Morphology: The Structure of Words

MORPHOLOGY : THE
STRUCTURE OF WORDS
MORPHOLOGY
• Morphology deals with the syntax of
complex words and parts of words, also
called morphemes, as well as with the
semantics of their lexical meanings.
Understanding how words are formed and
what semantic properties they convey
through their forms enables human beings
to easily recognize individual words and
their meanings in discourse.
Free and Bound Morpheme
• Analysis at a morphological level is

concerned with structural elements of
meaning called morphemes. Morphemes
are classified into two types:
• Free Morphemes: girl, boy, mother, etc.
These are words with a complete
meaning, so they can stand alone as an
independent word in a sentence.
Bound Morphemes: These are lexical
items incorporated into a word as a
dependent part. They cannot stand alone,
but must be connected to free morpheme.
Bound morphemes operates in the
connection processes by means of
derivation and inflection
DERIVATIONAL MORPHOLOGY
• Derivation is concerned with the way

morphemes are connected to existing lexical
forms as affixes.
• We distinguish affixes in two principal types:
• 1. Prefixes - attached at the beginning of a
lexical item or base-morpheme – ex: un-, pre-,
post-, dis, im-, etc.
• 2. Suffixes – attached at the end of a lexical
item ex: -age, -ing, -ful, -able, -ness, -hood, -ly,
etc.
1 Affixation = adding an established
prefix or a suffix to the existing base
A) Suffixation
- is characteristic of noun and adjective
formation
- a suffix usually changes not only the lexical
meaning of a word but also its grammatical
meaning or its word class, e.g. to bake –
baker, beauty - beautiful
• Noun-forming suffixes:
-or: actor, visitor, director
-er/eer: speaker, engineer, opener
-ist: scientist, satirist, journalist
-ess: hostess, stewardess, actress
-ty/ity: cruelty, purity, stupidity
-ure/ture: failure, exposure, mixture
-dom: freedom, kingdom,
-age: passage, marriage, postage
-ance/ence: appearance, preference
-hood: likelihood, brotherhood, neighbourhood
-ing: reading, opening, beginning
-ion/sion/tion/ition/ation: operation, permission, description
-ness: kindness, goodness, wilingness
-y/ery: difficulty, enquiry, robbery, slavery
-ship: partnership, membership, kinship
-ment: government, development, movement
-t: complaint, restraint
• Adjective-forming suffixes:
-able/ible: comfortable, fashionable, sensible
-ic/atic: atomic, heroic, systematic
-ful: beautiful, helpful, careful
-y: bloody, dirty, sunny
-less: useless, homeless, careless
-al/ial/tial: personal, influential, preferential
-ive/ative/itive: active, creative, sensitive
-ant/ent: pleasant, different, excellent
-en: wooden, golden, woollen
-like: childlike, ladylike
-ing: amusing, interesting, charming
-ous: dangerous, famous, mysterious
-ish: bookish, childish, foolish
-ly: friendly, lovely, manly
• Verb-forming suffixes:
-ize/ise: civilize, modernize
-ify/fy/efy: simplify, glorify
-en, deepen, sharpen, lengthen
• Adverb-forming suffixes:
-ly: formally, calmly, easily
-ward/wards: homeward, afterwards, backwards
-wise/ways: clockwise, otherwise, sideways
-fold: twofold, threefold
B) Prefixation
- a prefix usually changes or concretizes the
lexical meaning of a word and only rarely
parts of speech, e. g. write – rewrite,
smoker – non-smoker
- Prefixes are sometimes used to form new
verb: circle – encircle, large – enlarge etc.
• Negation or opposition:
un-: unable, unfair, unpack, unzip
dis-: disagreeable, dislike
a-: amoral, atypical
in-: informal, inexperience
im-: (before b, m, p) impossible, immoral
il-: (before l) illegal, illogical
ir-: (before r) irregular, irrational
non-: nonsmoker, non-scientific
de-: decode, defrost, devalue
• Repetition, making it possible:

re-: reread, rebuild, reunited
en-/em-: enrich, enlarge, embitter
• Degree, measure or size:
super-: supersonic, superhuman
semi-: semi-final, semidetached
hyper-: hyperactive, hypersensitive
ultra-: ultrahigh, ultraviolet
over-: overtime, overpopulated
• Time and place, order, relation:

post-: post-war, postpone, postgraduate
inter-: international, intercontinental
pre-: pre-war, prehistoric, prearrange
ex-: ex-president, ex-husband, ex-film-star
EXAMPLES OF MORPHOLOGICAL
DERIVATION
• a. Lexical item (free morpheme): like (verb) + prefix

