Morphology
What is morphology ?
The study of the internal structure of words is the science of morphology. The word morphology consists of two word-elements : morph-,which means "form " and " –logy", " the science of the study of". Originally,morphology was used only in biological sciences. However, in linguistic context ,it refers to that branch of language studies which deals with what morphemes are and how they operate in the structure of a word. On the basis of morphological knowledge one can generalize the rules that apply on one word to the rest of the words. For example one can derive different forms of a huge number of words on the analogy of the derivation of one word such as Cat-cats-cattish -catbird: All of these words are clearly connected withcat, but on the other hand they are also all words in their own right. Similarly, one can apply the same approach in deriving these forms:awug,say ‘a large, hairy bovine mammal known for being aggressive and braying’. We do not need to learn independently that two of these arewugs,or thatwuggishbehaviour is likely to involve attacking one’s fellows, or that awugbird(if there were such a thing) might be a bird with a braying callAll of these things follow from the knowledge we have not just of the specific words of our language, but of their relations to one another, in form and meaning. This knowledge of the morphology of our language generalized on the basis of the first first word.
What is a morpheme?
Before embarkation on the examination of the structure of words, it is necessary to be acquainted with an entity known as a morpheme. It is the minimal grammatical unit of a language It is a short segment of language that meets three criteria:
1-It is a word or part of a word that has meaning.
2-It cannot be divided into smaller meaningful parts without violation of its meaning or meaningless remainders.
3-It recurs in differing verbal environments with relatively stable meaning.
In the light of this criteria " straight "/streit/, is a word . It cannot be subdivided without violation of meaning. For example, it can be divided into smaller meaningful units like trait /treit/,rate /reit/, and ate /eit/, but the meaning of these violate the meaning of straight. It recurs with relatively stable meaning in environments as straightedge ,straighten and straight line. Thus, straight meets all the criteria of a morpheme.
A second example, the morpheme " bright" (light) compared with "brighten" ( to make light).The only difference in form between the two is" –en " and meaning it added the sense of make in brighten. Thus, it can be seen that " –ed " is a part of a word that has meaning. It is also well known that it cannot be divided into smaller meaningful units and that it recurs with stable meaning in words such as cheapen ,darken, deepen, soften and stiffen. It is therefore, obvious that /-en /must be considered a morpheme.
In English the word stopped, for example, is composed of two morphemes : stop + past. Similarly, the word men consists of two morphemes, man + plural ,and worse consists of the two morphemes ,bad + comparative. Conventionally , the reference to a morpheme is to use one of its morphs or shapes between braces .So, it can be said that the word stopped consists of {stop} and {-ed}.Similarly, we can say that men consists of {man} and {-s} and worse consists of {bad} and {-er}.
It equal to "Atom" in the composition of the universe.
What is a morph?
Morphs are, grammatically speaking, the smallest segments of an utterance. For example, the following utterance " he hated such films ", can be segmented as follows: He + hate + ed + such + film + s
It is observed that no further division of these utterances into grammatically units is possible. If we divide these segments further ,we will only have vowels and consonants which have no grammatical significance.
Exercise 1
After each word write a number showing how many morphemes it contains.
1-play ------11-keeper------
2-replay------12-able------
3-date------13-unable……………….
4-antedate------14-maniskirt------
5-hygiene------15-rainy------
6-weak------16-rainy------
7-Weaken------17-cheap------
8-man------18-cheaply ------
9-manly------19-cheapewr------
10-keep------20-cover------
Exercise 2
Write the meaning of the underlined morpheme.
1-antedate------
2-replay------
3-manly------
4-keepre------
5-unable------
6-rainy------
7-cheapest------
8-Inactive------
9-impossible ------
10-malfunction------(N)
What is the difference between a morph and morpheme?
The difference between morphs and morphemes can be demarcated as follows:
(i)A morpheme is the minimal grammatical unit of language whereas a morph is its orthographical or phonological shape. In walked the initial morph is "walk "and the final morph is "ed".In " moved " the initial morph is "move" and the final morph is –d". Thus, the final morph of walked is not the same as the final morph of moved. The final morpheme of these two words is, however, the same. In other words, the past tense morpheme has taken two orthographical shapes in these two words.
