English Morphology

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UNIGRANRIO – Universidade do Grande Rio
Instituto de Humanidades – Teoria e Prática em Língua Inglesa IV – Cód.: IHM405
	English Morphology
Principles
	Grammar studies are usually divided into:
Morphology: a branch of linguistics that studies and describes patterns of word formation, including inflection, derivation, and compounding of a language.
Phonetics/phonology: the branch of linguistics that deals with the sounds of speech and their production, combination, description, and representation by written symbols of a particular language.
Syntax: the grammatical rules of a language and the way in which words are arranged to form phrases and sentences.
Semantics: the branch of linguistics that deals with the study of meaning, classifying and examining changes in meaning and form. 
Stylistics: the study of style in language, its variations in usage among literary and other texts, systematic variation, in either writing or speech, which relates to the type of discourse or its context.
	Grammarian x Linguist
Grammarian: a linguist who specializes in the study of grammar and syntax.
Linguist: someone who describes how people use language does not prescribe how they should use it. Linguists don't invent rules; they discover them.
	Structure of English
	Two approaches: > Top-down 
 > Bottom-up
	Outline structure of English
�
	sentences
are analyzed into
clauses
are analyzed into
phrases
are analyzed into
words
are analyzed into
morphemes
	
� Top-down Bottom-up
	sentences
are used to build
clauses
are used to build
phrases
are used lo build
words
are used to build
morphemes
�
	Morphology
Morphology is traditionally defined as the study of the structure and form of the words. It is a branch of grammatical study and linguistics. It focuses on the study of morphemes, the minimal units of meaning.
Morpheme- the smallest meaningful unit of grammar. Morphemes cannot be divided into smaller units.
Morphology- can be divided into two broad processes:
Inflection- An alteration of the form of a word by the addition of an affix, 
as in English pens from pen, or by changing the form of a base,
 as in English spoke from speak, that indicates grammatical features(number, person, mood, or tense).
Word formation- the process of creation of a new word.
 �
Analyze of the words in bold.
1) Mary looks at the mirror.
Look (verb) + s (indication of third person singular in the simple present)
2) They loved the class.
Love (verb) + ed (indication of past or participle forms of a regular verb)
3) They have two cars. 
Car (noun) + s (indication of plural form)
4) Mary is a teacher.
Teach (verb) + er (indication of an occupation, agent or tool)
5) He forgot the coursebook. 
Course (noun) + book (noun)
Sentences 1, 2, 3 show examples of inflections.
Sentences 4 and 5 show two different examples of word formation processes.
	Inflection x word formation
	Inflection
	Word formation
	Grammatical features
	No grammatical motivation
	Does not create a new word
	Creates a new word
	No change in word class
	May change word class
 
