tion, −ate, affect

EXERCISE 3: Add an inflectional suffix to each of these words, which already

end in a derivational suffix. Complete the table given below.

1 kindness + −es = kindnesses (n., pl.) meaning ‘kind acts’

2 beautify +
3 quarterly +
4 popularize +
5 depth +

38
 6 pressure +
7 extinguish +
8 orientate +
9 friendly +
10 noisy +

EXERCISE 4: You are given here five bases, or words with their bases
italicized. Give all the words in the derivational paradigm. Do not include words with
two bases, like ‘manhunt’ or ‘manpower’. Complete the table given below.

1 sin sinful, sinfulness, sinless, sinlessness, sinner

2 kind

3 live (adj)/la1/

4 transport

5 audience

EXERCISE 5: Why is it said that inflectional suffixes are part of the syntax
of the English language?

ANSWER:
………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………

39
UNIT FOUR

IMMEDIATE CONSTITUENTS IN MORPHOLOGY

1. DEFINITION
‘IMMEDIATE CONSTITUENTS are any of the two meaningful parts forming a larger
linguistic unit’ [Arnold, 1986: 83].

Let’s consider Bloomfield’s analysis of the word ungentlemanly [1935: 210]. Comparing
this word with other words, we recognize the morpheme un– as a negative prefix because we
have often come across words built on the pattern un–+ adjective base: uncertain, unconscious,
uneasy, unfortunate, unmistakable, unnatural, unearthly, unsightly, untimely, unwomanly,
etc. Thus, at the first cut we obtain the two following immediate constituents: un -
gentlemanly

Continuing our analysis, we see that there are many adjectives following the pattern
noun base + –ly, such as womanly, masterly, scholarly, soldierly, manly, etc. with the same
semantic relationship of ‘having the quality of the person denoted by the base’. Thus, at
the second cut we obtain the two following immediate constituents: gentleman and –ly:

gentleman –ly

There are compound nouns following the pattern adjective + noun, such as nobleman,
highbrow, middlebrow, lowbrow, lazysusan, flatfoot, etc. Thus, the third cut separates the
two free bases of the compound noun gentleman, resulting in the two immediate constituents:
gentle and man:

gentle man

Doing word diagrams, like the one right above, to show layers of structure, we make
successive divisions into two parts, each of which is called AN IMMEDIATE CONSTITUENT,
abbreviated IC. The process is continued until all the component morphemes of a word, the
morphemes of which the word is composed, have been isolated.

40
 2. SOME RECOMMENDATIONS ON IC DIVISION
Here are three recommendations on IC division that will assist in the exercise to follow:
a If a word ends in an inflectional suffix, the first cut is between this suffix and the rest of
the word.

pre– + conceiv(e)/–ed mal– + formation/–s

b One of the IC‘s should be, if possible, a free form. A free form is one that can be uttered
alone with meaning: egg, doing, enlarge, supportable, etc. Here are examples of wrong and
right first cuts:
Wrong: Right
en– /large + –ment en– + large /–ment
in– + depend /–ent in– /depend + –ent
un– + law /–ful un– /law + –ful
C The meanings of the IC’s should be related to the meaning of the word. It would be
wrong to cut restrain like this:

rest / rain
because neither rest nor rain has a semantic connection with restrain. Nor would a division
of starchy as:
star / chy

be right because this would give an unrelated morpheme {star} and a meaningless
fragment chy. The two examples are properly cut in this way:
re– / strain starch / –y

3. DIAGRAM
When we analyse a word, we show the process of word formation in reverse. First, we divide
the word into two parts. We continue this way cutting every parts into two more until we can
reduce the word to its ultimate constituents, that is to the morphemes of which the word is
composed — those which cannot be divided any more:

41
 Ungentlemanly un– gentle man –ly

un– gentlemanly
gentleman –ly

gentle man

The two IC’s of the first layer of construction are un– and gentlemanly. The two IC’s of
the second layer of construction are gentleman and –ly. The two IC’s of the third layer of
construction are gentle and man.

Exercise: Diagram the following words to show their layers of structure.

