LESSON 3: MORPHOLOGY

What is morphology?
● the study of word formation

Some observations about words and their structure:

● Some words can be divided into parts which still have meaning.
● Many words have meaning by themselves but some words have meaning only when
used with other words.
● Some of the parts into which words can be divided can stand alone as words but others
cannot.
● Languages create new words systematically.

MORPHEMES - smallest linguistic units that can have meaning or grammatical function
- basic units of meaning in a particular language.

boldest = bold + est

trustworthy = trust + worth + y
self-denial = self + deny + al
buyers = buy + er + s

TYPES:

 Lexical - words that have meaning by themselves

Examples: boy, food, door, water, pocket

 Grammatical - words that function to specify the relationship between one lexical
morpheme and another
 Prepositions, articles, conjunctions ({of}, {the}, {but})
Examples: at, in, on, -ed, -s

 Free - morphemes that can stand alone as words

 may be lexical morphemes ({serve}, {press}), or grammatical morphemes ({at},
{and}).

 Bound - morphemes that occur only in combination

 may be lexical morphemes (such as {clude} as in include, exclude, preclude) or
they may be grammatical (such as {PLU} = plural as in boys, girls, and cats).

We can make a further distinction within the set of morphemes that are both bound and
grammatical. Bound grammatical morphemes (those that don’t have a sense by themselves
and, additionally, always occur in combinations) are commonly known as affixes. Bound
grammatical morphemes can be further divided into two types:

• Inflectional morphemes - form a key part of grammar

Examples: e.g., -s, -est, -ing
• Derivational morphemes - play a role in word-formation
Examples: -ful, -like, -ly, un-, dis-

There are an indefinite number of derivational morphemes. For example, the following are some
derivational suffixes:

{ize} attaches to a noun and turns it into a verb: rubberize

{ize} also attaches to an adjective and turns it into a verb: normalize
{ful} attaches to a noun and turns it into an adjective: playful, helpful
{ly} attaches to an adjective and turns it into an adverb: grandly, proudly
A different {ly} attaches to a noun and changes it into an adjective: manly, friendly

English also has derivational prefixes, such as: {un}, {dis}, {a}, {anti}, all of which indicate
some kind of negation: unhappy, dislike, atypical, anti-aircraft.

LESSON 4: WORD FORMATION

Core Processes of Word Formation:

Inflection
- produces grammatical variants of the same word
- modifies a word to express different grammatical categories such as tense, mood, voice,
aspect, person, number, gender and case
- does not change the meaning of a word

Derivation
- produces a new word on the basis of an existing word
- changes the word class (also called parts of speech; form class; lexical class; syntactic
category)
- modifies the meaning of the root

WORD FORMATION PROCESSES

1. Affixation
 an affix is attached to a root (also called stem; base) to form a new word
 prefixation and suffixation

Examples:
dis + infect + ion = disinfection
re + take = retake
mercy + less = merciless
practice + ion + er = practitioner
un + bound = unbound
2. Conversion (zero derivation or null derivation; functional shift)
 change of function or parts of speech of a word without adding an affix
Examples:
Noun to Verb:

• How do you access the official website?

• Your subject teachers email you about the new policies.

• Name someone who is good in English.

Examples:
Verb to Noun:

• Make sure to give your parents a visit in the hospital.

• Where will this attack lead the people?

• The increase in sales does not guarantee our permanent positions,

Examples:
Adjective to Verb:

• Brown the chicken in a pan with butter.

• Black your boots with polish.

• The vehicles slow and come to a stop.

Examples:
Adjective to Noun:

• That nasty humiliated us.

• The rich are always judged.

