Morphology – fifth lecture
1. Suffixes
2. Compounding
1. As we have already mentioned, suffixes are morphemes added at the end of the word and they can be inflectional and derivational. The former modify the word grammatically changing its grammatical function so that the word can fit a certain grammatical context whereas by means of the latter the word changes its class.
Suffixes may be grouped according to different criteria; however, the most important criteria are two:
- the class of the word they form and
- their influence on the stress in words.
With respect to the stress there are two types of suffixes:
- neutral and
- conditioning.
Neutral suffixes, just as the name suggests, do not exert any influence on the stress of the word.
`speak - `speaker
a`muse – a`musement
Unlike that, conditioning suffixes can cause the following changes in a word:
1. A vowel change in the stem to which they are added. In this case the stress remains at the same location.
clear - `clarity
2. They can bring about a stress shift:
tax - tax`ation
`organize - organi`zation
3. They can cause both a vowel change and a stress shift:
`grammar - gra`mmarian
Classification of suffixes according to word classes:
There are four groups of suffixes based on the four major word classes:
I Noun forming suffixes
II Adjective forming suffixes
III Verb forming suffixes
IV Adverb forming suffixes
I Noun forming suffixes:
1. -er [-ar, -or] the doer of an action: dancer, liar, creator
2. -an [-ician], -ant occupation: politician, musician, servant, merchant
3. -ist profession: anatomist, botanist, archeologist
4. -an, -ese, -er origin: American, Japanese, Londoner
5. -ing V – N: playing, mountaineering
6. -ment V – N: enjoyment, judgement, argument
7. –ess showing feminine gender: waitress, actress
8. –ity state: Adj – N: sanity, vanity, divinity, serenity, loyalty
9. –ade result of an action: blokade, lemonade
10. –dom freedom, kingdom, wisdom
11. –acy Adj (ate) – N: privacy, aristocracy, intimacy
12. –hood shows an abstract aspect: childhood, manhood, likelihood
13. –ness Adj – N: kindness, friendliness, tenderness, sadness
14. –ship N – N: membership, friendship, hardship
15. –ion [ition, ation] V – N: provision, violation, variation, resignation
16. –ery [ry] slavery, rivalry, snobbery, refinery, nunnery, machinery, chemistry
17. –ism system of principles: socialism, humanism
type of state or behaviour: despotism, patriotism, heroism
sth. particular to an area: Anglicanism, Protestantism
18. –al V – N: arrival, survival, withdrawal, revival
19. –age place of living: orphanage
result of an activity: breakage, wreckage
state of affairs: boundage, marriage
set of similar things: luggage, coinage, baggage
some sort of fee: postage, storage
20. –ance [-ence] V – N: acceptance, performance, dependence, experience
21. –ee person who is undergoing an action: employee, addressee
22. –eer occupation: engineer, mountaineer, profiteer
23. –let diminutive: piglet, booklet, leaflet
24. –th Adj/ V – N: warmth, length, strength, growth
25. –ling diminutive: duckling, suckling, gosling, earthling
26. –ette diminutive: ettickette, kitchenette
27. –y [-ie] diminutive: auntie, piggy, doggy, Johnnie
II Verb forming suffixes:
1. -en Adj – N: shorten, darken, fasten, hasten, strengthen
2. –fy [-ify] satisfy, identify, testify, modify
3. – ise [-ize] N/ Adj – V: scandalize, organize, theorize, practise, advise
4. –ate vaccinate, orchestrate, translate
III Adjective forming suffixes:
1. –able [-ible] showing what sth can be: reasonable, admissible, acceptable, intelligible
2. –al [-ial, -ual] signifies property: cultural, educational, national, residential, habitual
3. –ar familiar, muscular, popular
4. –an geographical location: American, European
epoch, style: Elizabethan, Victorian
5. –ed past participle form: talented, hated, conceited
6. –en signifies the substance a thing consists of: wooden, woollen
7. – ese geographical location or belonging to a community: Japanese, Portugese
8. –fold added to numbers: threefold, twofold
9. –full property: beautiful, bountiful, dreadful, mouthful
10. –ian added to geographical names and personal names: Edwardian, Canadian
11. –ic [-ical] historic, scientific, symbolic, practical, Miltonic
12. –ing present participle: amusing, charming, boring
13. –ish citizenship: Polish, Danish, Swedish
similarity: boyish, girlish, childish
degree of a property: feverish, coldish, reddish
14. –ive [-ative, -itive] destructive, productive, creative, talkative, sensitive
15. –less without: shameless, fearless, faithless
16. –like likeliness: ghostlike, childlike
17. –ly manly, lovely, cowardly, deadly, weekly
18. –ous [-ious] famous, dangerous, malicious, injurious
IV Adverb forming suffixes:
1. –ly Adj – Adv: quickly, readily, secondly, hastily
2. –ward [-wards] towards, backwards, forwards
3. –wise [-ways] sidewise, landwise, otherwise
2. Compounding is also known as composition and it may be confused with syntactic groups. For instance, gentleman and blackbird are compound nouns because the former denotes a type of person belonging to the upper level of society and the latter a type of bird. However, the group of words creative production, spelling pattern, chief executive are syntactic groups.