1. decentralization
2. supernatural
3. moisturizers
4. demotivated
5. intangible
6. irrecoverability
7. interactionists
8. beautifulness
9. malmanagement
10. coorganizers

42
Study questions
1. Which of the following pairs contains an example of calque? How would you describe the
other(s)?
(a) footobooru (Japanese) – football (English)
(b) trening (Hungarian) – training (English)
(c) luna de miel (Spanish “moon of honey”) – honeymoon (English)
(d) jardin d’enfants (French “garden of children”) – Kindergarten (German
“children garden”)
2. Can you identify the different word-formation processes involved in producing each of the
underlined words in these sentences?
(a) Don’t you ever worry that you might get AIDS?
(b) Do you have a xerox machine?
(c) That’s really fandamntastic!
(d) Shiel still parties every Saturday night.
(e) These new skateboards from Zee Designs are kickass.
(f) When I’m ill, I want to see a doc, not a vet.
(g) The house next door was burgled when I was babysitting the Smiths’ children.
(h) I like this old sofa – it’s nice and comfy.
3. Identify the prefixes and suffixes used in these words: misfortune, terrorism, carelessness,
disagreement, ineffective, unfaithful, prepackaged, biodegradable, reincarnation, decentralization
4. More than one process was involved in the creation of the forms underlined in these sentences.
Can you identify the processes involved in each case?
(a) Are you still using that old car-phone?
(b) Can you FedEx the books to me today?
(c) Police have reported an increase in carjackings in recent months.
(d) Welcome, everyone, to karaokenight at Cathy’s Bar and Grill!
(e) Jeeves, could you tell the maid to be sure to hoover the bedroom carpet?
(f) Would you prefer a decaf?
5. There are a lot of new words in English from IT (an acronym for “information technology”) and
the widespread use of the internet (a blend from “international” and “network”). Using a dictionary
if necessary, try to describe the word-formation processes involved in the creation of the underlined
words in these sentences.
(a) There are some teenage netizens who rarely leave their rooms.
(b) How much RAM do you have?
(c) I can’t get some of the students to keyboard more carefully.
(d) Your friend Jason is such a techie!
(e) Doesn’t every new computer have a webcam now?
(f) You should bookmark that site.
(g) We’re paying too much attention to bloggers.
(h) Subscribers have unlimited downloads.
(j) You should check the faq because the information is usually helpful.
(k) Hey, just heard about the accident, ruok?
6. Another type of affix is called a circumfix. Here are some examples from Indonesian.
(“big”) besar kebesaran (“bigness”)
(“beautiful”) indah keindahan (“beauty”)
(“healthy”) ………... kesehatan (“health”)
(“free”) ………… kebebasan (“freedom”)
(“kind”) baik ……………….. (“kindness”)
(“honest”) jujur ……………….. (“honesty”)

Study questions
1. What are the functional morphemes in the following sentence?
When he arrived in the morning, the old man had an umbrella and a large plastic bag full of
books.
2. (a) List the bound morphemes in these words: fearlessly, misleads, previewer,
shortened, unhappier
(b) Which of these words has a bound stem: construct, deceive, introduce,
repeat?
(c) Which of these words contains an allomorph of the morpheme “past tense”:
are, have, must, sitting, waits?
3. What are the inflectional morphemes in these expressions?
(a) Have you eaten yet?
(b) Do you know how long I’ve been waiting?
(c) She’s younger than me and always dresses in the latest style.
(d) We looked through my grandmother’s old photo albums.
4. What are the allomorphs of the morpheme “plural” in this set of English words:
criteria, dogs, oxen, deer, judges, stimuli?

Tasks
A What is “suppletion”? Was there an example of an English suppletive form
described in this chapter?
B The selection of appropriate allomorphs is based on three different effects:
lexical conditioning, morphological conditioning or phonological conditioning.
What type of conditioning do you think is involved in the relationship between
the words in each of the following pairs?
1 stitch – stitches
2 exclaim – exclamation
3 child – children
4 conclude – conclusion
5 cliff – cliffs
6 tooth – teeth
 Common Greek and Latin Roots

This list is meant as resource to teachers. Teachers should select those Greek and Latin roots which
apply to their instructional plans. In the following list, Greek roots are indicated with (g) and Latin
roots with (l).