(bound morpheme) dis- = dislike (verb)
• b. Lexical item: like (verb) + suffix –able = likeable +

prefix un- =unlikeable + suffix –ness = unlikeableness
• 3. Lexical item: like + prefix un- = unlike + suffix
–ness = unlikeness
• 4. Lexical item: like + suffix –ly = likely (agg) +
suffix –hood =likelihood + prefix un-
=unlikelihood
Derivational affixes can cause semantic change:
Prefix pre- means before; post- means after; un- means

not, re- means again.
Prefix = fixed before; Unhappy = not happy = sad; Retell =
tell again.
Prefix de- added to a verb conveys a sense of subtraction;

dis- and un- have a sense of negativity.
To decompose; to defame; to uncover; to discover.
INFLECTIONAL MORPHOLOGY
• Inflection is a morphological process that
adapts existing words so that they function
effectively in sentences without changing
the category of the base morpheme.
English has the following inflectional
suffixes:
VERB INFLECTIONAL SUFFIXES
• 1. The suffix –s functions in the Present Simple as the
third person marking of the verb : to work – he work-s
• 2. The suffix –ed functions in the past simple as the past
tense marker in regular verbs: to love – lov-ed
• 3. The suffixes –ed (regular verbs) and –en (for some
regular verbs) function in the marking of the past
partciple and, in general, in the marking of the perfect
aspect:
To study studied studied / To eat ate eaten
• 4. The suffix –ing functions in the marking of the present
participle, the gerund and in the marking of the
continuous aspect: To eat – eating / To study - studying
NOUN INFLECTIONAL SUFFIXES
• 5. The suffix –s functions in the marking of
the plural of nouns: dog – dogs
• 6. The suffix –s functions as a possessive
marker (saxon genitive): Laura – Laura’s
book.
ADJECTIVE INFLECTIONAL
SUFFIXES
7. The suffix –er functions as comparative
marker: quick – quicker
8. The suffix –est functions as superlative
marker: quick - quickest
Derivational affixes can mark
category change
• The derivational suffix –able derives an
adjective from a verb, implying an ability with a
passive relation with its stem:
Eatable means able to be eaten
(commestibile), not able to eat.
• Suffix –er derives a noun from a verb, indicating
a human agent or an inanimate instrument:
Speaker; Baker;
• The suffixes –ful and –less derives an
adjective from a noun.
• -ful indicates addiction, abundance;
• -less indicates subtraction, reduction:
careful = full of care
careless = with no care
• The suffixes –ure and –age derive e noun
from a verb:
To fail – failure; To marry – marriage
The suffix –hood derives an abstract noun
from a concrete noun, the suffix –ness
derives an abstract noun from an
adjective.
Child – childhood
Good – goodness
• The suffix –ly derives an adverb from an
adjective (but also adjs can end in –ly):
Quick – quickly
Easy – easily
but: lonely (adjective)
• The suffix –ing derives a noun from a
verb:
To write – writing.
Compounding is one of the principal,
most productive, and the oldest way of
creating words in English
• Nouns – motorway, breakfast, skinhead
• Adjectives – snow-white, hard-working
• Verbs – daydream, broadcast
• Adverbs – downstairs, sometimes, today
• Pronouns – somebody, anyone, myself
• Prepositions – into, without, within
• Conjunctions – whenever, however

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MORPHOLOGY : THE

• Analysis at a morphological level is

• Derivation is concerned with the way

• Repetition, making it possible:

• Time and place, order, relation:

• a. Lexical item (free morpheme): like (verb) + prefix

• b. Lexical item: like (verb) + suffix –able = likeable +

Prefix pre- means before; post- means after; un- means

Prefix de- added to a verb conveys a sense of subtraction;

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