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Linguistics Course ©MOUNIR JOUINI Phonology

Figure 1: The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

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Linguistics Course ©MOUNIR JOUINI Phonology

Figure 2: Phonetic symbols for the English consonants and vowels.

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Linguistics Course ©MOUNIR JOUINI Phonology

Figure 3: Organs of speech

Oral sounds Nasal sounds

Figure 4: Production of oral and nasal sounds

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Linguistics Course ©MOUNIR JOUINI Phonology

Exercises
(1) Find the phonetic symbol for the first sound in each of the following words:
a. this g. knee
b. usual h. hear
c. church i. phonetics
d. Christian j. giant
e. thousand k. one
f. psychology

(2) Find the phonetic symbol for the last sound in each of the following words:
a. tough f. shapes
b. kicked g. bones
c. loved h. parking
d. health i. wave
e. dog j. large

(3) Put the following words into the corresponding columns:


a. ill - seat - kneel - sea - will – wheel - field - bean - filled - bin - ski - sick
I i:

b. board - two - bored - call – pot - cough - do - through - rot

N: P u:

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Linguistics Course ©MOUNIR JOUINI Phonology

c. caught - owe - coal - own - sore –mow - brow - door - now - paw – found

N: əT aT

(4) Find the mistakes:


a. [craHm]
b. [waHvs]
c. [Si:z]
d. [jækHt]
e. [sHxtH]

(5) All the nasal sounds have a non-nasal counterpart. In the following series find the
missing word:
e.g. bæn pæn [mæn]
a. bæt mæt ……
b. nHə dHə ……
c. bHd bHt ……
d. læb læm ……

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Linguistics Course ©MOUNIR JOUINI Phonology

A B C D

Figure 5: Voicing

Figure 6: The places of articulation 1.

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Linguistics Course ©MOUNIR JOUINI Phonology

A
B

D
C

/t, d, s, z, n, l/

E F

/R, Y, tR, dY/

G
H

Glottal /h, >/


/k, g, ŋ/

Figure 7: The places of articulation 2.

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Linguistics Course ©MOUNIR JOUINI Phonology

Consonants

Obstruents sonorant

stops fricatives affricates nasals approximants

Figure 8: Obstruents and sonorants

Bilabial labio-dental dental alveolar pal/alv. palatal velar glottal

Stops voiceless p t k
voiced b d g
Fricatives voiceless f θ s R h
voiced v ð z Y
Affricates voiceless tR
voiced dY
Nasals m n ŋ
Approximants
Liquid l
Glide w r j

Figure 9: The classification of English consonants

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Linguistics Course ©MOUNIR JOUINI Phonology

Exercises
(6) a. Put the following words into two columns according to whether their
consonant is voiced (+) or not (-):

eHt, du:, hHə, pi:, i:gə, æd, beH, ti:, zu:, səT, SaH, HtR, edY, ðə
+ voice - voice

(7) Underline the words in which the consonant in the middle is voiced:
a. tracking f. stomach
b. mother g. razor
c. robber h. column
d. leisure i. briefing
e. massive j. higher

(8) Name the numbered places of articulation:

1. ________________
2. ________________
3. ________________
4. ________________
5. ________________
6. ________________
7. ________________
8. ________________
9. ________________
10. _______________
11. _______________
12. _______________

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Linguistics Course ©MOUNIR JOUINI Phonology

(9) a. Underline the words that begin with a bilabial consonant:


mat gnat sat bat rat pat
b. Underline the words that begin with a velar consonant:
knot got lot cot hot pot
c. Underline the words that begin with a labiodental consonant:
fat cat that mat chat vat
d. Underline the words that begin with an alveolar consonant:
zip nip lip sip tip dip
e. Underline the words that begin with a dental consonant:
pie guy shy thigh thy high
f. Underline the words that begin with a palato-alveolar consonant:
sigh shy tie thigh thy lie

(10) Each diagram below represents a different place of articulation.


a. Name the places
b. List the sounds that are produced at each of these places
c. For each of these sounds, give a word in which it appears.