ROOT MEANING EXAMPLES

act (l) do action, actor, react, transact, enact

agri (l) field agriculture, agrarian, agronomy

alt (l) high altitude, altimeter, alto

alter (l) other alternate, alternative, altercation

ambul (l) walk, go ambulance, amble, preamble

ambi or amphi (l) both, around ambidextrous, amphibian

amo, ami (l) love amiable, amorous, amateur, amity

ang (l) bend angle, triangle, quadrangle, angular

anim (l) life, spirit animate, animosity, animal, inanimate

ann, enn (l) year annual, biennial, anniversary, annuity

anthr (g) man anthropology, philanthropist

apt, ept (l) suitable aptitude, inept, adept, apt

aqua (l) water aquarium, aquatic, aquamarine

arch (g) chief monarch, archbishop, archenemy

arch (g) primitive, ancient archaeology, archaic, archive

art (l) skill artisan, artist, artificial, artifact

ast (g) star astronaut, astronomy, disaster, asterisk

aud (l) hear audience, auditorium audiovisual, audible

auto (g) self automatic, autobiography

belli (l) war bellicose, antebellum, belligerent, rebellion

ROOT MEANING EXAMPLES

ben (l) good benevolent, beneficial, benediction

biblio (g) book bibliography, Bible

bio (g) life biology, biography, biochemistry, biopsy

brev (l) short abbreviation, brevity

cam (l) field camp, campus, campaign

cand (l) glow, white candle, candidate, incandescent

cap (l) head cap, captain, capital, decapitate

cede, ceed (l) go, yield proceed, exceed, succeed, concede

ceive, cept (l) take, receive receive, reception, accept, conception

centr (l) center central, centrifugal, egocentric, eccentric

cert (l) sure certain, certify, ascertain, certificate

cess (l) go, yield process, recess, access, cessation

chron (g) time chronological, synchronize, chronicle

cide, cise (l) cut, kill suicide, scissors, incision, insecticide

cip (l) take, receive recipient, incipient, participate, recipe

circ (l) around, circle circulation, circumvent

claim (l) shout proclaim, exclaim, acclaim, clamor

clar (l) clear clarity, declare, clarify, declaration

cline (l) lean incline, recline, decline, inclination

clud (l) shut include, conclude, exclude, seclude

cogn (l) know recognize, cognition, incognito

commum (l) common community, communicate, communism

cord (l) heart cordial, accord, concord, discord

corp (l) body corporation, corpus, corpse, corps

ROOT MEANING EXAMPLES

cosm (g) universe cosmos, cosmopolitan, microcosm

cred (l) believe credible, incredible, credo

crat (g) rule democrat, aristocrat, bureaucracy

cred (l) believe credit, discredit, incredible

cur (l) care cure, manicure, curable

cur (l) run current, occur, excursion

cycl (g) circle, ring bicycle, cycle, encyclopedia

dem (g) people democrat, epidemic, demography

dent (l) tooth dentist, trident, indent

dic ( l) speak dictate, predict, verdict, contradict

div (l) divide divide, divorce, dividend

doc (l) teach doctrine, document, doctor

don, donat (l) give donation, donor, pardon, donate

duc (l) lead duct, conduct, educate, induct

fac (l) make, do factory, benefactor, facsimile

fer (l) bear, carry transfer, ferry, infer, refer

fic (l) make, do efficient, proficient, sufficient

fid (l) faith fidelity, confidence, bona fide

fig (l) form figure, configuration, disfigure

flect (l) bend reflect, reflection, deflect

flex (l) bend reflex, flexible

form (l) shape form, uniform, transform, reform

fract (l) break fracture, fraction

frag (l) break fragment, fragile

ROOT MEANING EXAMPLES

frater (l) brother fraternal, fraternity, fratricide

fric (l) rub friction, dentifrice

fug (l) flee fugitive, refugee, centrifugal, refuge

function (l) perform function, malfunction, dysfunctional

gam (g) marriage polygamy, monogamy, bigamy

gen (g) birth, race generation, genocide, genealogy

geo (g) earth geography, geometry, geology

gon (g) angle pentagon, octagon, diagonal

grad (l) step, stage grade, gradual, graduation

gram (g) letter, written telegram, diagram, grammar

graph (g) write telegraph, photograph, autograph

grat (l) pleasing gratitude, congratulate, ungrateful

greg (l) gather gregarious, congregation, segregation