Just as a morpheme can be differentiated from its orthographic shape, it can also be differentiated from its phonological shape. In the verb "missed"/mist/, For example, the initial morph is /mis/ and the final morph is /t/.Similarly, in the verb moved /mu:vd/ the initial morph is /mu:v/and the final morph is /d/.The final morpheme of these two words is ,however, the same.In the verb parked /ba:kt/ the initial morph is /pa:k/ and the final morph is /t/.In the verb parted /pa:tid/ the initial verb is /pa:t/and the final morph is /id/.The final morpheme of these two words is the same .thus, we can say that a morpheme is an abstract element of grammatical analysis, whereas a morphis the phonological or the orthographic realization of that abstract grammatical concept.
(ii)A Morph is an identifiable segment in the linear sequence of morphological segments in an utterance. A morpheme ,on the other hand, is not really an identifiable segment but a factorial component. In nouns like men ,mice, geese, and women, the plural morpheme has been so fused with the root morpheme that it can only be understood as a factorial component. These nouns are composed of only one morph each, though there are two morphemes in each of them. The same thing applies to adjectives like better, best, worse and worst and irregular verbs like stood, ran, took, came, rang and sang.
Types
In linguistics, we would further classify morphemes as either asphonemes(the smallest units of grammar recognizable by sound) orgraphemes(the smallest units of written language). For our purposes, we will focus on graphemes.
Let's examine the wordnonperishable, analyze it, and then discuss terms associated with it.
Nonperishableis comprised of 3 morphemes -non-,perish,and-able.It actually has five syllables, though, which is a good example of why morphemes and syllables are not synonymous.
Non-is an example of aprefix, or a morpheme that precedes abase morpheme.Perishis an example of a base morpheme, as it gives the word its essential meaning.-Ableis an example of asuffix, or a morpheme that follows a base morpheme. Bothnon-and-ableare examples of anaffix, a morpheme attached prior to or following a base that cannot function independently as a word.
A Morpheme as a Word
When we can take a morpheme independently and use it as a stand-alone word in a sentence, it is known as a base. As the chart indicates above, these can be nouns, verbs, adjectives, conjunctions, prepositions, or determiners. We also classify a morpheme that can function as a stand-alone word asfree.
In the sentence, 'The bird-like man hardly touched his food at dinner,' there are a total of 11 morphemes, and 9 of the 11 are free:
The (part of speech: article)
bird (part of speech: noun)
man (part of speech: noun)
hard (part of speech: adjective, but with the -ly: adverb)
touched (part of speech: verb)
his (part of speech: determiner)
food (part of speech: noun)
at (part of speech: preposition)
dinner (part of speech: noun)
The other two morphemes, '-like' and '-ly', are types of affixes, which brings us to our next topic.
What is portmanteau morph?
A portmanteau morph is a morph which represents a togetherness of two or more morphemes. The word was ,for example, represents a togetherness of {be}, {past} and {singular}.Similarly, the word isrepresents a togetherness of { be}, {third person},{singular} and {present}.
Arabic
In modern Arabic languages (dialects) portmanteau is a pretty common phenomenon, in which mostlyprepositionsare added to other words to create a word with a new meaning. For example theHejaziword for "not yet" is لسع/لسه (lessa/lessaʕ), which is a combination of the words لـ (li, for) and الساعة (assaʕa,the hour). Other examples inHejazi Arabicinclude:
- إيش (eːsh, what), from أي (ay, which) and شيء (shayʔ, thing).
- ليش (leːsh, why), from لـ (li, for) and أي (ay, which) and شيء (shayʔ, thing).
- فين (feːn, where), from في (fiː, in) and أين (ayn, where).
- إلين (ileːn, until), from إلى (ilaː, to) and أن (an, that).
- دحين (daħeːnordaħiːn, now), from ذا (thaː, this) and الحين (alħiːn, part of time).
- علشان/عشان (ʕashaːn/ʕalashaːn, because), from على (ʕalaː, on) and شأن (shaʔn, matter).
- كمان (kamaːn, also/more), from كما (kamaːas) and أن (anthat).
- معليش (maʕleːsh, is it ok?/sorry), from ما (maː, nothing) and عليه (ʕalayh, on him) and شيء (shayʔ, thing).
- إيوه (iːwa, yes), from إي (iː, yes) and و (wa, and) and الله (allaːh, god).
Morphemes and Allomorphs?
A morpheme is not always represented by the same morph; it may be represented by different morphs in different environments. At the end of word like boysthe plural morpheme, for example is realized as /z/,at the end of words like cats, it is realized as /s/ and at the end of words like buses it is realized as /iz/.Similarly, at the end of a verb like stopped, the past tense morpheme is realized as /t/ ,at the end of a verb like bombed it is realized as /d/,but at the end of a verb like wanted it is realized as /id/.In other words ,/s/,/z/,and /iz/ are the three alternative realizations of the plural morpheme in English. Similarly,/t/,/d/ and /Id/are the three alternative realization of the past tense morpheme. Such alternative realizations of a morpheme are known as allomorphs. To summarize, allomorphs are the alternative realizations of a morpheme.