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

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Linguistics Course ©MOUNIR JOUINI Phonology

(11) a. Underline the words that end with a fricative:


race wreath bush bring breathe bang
rave real ray rose rough
b. Underline the words that end with a nasal:
rain rang dumb deaf
c. Underline the words that end with a stop:
pill lip lit graph crab dog hide laugh back
d. Underline the words that begin with a lateral:
nut lull bar rob one
e. Underline the words that begin with an approximant:
we you one run
f. Underline the words that end with an affricate:
much back edge ooze

(12) Put the following words in the relevant column according to the manner of
articulation of the underlined consonant.
sHstəm, sHləbəl, meHl, fəTni:mHk, leMS, stres, ti:tRə, meYə, rHdY, vi:ləm, wUn, pælət, brUðə

stop fricative affricate nasal lareral approximant

(13) Write the symbol that corresponds to each of the following descriptions, and
then give a word that contains the phoneme.
Example: voiceless alveolar stop: / t /, two.
a. voiced alveolar lateral e. voiced palatal approximant
b. high back lax rounded monophthong f. voiceless palato-alveolar affricate
c. voiced dental fricative g. voiced bilabial stop
d. voiced velar nasal

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Linguistics Course ©MOUNIR JOUINI Phonology

High position: /i: , u:/ Low position: /æ, @:/

Figure 10: Jaw height

Front : /i:, æ/ Back: /u:, @:/

Figure 11: Tongue position 1

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Linguistics Course ©MOUNIR JOUINI Phonology

Figure 12: Tongue position 2

Monophthongs

i: High front tense


H High front lax unrounded
e Mid front lax (spread)
æ Low front lax

? Mid central lax


unrounded
2: Mid central tense (neutral)
U Low central lax

u: High back tense


T High back lax rounded
N: Mid back tense
P Low back lax
@: Low back tense unrouned

Figure 13: Diagram of English vowels

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Linguistics Course ©MOUNIR JOUINI Phonology

Figure 14: Lip rounding

Figure 15: English diphthongs 1.

Figure 16: English diphthongs 2.

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Linguistics Course ©MOUNIR JOUINI Phonology

Exercises

(14) Below are the tables of French and English vowels. Look at them carefully and
answer the following questions.

a. In English, how do you account for the difference between [i:], [e] and [æ] ?
b. Can you apply the same system to account for the difference between[i], [e], [ε]
and [a] in French? How would you describe the differences between these
sounds, knowing that they are all considered to be front?
c. In English, what is the difference between [i:] and [H] on the one hand and [u:]
and [T] on the other?
Do you have such a difference in French?
d. Where do you find rounded sounds in English?
Where do you find rounded sounds in French?
How do you account for the difference between [i] and [y] in French,
considering that they are both front?
Is rounding a relevant feature in French (cf./ri/ riz and /ry/ rue)?
Is it a relevant feature in English?
e. Now explain why rounding is a relevant feature (i.e. a feature that must be
given) in French and not in English.

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Linguistics Course ©MOUNIR JOUINI Phonology

(15) On the following diagram indicate with an arrow the movement of the tongue
for the diphthongs in the given words. Give a phonetic transcription first.

a. hair, sure, high, owl, own

b. Do the same for the triphthongs in:


player, fire, lower

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Linguistics Course ©MOUNIR JOUINI Phonology

Exercises

(1) Carry out a minimal pair test to show the oppositions the phoneme /f/ can enter into in
English.

(2) Find minimal pairs for the largest number of English consonant phonemes you can, in
initial, medial and final positions in the word.

(3) Given the opposition system of English consonants, how can you describe /r/, /w/ and
/j/ using all and only those features by which they can be opposed to other consonants.
Hint: in order to do this:
a. List all the features
b. Determine those that are redundant.