hab, hib (l) hold habit, habitat, prohibit, exhibit

hosp, host (l) host hostess, hospital, hospitality

hydr (g) water hydrogen, hydrant, hydrate

iatr (g) medical care psychiatry, pediatrician, geriatrics

imag (l) ikeness image, imagine, imaginative, imagery

init (l) beginning initial, initiate, initiative

integ (l) whole integrate, integral, integrity, integer

ject (l) throw project, inject

junct (l) join juncture, conjunction, adjunct

jud (l) law judge, judicial, judicious

jur (l) law jurisdiction, jury

ROOT MEANING EXAMPLES

just (l) law justice, just, justify

kine, cine (g) movement kinetic, kinesthetic, cinema

lab (l) work labor, laboratory, collaborate, elaborate

laps (l) slip elapse, collapse, relapse

lat (l) carry translate, relate, collate

lat (l) side lateral, bilateral, unilateral

liber (l) free liberty, liberal, liberate

loc (1) place location, locate, dislocate, allocate

log (g) word prologue, apology, dialogue, eulogy

luc (l) light lucid, elucidate, translucent

lud (l) play ludicrous, interlude, elude

lum (l) light luminous, illuminate, luminescent

luna (l) moon lunar, lunatic

lus (l) play illusion, illusive

lust (l) shine luster, illustrate, lackluster, illustrious

lys (g) break down analysis, paralysis, catalyst, electrolysis

man (l) hand manual, manufacture, manuscript, manipulate

mand (l) order command, demand, mandate

mania (g) madness maniac, pyromania, kleptomania

mar (l) sea marine, maritime, submarine, mariner

mater (l) mother maternal, maternity

matr (l) mother matricide, matrimony, matron, matrix

max (l) greatest maximum, maximize

mech (g) machine mechanic, mechanism, mechanize

ROOT MEANING EXAMPLES

mem (l) mindful of memory, remember, memorial, commemorate

ment (l) mind mental, mention, demented

merge (l) dip submerge, emerge, merge, merger

mers (l) dip immerse, submerse

meter (g) measure thermometer, centimeter, diameter

migr (l) change, move migrate, immigrant, emigrate, migratory

mim (l) same mime, mimic, pantomime

min (l) small, less minute, mini, minor, minus, minimize

minist (l) serve minister, administer, administration

miss (l) send missile, dismiss, mission, remiss

mit (l) send submit, remit, admit, transmit

mob (l) move automobile, mobile, mobilize, mobility

mon (l) advise admonish, premonition, admonition, monitor

morph (g) shape metamorphosis, amorphous, anthropomorphic

mort (l) death mortician, mortuary, mortal, immortal

mot (l) move motion, motor, promote, demote

mov (l) move remove, movement, unmoved

mut (l) change, interchange mutation, mutual, commute

narr (l) tell narrate, narrative, narrator

nat (1) born native, nation, nativity

nav (l) ship navy, naval, navigate

neg (l) no negation, negative, renege

neo (g) new neoclassic, neon, neonatal

not (l) mark notation, notable, denote, notice

ROOT MEANING EXAMPLES

nun, noun (l) declare announce, pronounce, denounce

nov (l) new novel, novelty, novice, innovate

numer (l) number numeral, enumerate, numerous

ocu (l) eye oculist, binocular

onym (g) name synonym, antonym, pseudonym

opt (g) eye optician, optometrist, optic, optical

ord (l) row order, ordinary, extraordinary

orig (l) beginning origin, original, originate

ortho (g) straight, right orthodontist, orthodox, orthopedist

pater (l) father paternity, paternal, patriarch

path (g) feeling, suffer pathology, sympathy, empathy

ped (g) child pediatrician, encyclopedia, pedagogical

ped (l) foot pedal, pedestrian, biped, pedestal

pel (l) drive compel, propel, expel, repel

pend (l) hang pendulum, suspend, append, appendix

pens (l) weigh pensive, pension, compensate

phil (g) love philosophy, philanthropist, philharmonic

phob (g) fear claustrophobia, acrophobia

phon(g) sound phonograph, symphony, telephone, phonics

photo (g) light photograph, telephoto, photosynthesis

phys (g) nature physical, physique, metaphysical, physician

plex (l) fold complex, duplex, plexiglass, perplex

plic (l) fold complicated, multiplication, duplicate

plur (l) more plural, plurality, pluralism

ROOT MEANING EXAMPLES

pod (g) foot podiatrist, podium, tripod