	Affix
Affix - An affix is a morpheme that is attached to a base morpheme (stem) to form a word. 
Affixes may be:
Derivational affixes — after the meaning
 like English -ness and pre-
Inflectional affixes - grammatical relationship like 
- English plural – s, 3rd person singular – simple present and past tense -ed.
Exercise 
Identify derivational and inflectional affixes
Kingdom - _______________________________________________________
Teachers - _______________________________________________________
Bigger - _______________________________________________________
Improvements - ___________________________________________________
Greatest - ________________________________________________________
	Stem and affix
Sad – sad (stem) - one morpheme
Sadness — sad (stem) + ness (affix) — two morphemes
Loves- love (stem) – s (affix) — two morphemes
Unbelievable- un (affix) - believ (stem) + able (affix) — three morphemes
Exercise
Identify the morphemes of the following words.
 Immeasurable - ________________________________________________________
Homeless - ____________________________________________________________
Teaching - ____________________________________________________________
Production - ___________________________________________________________
Inactive - ______________________________________________________________
Unexpected - ___________________________________________________________
Girlfriend - _____________________________________________________________
Unfriendliness - _________________________________________________________
	Types of affixes
Affixes are divided into several types, depending on their position with reference to the stem:
Prefix - an affix that is attached before another morpheme — unhappy
 unhappy = un (prefix) + happy (stem)
Suffix - an affix that is attached after another morpheme.
 Hopeful = hope + ful (suffix)
Suprafix (also superfix)- suprasegmental affix(change in pronunciation)
 Impact (stress in the first syllable) - noun
 Impact (stress in the second syllable) - verb 
It is also called Morpheme Zero.
There are some different types of affixes that are used in different languages, such as infix (affix placed within the stem).and circumfixes (attached before and after another morpheme). 
Ex: Infix- Common in Austroasiatic languages as Tagalog language – graduate (English) < grumaduate – infix active voice – um.
Ex: Circumfix in German language – past participle: ge_ _t for regular verbs: spielen < P.P. -gespielt
Exercise
 Hope - ______________________________________________________________
 hopeful - ____________________________________________________________
 hopeless- ____________________________________________________________
 hopelessness - ________________________________________________________
enrich - ______________________________________________________________
darken - ______________________________________________________________
illegal - _______________________________________________________________
beautify- ______________________________________________________________
activate- ______________________________________________________________
	SUPRAFIX
 A suprafix is a kind of affix in which a suprasegmental is superimposed on one or more syllables of the stem, signaling a particular morphosyntatic operation.
	 The placement of stress in the following words signals the difference between a noun and a related verb: 
	‘produce (noun)
pro’duce (verb)
	
	Examples of suprafix
�
concert
contract
incline
object
project
survey
conduct
contrast
increase
overflow
protest
suspect
conflict
convert
insert
present
rebel
contest
desert
insult
progress
record
�
	Allomorphs
Allomorphs can be defined as variations of a morpheme. Different morphs can be used to represent a morpheme.
Example
Irregular — illegal — impossible - inactive — (ir, il, in, im represent one morpheme whose meaning is not)
Responsible — impenetrable — (variations of the same morpheme)
Works — boxes — variations of the plural morpheme s.
Understands — tries — variation of the third person singular morpheme.
	Representing word structure in trees
 
 
Exercises
Represent the following words using trees.
player
engineering
unhappiness
unlock
weekend
empowerment
	Free and Bound morphemes
Free morpheme - Can stand on their own as individual words.
Bound morpheme-Cannot stand on their own as individual words
Example:
Love (free)
Works — work (free) + s (bound)
Disagreement — Dis (bound) + agree (free) + ment (bound)
Exercises
powerful
water
churches
dreamer
learning
	Inflectional categories and affixes of English
	Word class
	Inflectional category
	Regular affix
	Noun
	number
	-s, -es: book/books;bush/bushes
	
	Possessive genitive
	-s,- ’ :The cat’s tail/Charles’toe
	Verbs
	3rd person singular present
	-s, -es: It rains/The water sloshes
	
	Past tense
	-ed: paint/painted
	
	Perfect aspect
	-ed: paint/painted
	
	Progressive or continuous aspect
	-ing: fall/falling, writing, (present particile)
	Adjective
	comparative
	-er: tall/ taller
	