(4) Give a minimal pair showing that the following features are contrastive in English
(i.e., two sounds differing only in that feature can be two different phonemes).
Which two phonemes are involved in your answer?
(a) ± voice
Phonemes Minimal pair
_________. _________
_________ _________
_________ _________

(b) ± continuant
Phonemes Minimal pair
_________ _________
_________ _________
_________ _________

(c) vowel height


Phonemes Minimal pair
_________ _________
_________ _________
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Linguistics Course ©MOUNIR JOUINI Phonology

_________ _________

(5) The ‘liquid’ consonants, namely /r/ and /l/, devoice (become almost voiceless) in
English after voiceless consonants, giving [plfieH] play, [trfieH] tray.
(a) Of the allophones [r], [rfi], [l] and [lfi], which are in complementary distribution?
(b) Which pairs of allophones would you assign to which phoneme, and how would
you justify this decision?

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Linguistics Course ©MOUNIR JOUINI Phonology

Exercises
(6) Using distinctive features, decide what natural classes are formed by:
a. all vowels c. all consonants
b. all fricatives d. nasal sounds

(7) In each of the following lists, the sounds involved constitute a natural class for
English, except that there is one odd sound. Find the odd one out in each case, and define
the natural class using features.
(a) [l b j w r]
(b) [p g k C d b t]
(c) [k n s t l d z r]

(8) (a) What do the vowels in these words have in common?


these taught use car four doom
(b) What do the vowels in these words have in common?
see leap weird pit fiend miss crypt
(c) What do the vowels in these words have in common?
let see cat big bet seat fat
(d) What do the vowels in these words have in common?
flea rude piece flu stew leave sees

(9) Study the data below:


walked looked wished
landed sounded handed
warned stayed screamed

a. Provide the phonetic transcription of the words above


b. Suggest the formal rules that account for the realization of the past tense ending.

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Linguistics Course ©MOUNIR JOUINI Morphology

Exercises
(1) The phonemic transcription /hi:laHz/ may correspond to the phonetic
transcriptions in (i) or (ii):
i. [hi:laHz] ii. [hi:ǻaHz]

and knowing that they mean


‘heal eyes’ and ‘he lies’

a. Define the contexts in which [l] [ǻ] these examples.

b. How can you explain the presence of [ǻ] in (ii)?


c. Which transcription corresponds to which meaning?

d. What is the phonological process responsible for [ǻ]


e. Give the narrow phonetic transcription of /ketl/ indicating the variety of /l/ used.
f. What generalisation can you give about syllabic consonant [l‘]?

(2) Bearing in mind the above exercise and what you know about English phonetics
and phonology consider the following pairs of sounds:

1. [l] – [ǻ] 2. [l] – [r]

a. Why can’t you ever find [l] opposed to [ǻ]?


b. Is it the same situation in 2?
c. What is the difference between the first and the second pair?

d. What type of features are involved in [l]-[ǻ], respectively [l]-[r]?

(3) Write rules for the following processes:


(a) Front rounded vowels become unrounded before velars
(b) Vowels devoice before voiceless consonants

(4) Provide the phonemic then the phonetic transcriptions of the following sentence:
I sent her two flowers

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Linguistics Course ©MOUNIR JOUINI Morphology

Exercises

(1) Sequences of consonants, such as those at the beginning of train, stray, fly, are
known as consonant clusters. In two-consonant clusters which have [s] as the first
consonant:
a. what can the second consonant be?
b. Can these consonants be grouped into a natural class or several natural
classes?

(2) In three-consonant clusters which have [s] as the first consonant:


a. What can the second and third consonants be?
b. Can these consonants be grouped into a natural class or several natural
classes?

(3) Give:
a. a syllable beginning with a cluster labio-dental fricative + lateral
b. a syllable beginning with a cluster labio-dental fricative + palatal
c. a syllable beginning with a cluster fricative + alveolar nasal
d. a syllable beginning with a cluster s + stop+ velar
e. a syllable ending with a cluster lateral + stop + alveolar
f. a syllable ending with a cluster voiced stop + alveolar fricative

You may have had to eliminate some of the syllables of the exercise which are not
possible in English. If you did, explain on what basis you did so.

(4) In English, the phonological transcription of the words bomb, iamb, crumb are:
/bPm/ /aH?m/ /krUm/

a. What syllable formation rule prevents having:


*/bPmb/ */aH?mb/ */krUmb/
b. What is the phonological process responsible for the correct pronunciations but
not the wrong ones?