Therefore, there are three criteria which are used to determine whether a group of words is a compound word or a syntactic group:
I The orthographic criterion:
Compounds are usually hyphenated:
writing-table, hearing-aid, she-bear, flower-pot
II The phonological criterion:
The stress can show us which groups of words are compounds and which are syntactic groups. If the stress is on the first element, it is a compound and if the second element is stressed, it is a syntactic group.
living-room, White House, black bird
III The semantic criterion:
In compound words the second element carries the primary meaning.
stone-cold, red-hot, gentleman
There are three types of compound words:
1. Noun compounds
2. Compound adjectives and
3. String compounds
Noun compounds can be formed by means of combining one noun with a noun, an adjective, a pronoun, a verb, an adverbial particle, a gerund, a preposition, a prepositional phrase and by combining a verb with an adverb:
1. Noun + noun: clothespin, tooth brush, handbook, bathroom
2. Noun + adjective: blackberry, madman, common sense
3. Pronoun + noun: she-bear, he-goat, she-dog
4. Gerund + noun: looking-glass, living-room, hearing-aid, running water, walking stick
5. Verb + noun: pickpocket, drawbridge, flashlight
6. Noun + gerund: house-keeping, homecoming, fortune-telling
7. Noun + noun(er): sleepwalker, hairdresser, nutcracker
8. Noun(er) + adverbial particle: looker-on, hanger-on, passer-by
9. Verb + adverb: go-between, drawback, make-up
10. Adverb + noun: outbreak, outlaw
11. Preposition + noun: downpour, overall
12. Noun + prepositional phrase: mother-in-law, editor-in-chief
Compound adjectives can also be formed by combining adjectives with different types of words, such as nouns, adjectives, present participles, past participles, adverbs.
1. Noun + adjective: headstrong, airtide, coulour-blind
2. self + adjective: self-evident, self-conscious, self-centred
3. Adjective + adjective: light-blue, dark-blue
4. Noun + present participle: heartbreaking, breathtaking
5. Adjective + present participle: hard-working, long-suffering
6. Adjective + past participle: newborn, clean-shaven, absent-minded
7. Noun + past participle: man-made, frostbitten
8. Adverb + adjective: evergreen, overripe
String compounds consist of several different elements and they are usually hyphenated:
a never-to-be film, up-to-date news, a well-to-do banker, a hit-and-run driver, a rock-and-roll dance
a six-foot tall person, ten-year old child
Exercises:
I Fill in the required form:
1. He soon became acquainted with the mayor, an ______which brought him many political benefits.
2. The young boy was grateful to the judge for his leniency. His ______took the form of helping the youngsters obey the law.
3. He injured his foot while climbing. This ______prevented him from going any further.
4. Marcel Proust remembered many incidents of his childhood. This ______of the past was recorded in his novels.
5. There is a saying that gentlemen prefer blondes. This ______is probably not true of all gentlemen.
6. The (maintain) ______of that building is the responsibility of Mr Jones.
7. He gave a vivid (describe) ______of his home town.
8. They built an (extend) ______to the house.
9. We must find a (solve) ______to this problem.
10. His wife’s constant (suspect) ______of infidelity irritated him.
11. The tornado caused a great deal of (destroy) ______.
12. The (omit) ______of a few words in the contract caused a great deal of trouble.
13. A (compare)______between the two systems reveals that one is much more efficient than the other.
14. The (conquer) ______of England by the Normans occurred in 1066.
15. If he won’t take my advice, why did he ask me to ______him?
16. It’s time for the baby’s bath. Would you like to ______him?
17. The kind of proof you have offered does not ______that you are right.
18. The loss of life was very great in the last war. In the next war we may ______many more men that we ______in the previous war.
19. He may ______other people, but I can see through his deception.
20. This production of coal in our country is very great. How much coal does your country ______?
21. His ultimate success depends on how well he ______in every step along the way.
22. His testimony was interesting. He ______that he had seen the accused leaving the house at around midnight.
23. You don’t have the proper qualifications. In England one must follow a three year’s course of training to ______as a teacher.
24. An (occur) ______such as this was completely unexpected.
25. They travelled with very little (bag) ______.
26. There were many (beg) _____ on the road.
27. We are writing in (refer) ______to your letter of June 18.
28. He hated the kind of work he was doing. this ______for his work finally caused him to resign from his job.
29. He was not certain whether his farm could continue to be profitable. Because of his ______he decided to sell the farm.
30. His parents permit him to do whatever hi pleases. This ______attitude is certainly going to spoil the child.
31. You’ve made a great number of mistakes on this report. They are too ______to be overlooked.
32. Parents like their children to be (obey) ______.
33. Student groups all over the world are becoming more (rebel) ______.
34. The day was so (fog) ______that you couldn’t see a thing in front of you.
35. The name Philadelphia stands for the “City of (Brother) ______Love”.
36. He was so (persuade) ______that the committee all agreed to accept the proposal.
37. Appearances can often be (deceive) ______.
38. He is very (hesitate) ______about making such a long trip.
39. In a few states first degree murder is (punish) ______by death in an electric chair.
40. The citizens complained of the (object) ______smell produced by the factory.
II Identify the class of the words formed with the following suffixes and illustrate each suffix with several examples:
-ful
-en
-ness
-ize
-ic
-ly
-ist
III Form nouns from these stems. Use ONE suffix only:
honest attach evaluate
village arrive China
curious member professor
tender popular weak
approve compose repeat
widow novel (n) magic
Africa novel (adj) decide
add exist mother
IV Form adjectives from these stems:
imagine nature economy
act talk envy
man introduce poison
history glory pain
trust long child
habit Chomsky decide
respond illustrate talent
permit understand sun
comprehend pole sand
meaning exist insist
V Form verbs and/or adverbs from the following stems:
special just hyphen
sad material other
person hesitant class
deep active hurried
national modern general
strange knowledge heart
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