Word Classes and Affixes MORPHOLOGY Word Classes and Affixes READ 7370: Linguistics for Educators Dr. Melissa Comer

Main Divisions of Word Classes (Parts of Speech): Nouns Verbs Adjectives Adverbs Content Words Function Words Conjunctions Prepositions Articles Pronouns

Morpheme: The minimal unit of meaning Free morpheme: a single morpheme that constitutes a word and can stand alone. Bound morpheme: a morpheme that must be attached to another morpheme.

Example of Bound/Free Morphemes Retroactive = retro + act + ive Free morpheme = act Bound morpheme = retro-, -ive

English Affixes (based on the position) Prefix: An affix that occurs before a morpheme Suffix: An affix that occurs after a morpheme

English Prefixes Examples of Negative Prefixes: un- non- dis- a- Examples of size and degree prefixes: mini- sub- over- super-

English Suffixes Class preserving suffixation: -er  lecturer -ian librarian -ist  scientist -let  piglet Class changing suffixation: Verb  Noun perform performance Adjective  Adverb nice  nicely Adjective  Noun active  activity

Affixes (based on the function) Inflections vs. Derivations

Definition Derivational morpheme: deriving (creating) a new word with a new meaning. Inflectional morpheme: changing the form of a word because of the rules of syntax.

English Inflectional Morphemes Nouns –s plural –’s possessive Verbs –s third person singular present –ed past tense –en past participle –ing progressive Adjectives –er comparative –est superlative

Some examples of English Derivational Morpheme -ic : Noun  Adj ; alcohol  alcoholic -ance : Verb  Noun ; clear  clearance -ly : Adj  Adv ; exact  exactly -ity : Adj  Noun ; active  activity -able : Verb  Adj ; read  readable -ship : Noun  Noun ; friend  friendship re- : Verb  Verb ; cover  recover in- : Adj  Adj ; definite  indefinite

Describe the italic affixes: Derivational prefix Inflectional suffix Derivational suffix impossible terrorized terrorize desks dislike humanity fastest

Describe the italic affixes: premature untie darken fallen oxen faster lecturer Derivational prefix Derivational suffix Inflectional suffix