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Linguistics Course ©MOUNIR JOUINI Morphology

c. And yet, words like [bPmb?dH?], [aH?mbHk] and [krUmbl‘] are perfectly possible.
Explain the re-apparition of /b/ in these words using
- your syllable formation rule in a.
- and syllabication

(5) Mark the syllable boundaries in the following words. In each case, what led to your
decision in placing the boundary there?
danger, unsta.ble, anxious, discipline, narrow, beyond,

(6) In some English dialects the sequence /Ȝl/ is optionally realized as syllabic [l‘] in
certain environments. Here are relevant data (where (΄) indicates primary stress).

dull [΄dȜl] or [΄dl‘] Culver [΄kȜlvɚ] or [kl‘vɚ]

null [΄nȜl‘] or [΄nl‘] Mulholland [mȜl΄hɑlənd] or [ml‘΄hɑlənd]

hull [΄hȜl] or [΄hl‘] bulky [΄bȜlki] or [΄bl‘ki]

color [΄kȜlɚ] only

Cullen [΄kȜlən] only

Tuller [΄tȜlɚ] only

a. Syllabify all the underlying forms above.

b. State a rule for /Ȝl/ → [l‘].

(7) Draw a tree diagram that represents the word ‘extreme’.

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Linguistics Course ©MOUNIR JOUINI Morphology

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Linguistics Course ©MOUNIR JOUINI Morphology

Exercises

(1) How many different lexemes are there in the following list?
man
men
look
men’s
looked

______________________________________________________________

(2) Can you find homonyms that are identical except in pronunciation?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

(3) Give an example (that has not been used in class) to illustrate what we mean by
‘homonyms’, ‘homophones’ and ‘homographs.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

(4) Identify the component morpheme(s) of each word. How many morphemes does
each word contain?
a) student j) isinfectant
b) stupidity k) unfairly
c) unfair l) husbands
d) excellent m) island
e) sleeping n) classroom
f)unemployed o) paper
g) deforms p) inversion
h) unreliable q) magazine
i) trial r) ugly

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Linguistics Course ©MOUNIR JOUINI Morphology

(5) Identify the underlined words in terms of morphemes and morphs.


I was working in the garden when you phoned me.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

(6) Carry out an morphological and a morphemic analyses of the words in exercise 1
in addition top the words below:
hoped
women’s
sayings
these
least

______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

(7) Study the data below:


walked [wPkt] looked [lTkt] wished [wHRt]
landed [lzndHd] sounded [saTndHd] wanted [wPntHd]
warned [wN:nd] stayed [steHd] screamed [skri:md]

Suggest a morphophonemic rule that accounts for the distribution of the three
allomorphs of the past tense morpheme.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
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Linguistics Course ©MOUNIR JOUINI Morphology

______________________________________________________________

The classification of morphemes:

morpheme

CONTENT FUNCTION

content derivational function inflectional


word affix word affix
/go/ /ness/ /the/ /s/

Figure 1: Morpheme division based on meaning

MORPHEME

FREE BOUND

content function affix bound root enclitic


word word -ject (reject)
(open) (closed) (inject)
book of (object)
prefix suffix auxiliary negative
’re,’d don’t

deri. der. infl.


re- -ness -s

Figure 2: Morpheme division based on form

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Linguistics Course ©MOUNIR JOUINI Morphology

Distinguishing derivation from inflection:

Derivational Morphemes Inflectional Morphemes

Often change the meaning Never changes the syntactic category

Meaning and syntactic category. or the meaning: walk (v) and walks
(v)

Irregular: different roots Regular: the third person singular

Regularity take different affixes. present tense –s goes with all verbs
without exceptions.

DMs always precede IMs. IMs always follow DMs. IMs are all

Position suffixes.