	superlative
	-est: tall/ tallest
	
Inflection though vowel or consonant change
Examples: foot — feet; man — men; advice — advise
	Syncretism
Inflected form is identical to the non-inflected one.
Example: set — set 	put- put	 deer – deer
	Suppletion
Alternative forms used to indicate an inflected word.
Examples:
Irregular verbs - Be — am, is, are — was/were — been
Plural — mouse — mice
	Word formation processes
Derivation- adding of an affix or more to the stem
Example: Sadness — Sad + ness
Compound- more than one stem used to create new word
Example: girlfriend — girl (stem) + friend (stem)
Zero derivation: (also called conversion or functional shift): No affix is added; simply using a word of one category as a word of another category.
Examples: Noun-verb: comb, love, iron. 
 She needs a comb to comb her hair. 
 I bought a new iron. Now I can iron all my clothes. 
Clipping: shortening of a polysyllabic word.
Examples: prof (< professional), prof (< professor), math (< mathematics).
Acronym formation: forming words from the initials of a group of words that designate one concept. Usually, but not always, capitalized.
Examples: NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
Blending: Parts (which are not morphemes) of two already-existing words are put together to form a new word.
Examples: motel (motor hotel), modem (modulator & demodulator)
Backformation: A suffix identifiable from other words is cut off of a base which has previously not been a word; that base then is used as a stem, and becomes a word through widespread use.
Examples: pronunciate (< pronunciation < pronounce), resurrect (< resurrection), enthuse (< enthusiasm), self-destruct (< self-destruction < destroy), burger (< hamburger).
Sometimes the identification of backformation depends on diachronic information in order to know the base word.
Adoption of brand names as common words: a brand name becomes the name for the item or process associated with the brand name.
Examples: Xerox, band-aid
Onomatopoeia: words are invented which (to native speakers at least) sound like the sound they name or the entity which produces that sound.
Examples: hiss, sizzle, cuckoo, cock-a-doodle-doo, buzz, beep, ding-dong.
Borrowing: a word is taken from another language. It may be adapted to the borrowing language’s phonological system to varying degrees.
	One or two morphemes?
Driver — drive + er (agent)
Bigger — big + er (comparative)
	Classifying words
Simple word = a word consisting of a single morpheme; a word that cannot be analyzed into smaller meaningful parts, e.g. item, five, chunk, the.
Complex word = a word consisting of a root plus one or more affixes (e.g. items, walked, dirty).
Compound word = a word that is formed from two or more simple or complex words (e.g. landlord, red-hot, window cleaner).
Exercises
Classify the following words:
Coursebook _______________________________
Teaching _______________________________
Inside _______________________________ 
Speakers _______________________________
Psychology _______________________________
European _______________________________
Frameworks ______________________________
Laptop _______________________________ 
Hardware _______________________________
	WORD FORMATION
Main suffixes and prefixes in English
	I- SUFFIXES
	A- NOUNS
�
	-Tion/ation
Act – action; react — reaction; protect- protection
It forms abstract nouns, mainly referring to processes and actions.
It forms a lot of words that are cognates in Portuguese.
Exception: mention (verb)
	-Sion
Emit — emission
It forms abstract nouns, mainly referring to processes and actions.
It forms a lot of cognates in Portuguese.
	-Ness
Sad - sadness; Mad — madness
Abstract nouns — feelings, states and qualities
	-Ist
dentist, artist, positivist
It forms words related to jobs — political, philosophical and positions, member of a party
	-Ism
Behaviorism, positivism
It forms lots of cognates that indicate attitude and movement.
	-ship
Friend – friendship; leader – leadership.
It forms abstract nouns.
	-er
Dance - dancer; teach- teacher; Londoner
It forms words that refers to jobs, occupations, agent, tools, inhabitants
	-eer
Mountaineer — engineer — volunteer
	-or
Act- actor; direct- director
It forms words that refer to jobs, occupations, agent, tools
	-dom
King- Kingdom; bore-boredom
It forms abstract nouns.
�
	-An
Magician, technician, vygotskian
It forms words that refer to jobs.
	-ess
Lion- lioness; poet – poetess; waiter – waitress
It forms words that indicate Female.
	-ee
Employ – employee; address- addressee
It forms a passive position.
	-ence
Different - difference ; patient- patience
It forms many cognates in Portuguese.
	-ance
Ignorant- ignorance; elegant- elegance
It forms many cognates in Portuguese.
	-th
Length — width
�
 