What are the hazards that one may take if deliberation and cautions are not taken in segmenting morpheme ?
Exercise 8-28 Explain why a/an are allomorphs of one morpheme.
Need for caution in the segmentation of morphemes:
If one is not very careful in segmenting words into their morphological segments, one may often go wrong. For example, the following two types of words may mislead an analyst because certain words have apparently similar shapes but they are not morphologically similar.
1 2 3
Builder observer butcher
Climber player carpenter
Hunter remover grocer
Words in column 1 and 2 can be segmented in two morphemes each but the words in the third column cannot be segmented like that. They are to be looked upon as unanalyzable whole like the following words:
Contain ,detain, maintain, retain, conceive ,deceive, perceive, receive. It can be argued that each of these words are segmentable into two morphs because -tain and -ceive are roots in Latin ; however, they are not productive any more in English. Sometimes there are serious insoluble difficulties in morphemic analysis for the differences in individual stock of morphemes(vocabulary peculiarly for oneself),for example, automobile and chronometer may be different morphemes for Tom, Dick, Harry and Sadie.Some are not aware of its presence in various words: as in the agentive "-er"(spelled)"-er", " –or", "-ar" as in singer, actor ,professor, voucher, cracker and tumbler.
One problem is that of obsolescence. Morphemes may fade away into disuse as the decades and centuries role by, affecting our view of their morpheme-hood. For example, we can be shore that troublesome,burdensome,lonesome and cuddlesome are two morpheme words consisting of a base form plus the suffixal morpheme –some .Winsome,however, has an obsolete base(old English wynn ,pleasure, joy),so the word now monomorphic. Between these two extremes
are words like ungainly .This means of course "not gainly" ,but what does gainly mean?
What is a free and bound morpheme? Give examples.
Morphemes are of two kinds; namely, free and bound morphemes. Free morpheme is one that can be uttered alone with meaning such as the words straight or bright. A bound morpheme ,unlike the free morpheme ,cannot be uttered alone with meaning. It is always annexed(connected /joined ) to one or more morphemes to form a word. The underlined morphemes in exercise 2 above are all free morphemes and the not underlined morphemes are examples of bound morphemes
Exercise 3
Underline the bound morphemes in the following words. It is possible for a word to consist of entirely bound morphemes.
1-speaker 6-biomass
2-kingdom 7-intervene
3-petrodollar 8-remark
4-idiolize 9-dream
5-selective 10-undo
Affixes /Affixation
An affix is a bound morpheme that occurs before or within or after a root. There are three kinds: prefixes,infixes, and suffixes.
Prefixes are those bound morphemes that occur before a root ,as in import, prefix ,reconsider. They are small class of morphemes,numbering about seventy-five. Their meaning are often those of English preposition and adverbials.
Exercise:8,8 Give the meaning that fits the word and write it in the first column. In the second column write another word containing the same prefix.
1-antifreeze …………………………………. ………………………………………………..
2-circumvent………………………………… …………………………………………………………….
3-copilot………………………………………. …………………………………………………………….
Collapse……………………………………… ………………………………………………………………
Compact……………………………………. ,……………………………………………………………..
Convene…………………………………… ……………………………………………………………..
Corrode…………………………………… ………………………………………………………………
4-contradict……………………………… …………………………………………………………………
5-devitalize………………………………. …………………………………………………………………
6-disagreeable ……………………… …………………………………………………………………
Imperfect ………………………………… …………………………………………………………………
Illegible ………………………………….. ………………………………………………………………..
Irreverent ……………………………….. ………………………………………………………………..
7-insecure……………………………… …………………………………………………………………
8-inspire…………………………………. ………………………………………………………………
Imbibe…………………………………… ……………………………………………………………….
9-intervene…………………………… ……………………………………………………………………..
10intramural……………………… ……………………………………………………………………….
11-obstruct………………………. ………………………………………………………………….
Oppose ……………………….. ………………………………………………………………….
12-prewar……………………… …………………………………………………………………..
13-post war ………………… ………………………………………………………………..
14-proceed …………………. …………………………………………………………………….
15-retroactive………………. ……………………………………………………………………….
16-semiprofessional …………….. …………………………………………………………..
17-subway…………………………….. ……………………………………………………………..
18-superattendant ……………………… ……………………………………………………..