Table 1: Derivational vs. inflectional morphemes

The plural morpheme books -s


Nouns
The genitive John’s -s

Pres. tense. 3rd p. sing. works -s


Past tense worked -ed
Verbs
Past participle worked -ed
Present participle working -ing

The comparative degree e.g. smaller -er


Adjectives
The superlative degree e.g. smallest -est

Figure 3: The English inflectional morphemes

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Linguistics Course ©MOUNIR JOUINI Morphology

Exercises

(1) For the following words, identify all roots.


1-dragged 6-unassuming
2-deactivated 7-redness
3-impossible 8-racketeers
4-thumbtack 9-cloudiness
5-hopefully 10-exceptionally

______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

(2) Isolate the affixes in each of these words and state whether each is prefix or
suffix.
1-depose 5-action
2-readily 6-repackage
3-active 7-unchanged
4-behead 8-forcefully
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

(3) Analyze the following words into IMs, DMs roots, stems and bases.
Faiths
Faithfully
Unfaithful
Faithfulness
strongest
hardships
window-cleaners

(4) Now represent the words above in the tree diagram fashion

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Linguistics Course ©MOUNIR JOUINI Morphology

CLASS CHANGING PREFIXES CLASS MAINTAINING PREFIXES


Prefix Derivation Example Prefix Added to Example
a– N>A asleep mini– N minibus
extra– A extraordinary
be– A>V becalm de– V decompress
N>V befriend
behead re– V, N recycle, re-election
mis– V, N mislead, misfortune

en– N>V endanger in– N, A incapacity, intolerable


enlarge mid– N, A mid-career, mid-Atlantic
ex– N, A ex-president, ex-orbital
un– N, A unbeliever, unfair

dis– N, V, A disapproval, disallow,


disconnected
co– N, V, A co-author, co-articulate,
co-equal

Table 2: Class changing vs. class maintaining prefixes

Prefix Class(es) to which it is Nature of change in Examples


added meaning
'non-' Noun, adjective Negation/opposite Noun: nonarrival
Adj.:
nonassessable
‘multi- Adjectives Number Multilingual
’ multimillionaire
'un-' Verb Reverses action tie/untie,
Adjective opposite quality fasten/unfasten
clear/unclear,
‘mini-’ Noun Size minivan
miniskirt
're-' Verb Repeat action tie/retie,
write/rewrite

Table 3: Semantic classes of prefixes in English


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Linguistics Course ©MOUNIR JOUINI Morphology

Suffixes forming nouns Suffixes forming adjectives


Base Suffix Example Base Suffix Example
N –hood neighborhood N –al educational
–ette kitchenette –less hopeless
–ism absenteeism –ful hopeful
–ship friendship –en wooden
–ly friendly
V –ation information
–ee interviewee V –able believable
–er worker –ive generative
–ment management –ful resentful
–al arrival –ent absorbent

A –ness happiness A –ish greenish


–ist socialist –some lonesome
–th warmth
–hood falsehood
Table 4: Suffixes forming nouns and adjectives
Compound Compound Compound adjectives
nouns verbs

Category Example Category Example Category Example

N+N brain death N+V headhunt N+A fight-worthy


skinhead V+V dare say V+A fail-safe
V+N breakfast A+V fine-tune N+N glass house
N+V sunshine Particle+V over-mark V+N turn key
V+V make-believe N+N breath test (ready for
A+V fast food use)
Adv+N now-generation A+N grey area
Particle+N afterheat V+V pass-fail
V+Particle drawback

Table 5: Examples of compounds classified syntactically

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Linguistics Course ©MOUNIR JOUINI Morphology

Exercises

(1) Consider the data below:


a. taller, shorter, greener, higher, lower, sweeter, smarter
b. mower, teacher, sailor, farmer, caller, operator
c. never, cover, finger, either, river, candor, other, valor
Argue for or against the following statement:
The item spelled 'er'/'or' is the same item in all of the words, in all three lists.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

(2) Do the same, using the following data:


a. soften, harden, sweeten, whiten, strengthen, lengthen, widen, deepen, redden
b. given, taken, eaten, broken
c. oven, open, coven, leaven, ramen, even, often, sudden
Statement: The item spelled 'en' is the same item in all of the words, in all three lists.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

(3) Consider these data from English:


A B C
(to) read readable (to) die
(to) wash washable (to) go
(to) break breakable (to) cry
(to) drink drinkable (to) sleep
(to) pay payable (to) rest
(to) move movable (to) weep

a. What syntactic category (part of speech) does the suffix -able attach to?