poli (g) city metropolis, cosmopolitan, police, political

pon (l) place opponent, exponent, proponent, postpone

pop (l) people population, popular, pop, populace

port (l) carry portable, transport, import, porter

pos (l) place position, compose, deposit, composite

psych (g) mind, soul psychology, psyche, psychiatrist

pug (l) fight pugnacious, pugilist, repugnant

pul (l) urge compulsory, expulsion, compulsion, repulse

put (l) think computer, reputation, deputy, disrepute

quer, quir (l) ask, seek query, inquiry

ques (l) ask, seek question, inquest, request, quest

rad (l) ray, spoke radius, radio, radiology, radium

ras (l) scrape erase, abrasive, rasp, razor

rect (l) straight erect, rectangle, rectify, direction, correct

reg (l) guide, rule regal, reign, regulate, regime, regent

retro (l) back retroactive

rid (l) laugh ridiculous, deride, ridicule, derisive

rupt (l) break erupt, interrupt, abrupt, rupture, bankrupt

san (l) health sanitary, sanitarium, sane, insanity

scend (l) climb ascend, descend, descendent, transcend

sci (l) know science, conscience, conscious, scientific

scop (g) see microscope, telescope, periscope

scribe (l) write scribe, inscribe, describe, prescribe

ROOT MEANING EXAMPLES

script (l) write script, transcript, scripture

sect (l) cut section, dissect, intersect, sect

sed (l) settle sedative, sediment, sedentary, sedate

sens (l) feel sensation, sense, sensitive, sensible, sensory

sent (l) feel consent, sentimental, dissent, assent

serv (l) save, keep conserve, preserve, reserve, reservoir

serv (l) serve serve, servant, service, servile

sign (l) mark signature, signal, significant, insignia

sim (l) like similar, simultaneous, simulate, simile

sist (l) stand consist, resist, subsist, assist

sol (l) alone solo, solitary, desolate, soliloquy

solv (l) loosen dissolve, solve, solvent, resolve

son (l) sound sonar, sonata, sonnet, unison, sonorous

soph (g) wise philosopher, sophomore, sophisticated

spec (l) see inspect, suspect, respect, spectator, spectacle

spir (l) breathe respiration, inspire, spirit, perspire

sta (l) stand station, status, stagnant, statue, stationary

stell (l) star stellar, constellation

stimu (l) goad stimulate, stimulus, stimulant

strict (l) draw tight strict, restrict, constrict, stricture

struct (l) build structure, construct, instruct, destruction

sum (l) highest summit, summary, sum, summons

surg (l) rise surge, insurgent, resurgent

surr (l) rise resurrect, insurrection, resurrection

ROOT MEANING EXAMPLES

tact (l) touch tactile, intact, contact, tact

tain (l) hold retain, contain, detain, attain

tang(l) touch tangible, tangent, intangible

ten (l) hold tenacious, tenure, tenant, retentive

ten (l) stretch tendon, tendency, tension, tent, tense

term (l) end terminal, determine, exterminate

terr (l) land territory, terrain, terrestrial, terrace

tex (l) weave text, texture, textile, context

the (g) god theology, monotheism, polytheism, atheism

therm (g) heat thermometer, thermal, thermostat, thermos

tort (l) twist torture, contort, retort, tort

tract (l) pull, drag tractor, attract, subtract, traction

trib (l) give contribute, tribute, tributary, attribute

trud (l) push intrude, protrude, intruder

trus (l) push intrusive, obtrusive

turb (l) confusion disturb, turbulent, perturb, turbine

urb (l) city urban, suburb, urbane, suburban

vac (l) empty vacant, vacation, vacuum, evacuate

vag (l) wander vagrant, vague, vagabond, vagary

var (l) different vary, invariable, variant, variety

ven (l) come convene, convention, advent, invent, venue

ver (l) truth verdict, verify, veracity

ver (l) turn convert, reverse, versatile, introvert

vict (l) conquer victory, victim, conviction

ROOT MEANING EXAMPLES

vid (l) see video, evidence, provide, providence

vinc (l) conquer convince, invincible

voc (l) voice vocal, advocate, convocation

void (l) empty devoid, avoid, void, voided

vol (l) wish, will volition, volunteer, voluntary, benevolent

volv (l) roll revolve, involve, evolve, revolution

vor (l) eat carnivorous, voracious, herbivorous