“Word Classes and Affixes” MORPHOLOGY “Word Classes and Affixes” Deny A. Kwary www.kwary.net
Main Divisions of Word Classes (Parts of Speech): Nouns Verbs Adjectives Adverbs Content Words Function Words Conjunctions Prepositions Articles Pronouns
Exercise: Determine the word class of each of the following words canine the him elegant inconvenience eloquently comply inasmuch as over Noun Article Pronoun Adjective Adverb Verb Conjunction Preposition
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.
Question #2 a, b, i, j, k, l, m Example: Retroactive = retro + act + ive Free morpheme = act Bound morphemes = 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: impossible terrorized terrorize desks dislike humanity fastest Derivational prefix Inflectional suffix Derivational suffix
Describe the italic affixes: premature untie darken fallen oxen faster lecturer Derivational prefix Derivational suffix Inflectional suffix
That’s All For Today See You Next Week Deny A. Kwary www.kwary.net