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Linguistics Course ©MOUNIR JOUINI Morphology

______________________________________________________________

b. Can the suffix -able be attached to the words in column C (e.g. is ‘sleepable’ a
word in English, or is it unacceptable –*sleepable)?
______________________________________________________________
c. What is the difference between the words in columns A and in C?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
d. When the suffix -able is attached to the words in column A, to what part of
speech (syntactic category) does the new word belong?
______________________________________________________________
e. What is the meaning of the suffix -able?
______________________________________________________________
f. Why is the word ‘hospitable’ problematic, given the generalizations in 1 – 5?
______________________________________________________________
g. What do you think of the word ‘growable’? Is it possible? What can you use it
for?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

(4) How were the verbs in the examples below formed?


a. they colour-changed the garment;
_____________________________
b. they whitewashed the wall
_____________________________
c. I deadlocked the door
_____________________________

(5) Name the morphological processes used in forming the words in italics below. In
some cases more than one process was used. Note that some of the words are
occasionalisms (words used rarely, not part of the standard vocabulary).

a. twiggle (<twist and wiggle; produced as a speech error) _______________

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Linguistics Course ©MOUNIR JOUINI Morphology

b. ASIO [eHzH?T] (=Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation) ___________


c. they tidied the room _______________
d. mike (<microphone) _______________
e. FacMac (‘MacIntosh computer at Sydney University Faculty of Arts’) ________
f. crash a party (‘come uninvited’ <gatecrash < gatecrasher ‘uninvited guest’)
__________________
g. it out-herods Herod (=is more like H. than H. himself; Shakespeare, Hamlet)
_______________
h. laser (<Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) ____________
i. d-jane (‘female dj’; < disc jockey, Jane) _______________

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Linguistics Course ©MOUNIR JOUINI Morphology

Exercises

(1) In each of the following groups of word forms, identify those that are (or can be,
according to context) forms of the same lexeme:
(a) woman, woman’s, women, womanly, girl
___________________________________
(b) greenish, greener, green, greens
___________________________________
(c) written, wrote, writer, rewrites, writing.
___________________________________

(2) What word form represents each of the following grammatical words?
(a) the plural of the noun GOOSE __________
(b) the plural of the noun ROOF __________
(c) the plural of the noun DEER __________
(d) the past tense of the verb PLAY __________
(e) the past tense of the verb LAY __________
(f) the past tense of the verb LIE ‘rest horizontally’ __________
(g) the past tense of the verb LIE ‘tell untruths’ __________
(h) the third person singular past of the verb BE __________
(i) the perfect participle of the verb DIVE __________
(j) the perfect participle of the verb STRIVE __________
(k) the perfect participle of the verb GLIDE __________
(l) the perfect participle of the verb RIDE __________
(m) the accusative of the pronoun YOU __________
(n) the accusative of the pronoun WE __________

(3) Are any of the forms above suppletive?


____________________________________

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Linguistics Course ©MOUNIR JOUINI Morphology

Exercises

(1) For each of the verbs below give the past-tense form. State whether the morphological
process involved is affixation, partial suppletion, suppletion or ablaut. Pay attention to
how the past-tense form is pronounced rather than to how it's spelled!
a. care _______________________ g. love _______________________
b. be _______________________ h. go _______________________
c. skip _______________________ i. lose _______________________
d. sink _______________________ j. read _______________________
e. bring _______________________ k. think _______________________
f. drive _______________________ l. take _______________________

(2) In our discussion of the phonological constraint on morphological processes, we


argued that the distribution of the morpheme –er is phonologically conditioned; it is
bound by the number of syllable and the final sound of disyllabic words. Do the following
words stand as exception to this observation? Why/why not?
a. lecturer
b. composer
c. programmer
d. provider
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
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