Morphology

WAN MOHD IZZAT 2010 1

MORPHOLOGYTHE STUDY OF WORD FORM

Presenter:WAN MOHD IZZAT BIN HJ. WAN NORAZMEEMUHAMMAD EHSAN BIN HJ. ABD. HALIMPISMP-IPGM F5 SCIENCE SEMESTER 5 IPG IPOH

Guidance lecturer:MISS LIZAROSE BINTI ABDULLAHLANGUAGE DEPARTMENT IPG IPOH


o Morpheme is an element of word structure.o Allomorph is various form of same morphemes.o The study of meaning in individual units of language

@ the identification, analysis and description of the structure of words

o It is concerned with the structure of words.

o The smallest unit of meaning is a morpheme.

o Morphemes can be classified as either free or bound.

DEFINITION


STUDY OF MORPHEME


BRANCHES OF MORPHEME’S STUDY


BRANCHES OF MORPHEME’S STUDY

MORPHEMES

FREE BOUND

DERIVATIONAL INFECTIONAL

ALLOMORPHS


o A unit of meaning which can stand alone or alongside another free or bound morpheme.

o These are usually individual words, such as:

FREE MORPHEME

i. Lidii. Sinkiii. Airiv. Car


o A unit of meaning which can only exist alongside a free morpheme.

o These are most commonly prefixes and suffixes:

BOUND MORPHEME

i. ungratefulii. Insufficientiii. childishiv. goodness


o Derivation is used to form new words, as with happi-ness and un-happy from happy, or determination from determine.

o A contrast is intended with the process of inflection, which uses another kind of affix in order to form variants of the same word, as with determine / determine-s / determin-ing / determin-ed.

o Derivational morphemes can be added to a word to create (derive) another word.

DERIVATIONAL MORPEHEME


o A derivational suffix usually applies to words of one syntactic category and changes them into words of another syntactic category.

o For example, the English derivational suffix -ly changes adjectives into adverbs (slow → slowly).



Some examples of English derivational suffixes:

adjective-to-noun : -ness (slow → slowness) adjective-to-verb : -ise (modern → modernise) noun-to-adjective : -al (recreation →

recreational) noun-to-verb : -fy (glory → glorify) verb-to-adjective : -able (drink → drinkable) verb-to-noun (abstract) : -ance (deliver → deliverance) verb-to-noun (concrete) : --er (write-writer)



o Although derivational affixes do not necessarily modify the syntactic category, they modify the meaning of the base.

o In many cases, derivational affixes change both the syntactic category and the meaning: modern → modernize ("to make modern").

o The modification of meaning is sometimes predictable: Adjective + ness → the state of being (Adjective); (white→ whiteness)



o A prefix (write → re-write; lord → over-lord) will rarely change syntactic category in English. The derivational prefix un- applies to adjectives (healthy → unhealthy), some verbs (do → undo), but rarely nouns.

o A few exceptions are the prefixes en- and be-. En- (em- before labials) is usually used as a transitive marker on verbs, but can also be applied to adjectives and nouns to form transitive verb: circle (verb) → encircle (verb); but rich (adj) → enrich (verb), large (adj) → enlarge (verb), rapture (noun) → enrapture (verb), slave (noun) → enslave (verb).



o Derivation may occur without any change of form, for example telephone (noun) and to telephone.

o This is known as conversion or zero derivation. Some linguists consider that when a word's syntactic category is changed without any change of form, a null morpheme is being affixed.



o Creates an awareness of meaning at a sub-lexical level. That is, we can deconstruct a word and consider its component parts.

o The stems, roots, prefixes, and suffixes of words can be recognized. This can throw light on etymology (the origins of the word) thus giving us more power to communicate efficiently.

USES OF MORPHOLOGY STUDIES


Free morphemes are units of meaning which cannot be split into anything smaller, as in the following examples:


i. Treeii. Gateiii. Pillowiv. Butterv. Flowervi. Rhinoceros


However, the terms 'gate', 'butter' and 'flower' can also exist alongside another free morpheme. The following examples comprise two free morphemes:


i. Gatepostii. Buttermilkiii. sunflower


Bound morphemes are also units of meaning which cannot be split into anything smaller.

However, they are different from free morphemes because they cannot exist alone.

They must be bound to one or more free morphemes. Almost all prefixes and suffixes are bound morphemes.


i. asymmetricalii. Subordinateiii. unnecessaryiv. empower

i. cowardicii. minty iii. fruitfuliv. swimmingpr

efix

suffi

x


The following words are made up of two free morphemes or components which could stand alone and retain their meaning.


i. Inkwellii. Mothballiii. Sunfloweriv. Slapstick


Note that morphemes can only be classified according to their given semantic context.

E.g; The word 'elephant' which is a free morpheme. Although it is a lengthy word, it cannot be split up into any smaller units of meaning within this particular context.

The final three letters of elephant may spell 'ant', but that unit of meaning does not exist in the context of the term 'elephant'.



Take the word 'ant' as a separate unit of meaning referring to a small insect. In that context 'ant' is a free morpheme. Add another free morpheme in the form of 'hill' and we have a word comprising two free morphemes - 'anthill'.

The unit 'ant' can also be classified separately as a bound morpheme in yet another context. The term 'ant' can act as a prefix in the word 'antacid'. As such, it is a bound morpheme because its meaning only exists in conjunction with the free morpheme 'acid'.



• Morpheme = an element of word structure -the smallest unit of grammatical function/analysis, the next unit of grammatical importance is the word.

• Allomorph = Various form of same morphemes.• Syntax = Internal grammatical structure of phrases,

clauses, & sentences• Semantic = study of meaning of words• Pragmatics = Word association & connotation• Morphology = the study of word form• Phonology = the study of the function & organization of

sounds in a particular language. • A morpheme can be a word, whilst a word is not

necessarily a morpheme but may consist of many morphemes.


Common examples of inflections

Part of speech Morpheme Function Example

Verb

[s]3rd functionSingular(he, she, it)(present tense)

Proves

[ed] Past tense Proved

[en] Past participle Proven

[ing] Progressive aspect / continuous

Was provingIs proving

noun [s] Plural BoysBoys’

Adjective [er] Comparative Bigger

[est] Superlative Biggest


• Derivation = is a affix used to change form & meaning from a lexical point with a change in part of speech. E.g; noun[Universe] become adjective [Universal], add suffix [ity] becomes [universality]

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Morphology