19-unlikely……………………………………. …………………………………………………………
20-undress…………………………………….. ………………………………………………………….
Infixes are bound morphemes that have been inserted within a word. Generally speaking, English does not have infixes, although some exceptional cases are found, but they are consider as exception, such as men ,man, feet ,foot, geese, goose, mice, mouse, lice ,louse .
State the morphological phenomenon that is used in the formation of this paradigm.
foot/feet, goose/geese, man/men, mouse/mice, as well as blood/bleed, foul/filth, broad/breadth, long/length, old/elder, whole/hale/heal/health, et
Suffixes:
Suffixes are bound morphemes that occur after a base ,such as shrinkage, failure, noisy, realize nails dreamedSuffixes may pile up to the number of three or four, whereas prefixes are commonly single.
Exercise 8-9
After each word write the number of suffixes it contains
1-organists 4-atomizers 7-trusteeship
2-personalities 5-frienliest 8-greasier
3-flirtatiously 6-contradictorily 9-countrified
10-responsibility
Exercise8-10
Each group contains a base and suffixes. Make each into a word In each case see if more than one order is possible.
1—ed,live,-en…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
2—ing,-ate, termin…………………………………………………………………………………………………
3—er, -s, mor,-al, -ize………………………………………………………………………………………..
4-provinc,-s, -ism, -ial……………………………………………………………………………………
5-ly,-some,grue…………………………………………………………………………………………..
6- -ity, work ,-able……………………………………………………………………………………….
7- in,-most ,-er…………………………………………………………………………………………….
9- -dom, -ster, gang………………………………………………………………………………………
10- -ly, -ion, ate, affect …………………………………………………………………………………
Latin & Greek Roots & Affixes
The United States of America is well known as the 'Land of the Free' and a place where liberties are protected. Now, what is liberty?
To understand the meaning of this word, and a lot more, we can take a look at the parts that form them. In this lesson, we will learn how to increase our vocabulary by understanding the meaning of words through theirLatin and/or Greek rootsandaffixes.
Roots
The root of a word is the minimum unit with meaning and cannot be broken down any further. 'Bio' is an example of a root. It has its own meaning, but when we add other parts, it forms more words with the same root, as in 'biology,' 'biography' and 'bionic.'
Here are some common roots you may be familiar with:
root / language / meaning / examplebio / Greek / life / biology
cele / Latin / honor / celebrate
crac / Greek / govern / democracy
dur / Latin / to hold / durable
ethn / Greek / nation / ethnicity
hydr / Greek / water / hydrated
hyper / Greek / above / hypertension
hypo / Greek / below / hypotension
ign / Greek / fire / ignite
leg / Latin / to choose / legislature
liber / Latin / free / liberty
micro / Greek / small / microscope
multi / Latin / many / multiple
neg / Latin / deny / negative
simil / Latin / likeness / similar
therm / Greek / heat / thermometer
Types of Affixes
Affixes by definition arealwaysbound or (affixed) to a root. They are divided into two different types depending onwherethey attach to the root.
- Prefixesoccur before a root (although several prefixes can be strung together before a single root).
- Suffixesoccur after a root (although multiple suffixes can occur at the ends of words).
The two types of affixes also differ in how they affect the meaning of the word.
Prefixesmodify the meaning of the root in some way. Often, they providespatialinformation about an action named by the root. For example, the rootced'go' can be combined with a variety of prefixes which modifying the direction in which the "going" occurs (although the sense of 'go' may be rather metaphorical in some cases).
secede / 'to goapart'intercede / 'to gobetween'
recede / 'to goback'
decedent / 'one who goesaway'
concede / 'to gotogether'
precede / 'to gobefore'
Notice that in constructing the literal meanings, the meaning of the prefix occursafterthe meaning of the root. This is necessary to make a sensible English phrase. English grammar requires that the verb is followed by a spatial preposition. Latin (from which all these morphemes came) conveyed the same concepts ofACTIONplusDIRECTIONin reverse order and in a single word.
Suffixeshave two functions, which we'll discuss in WebLecture 1.4. Their most important function is to indicate the part of speech of the word. Suffixes identify a word as being aNOUN,VERB,ADJECTIVE, orADVERB. They can change the word from one part of speech to another. In fact, multiple suffixes can be added to a single root, changing it first to one part of speech and then another. For example,
verb--> / verbal--> / verbalize--> / verbalizationNOUN / ADJECTIVE / VERB / NOUN
Because this use of suffixes is so important with Latin and Greek vocabulary, we'll spend some time discussing how to identify the different parts of speech.