3. Back-formation
 new word is created by extracting affixes from another word
Examples:
terrorize - ize = terror
affirmation - ion = affirm
antibias - anti = bias
strongly - ly = strong
unable - un = able

4. Clipping
 words are reduced to a shorter form

o Back clipping: (also called final clipping; apocope) - the truncation of end of
a word as in ad from advertisement; exam = examination

o Fore-clipping: (also called initial clipping; apheresis) - the removal of the

beginning of a word as in phone from telephone; coon = raccoon
o Middle clipping: (also medial clipping; syncope) it is the extraction of the
beginning and end of a word as in flu from influenza; fridge = refrigerator

o Complex clipping: removing multiple parts from multiple words as in

cablegram from cabletelegram; op art = optical art

5. Compounding (composition)
 two or more than two words are combined together to create a single word,
having a single idea and function

o Closed compound words

Examples:
waist + coat = waistcoat
book + store = bookstore
o Open compound words
Examples:
real + estate = real estate
living + room = living room
coffee + mug = coffee mug

o Hyphenated compound words

Examples:
part + time = part-time
one + on + one = one-on-one
do + or + die = do-or-die

6. Borrowing
 words are adopted from other languages

 Loan-word: By this process, a word is borrowed from another language without

translating it into the target language. For example: the phrase tour de force is
borrowed directly from French, which means a masterly or brilliant feat; coup
d'état

 Loan-translation: Also known as calque, a morphological process wherein a word

or phrase from another language is borrowed by literally translating it into the
target language. For example: the phrase point of view has been translated into
English from the French phrase point de vue; kayak = qayaq (Eskimo language)

7. Coinage (invention)
 new words are invented
 mostly popular trademark names of various products that are adopted by
people so extensively that they ultimately become the everyday words of
language
 some words are being invented due to rapid cultural changes and the spread of
information technology, mass media, internet, etc.
o Heroin
o Aspirin
o Escalator
o Xerox
o Kerosene
o Nylon
o Band-Aid
o Vaseline
o Margarine
o Videotape
o Google
o Blog
o Hotspot
o Netbook
o Tablet
o Tweet
o Emoticon
o Smartphone

8. Blending (portmanteau)
 parts of two or more words are combined together to form a new word
Examples:
o Motor + hotel = motel
o Glamour + camping = glamping
o News + broadcast = newscast
o Information + commercial = infomercial
o Smoke + fog = smog
o Spoon + fork = spork
o Friend + enemy = frenemy
o Situation + comedy = sitcom

9. Acronyms
 are formed with the initial letters or each of the major parts of a word or a longer
phrase
Acronyms:
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization → UNESCO
Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation → Laser
International Criminal Police Organization → Interpol
Initialisms:
Personal Computer → PC
Asian Development Bank → ADB
Liquid Crystal Display → LCD

10. Reduplication (cloning; doubling; duplication; repetition; tautonym)

 a new word is created by repeating all or part of a root or a stem, often with a
change of vowel or initial consonant

o Repetition without Change: fifty-fifty, poo-poo, no-no

o Rhyming Reduplication: hokeypokey, hocus-pocus, easy-peasy
o Repetition with Change of Vowel: hip-hop, knickknack, pitter-patter
o Repetition with Change of Initial Consonant: teeny-weeny
LESSON 5: PHONETICS AND PHONOLOGY

Phonetics
- general study of all human speech sounds and how they are produced, transmitted and
received
- Deals with the production, transmission and reception of all human speech sounds in
general with no particular reference to any one language
- production of speech sounds by the human vocal apparatus
- perception of speech sounds
- transmission and physical properties of speech sounds

Articulatory phonetics
- how sounds are produced
- production of speech sounds by the human vocal tract

Acoustic Phonetics
- how sounds are transmitted
- physical properties of speech sounds

Auditory Phonetics
- how sounds are received
- perception of speech sounds by the human perceptual system

Phonology
- how speech sounds are organized and affect one another in pronunciation
- Looks at the vowels, consonants, and suprasegmental features of the language (stress,
intonation)
- deals with the ways those sounds are organized in a particular language
- Subcategory of phonetics

Phoneme
- A unit of sound in speech
- Does not have any inherent meaning by itself but when put together, can make words
PRESCRIPTIVE AND DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR

Prescriptive grammar
 traditional approach of grammar that tells people how to use the English
language, what forms they should utilize, and what functions they should serve

 essential as it helps people use formal English speech and writing

 common standard of usage

Examples:

o Do not split infinitives (e.g., “to boldly go;“) instead, write or say (“to go boldly.”)
o Never end a sentence with a preposition.
o The words "I" and "me" refer to the same person, but "I" is used when this person is
the subject of the sentence, and "me" is used when the person is the object of the
sentence (following a preposition).