	-hood
Child- childhood; man-manhood
It forms abstract nouns, related to periods.
	-ant
Disinfectant – inhabitant – accountant – president
It forms words indicating agents
�
	- ty/ity
Electricity; honesty; sanity
It forms many cognates indicating state or quality
	-al
Refuse- refusal; deny- denial
It forms abstract nouns indicating action and processes
	-ment
 Amuse- amusement; develop- development
It forms abstract nouns indicating actions and processes, state, quality
	-ing
Read- reading;	write- writing
Engineer- engineering; build- building
It forms abstract and concrete nouns indicating actions and processes; activity or the result of activity.
	-ics
Linguistics — Physics — Mathematics
	-logy
Theology - geology – 
It forms words referring to studies.
�
	-ar
beggar — liar
It forms words indicating agent
	-age
Wastage - postage - drainage
It forms words referring to action.
�
	-an/ian
African — republican
	-ocracy
Democracy - demo (people, nation) + ocracy (System of government)
_________________________________
	-let
Booklet
It forms words indicating small or unimportant
	-y/ie
Daddy - Charlie – Girlie 
It forms words referring to diminutive.
_____________________________________�
	B- ADJECTIVES
	-ful
Grate- grateful; help- helpful; thank- thankful 
It indicates full of something
	-less
Useless; helpless; homeless; jobless
It indicates lack of something.
	-ic
Comic, tragic, logic
It forms many cognates.
	-ive (-ative/itive)
Aggressive, positive, negative
It forms many cognates.
	-al (-ial, -ical)
Normal, social, magical, editorial
It forms many cognates.
	-ary/ory
Elementary; introductory;
It forms many cognates.
	-ous/eous/ious
Curious, nervous, furious, virtuous; courteous
It forms many cognates.
	-ish
Youngish,childish 
	-ian
Darwinian
	-ing
Interest- interesting,	fascinate- fascinating
	-ese
Chinese — Portuguese — Japanese
It indicates nationalities.
	-ed
Interest- interested,	bore- bored
Confuse- confused
Attention!
Confusing- confused
Interesting x interested 
Boring x bored
They have different use. 
�
	-able/ible
Comfortable, readable, responsible
It forms many cognates.
	-y
 Rainy; sun- sunny
____________________________________
 
 
____________________________________ 
�
	C - ADVERBS
	-wise
Otherwise
	-wards
Backward/ backwards
It indicates direction, manner.
	-ly
Sadly – normally
It indicates manner
�
_____________________________________
	D - VERBS
	-en
Dark- darken; white- whiten
	-ize
Agonize
	-ate
Formulate, celebrate.
_____________________________________ 
_____________________________________
	-fy
Justify, identify, classify
_________________________________
	II - PREFIXES – MAIN PREFIXES
	a
Amoral
It indicates negative
	counter-
Counterattack
It gives the idea of opposition.
	co-
Cooperation
	under-
Underestimate — undercook 
It indicates too little.
	over- 
Overjoyed — overdose – overcook
It indicates too much
	pseudo-
Pseudonym
Something false or an imitation.
	Dis-
Disconnect — disloyal — dislike -
It indicates negative or reverse action.
	de-
Deforestation
It indicates reverse action
	In-/il-/ir-/ im-
insane — irregular- ilegal — improper
It indicates negative
	en-
Slave – enslave
It forms verbs
	fore-
Foretell
It gives the idea of in advance.
	mis-
Misunderstand – misleading
It indicates a wrong action
	mal-
Malformed; malfunction
It indicates something badly
	non-
Non-smoker
It indicates negative.
	un-
Untie- unlock
Indicates a negative reverse action
	re-
Redo – rewrite
It indicates do again.
�
	BIBLIOGRAPHY
CARTER. R. & McCARTHY, M. Cambridge Grammar of English: a. comprehensive guide. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006
CAXTON DICTIONARY 0f ENGLISH GRAMMAR. London Caxton Editions, 2000.
DUBOIS, J et alii. Dicionário de Lingüística. Sao Paulo, Cultrix, 2001
FROM KIN, V. & RODMAN, R. An Introduction to Language. Fifth Edition. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1993?.
QUIRK, R. & GREEN BAUM, S. A Student’s Grammar of five English Language. Longman, 1995.
RAMALHO, E. Gramática da Língua Inglesa. Porto:Porto Editora, 1995.
SPRATT, M. et ali. The TKT Course. Cambridge:
 Cambridge University Press, 2005.
MORPHOLOGY
Inflection
Word Formation
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