Descriptive grammar
 no concrete idea of the way it should be structured

 how native English speakers actually talk and write

Examples:

o “I am younger than him” instead of “I am younger than he.”

o “He graduated American university” instead of “He graduated from American

university."

o “I ain't going nowhere.” instead of “I am not going anywhere.”

LESSON 6: Syntactic categories

LEXICAL CATEGORIES

1. Nouns
-generally indicate persons, places, things, animals, ideas, events

Syntactically and morphologically, how do we know if a word is a noun?

Syntax
• Nouns are often preceded by the, this, that, a.
Example: This answer needs to be applauded.
• If a noun is followed by another noun, a preposition
must come between them.
Example: The result of the examination will be released next week.

Morphology
• Most nouns can add a plural –s.
Example: Make sure to submit all the answer sheets.

• Suffixes like –er and –ism appear on nouns.

Example: The teacher who welcomes the students is loved by many.
2. Verbs
-action words in a sentence that describe what the subject is doing (sometimes state)

Syntactically and morphologically, how do we know if a word is a verb?

Syntax
• Verbs can be introduced by have, will, shall, had.
Example: We shall choose the most deserving candidate.
• Verbs can be followed by a noun.
Example: My grandparents harvested vegetables from their farm.

Morphology
• Suffixes like –ed on verbs express tense.
Example: The scientists created an amazing device that will make us comfortable.
• Some verbs change their vowels to express tense.
Example: Some people gave us promises that are meant to be broken.
• Many verbs add an –s in the third person singular.
Example: He criticizes the citizens for being neglectful of their obligations.

3. Adjectives
-a word or phrase naming an attribute, added to or grammatically related to a noun or
pronoun to modify or describe it
Syntactically and morphologically, how do we know if a word is an adjective?

Syntax
• modify noun or pronoun
Example: I cannot forgive those people who committed heinous crimes.
• don’t usually end in –ly
Example: The participant gave as an unexpected answer.
She came home unexpectedly. (Unexpectedly is not an adjective.)

Morphology
• describe qualities typical of nouns, such as nationality, color, size, etc.
Example: Filipino citizens should not violate the laws.
A red rose symbolizes love at first sight.
• take derivational affixes like -ish, -ful
Example: He opened the gifts with childish delight.

4. Adverbs
-modify verb, adjective or another adverb
Syntactically and morphologically, how do we know if a word is an adverb?

Syntax
• modify verb, adjective, or adverb
Example: The family looks practically at the problem.
• end in –ly in many cases (fast and now are exceptions)
Examples: Alex tactfully refrained from further comment.
The men silently devoured their food and then helped her clean up the camp.
Morphology
• describe qualities of verbs: place, manner, time, duration, etc., and degree of
adjectives and adverbs
Examples: I've come here to help you.
A stranger asked for the direction a while ago.
The organizers were briefly occupied.
The host seems very accommodating.

5. Prepositions
-words or group of words used before a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase to show
direction, time, place, location, spatial relationships, or to introduce an object
Syntactically and morphologically, how do we know if a word is a preposition?

Syntax
• placed before a noun or a noun phrase
Example: The performers were waiting behind the curtain.
• often express relations of time or space
• have invariable form

Example: There is a lot of frosting on the cake.

The meeting will be on November 4, 2021.

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORIES

1. Determiners
-like adjectives, determiners precede nouns.

The category of determiner includes:

Quantifiers (some, many, all, any)
Articles (the, a, an)
Demonstratives (this, these, those, that)
Possessives (his, her, my, their, our)
Interrogatives (which, what)
Numerals (three, four)

2. Auxiliaries
-Have, are, is, be, must, might, can, will, shall, do, etc can be auxiliaries.
-They occur before not.
-They are used in tags.

3. Coordinators
- join two elements of the same kind
- conjunctions and conjunctive adverbs

Example: Joan and I had a drink but we didn’t have a meal together.
EXAMPLES OF COORDINATORS

4. Complementizers
-join two clauses where one clause is subordinate to the other.
-subordinating conjuctions

Example:
He was annoyed because the train had stopped.