1. English Morphology and Lexicology
Shao Guangqing

2. What is morphology?
Morphology is the study of word formation, of the structure of words.

3. From observations to theory
Some words can be divided into parts which still have meaning.
play
replay
unable
playing
boldest
carelessness
the morphemes
play
replay=re + play
unable=un + able
playing=play + ing
boldest=bold + est
carelessness=care + less + ness

4. From observations to theory
Many words have meaning by themselves; but some words have meaning only when used with other words.
boy
food
door
car
Lexical morphemes
at/in/on…
-ed/-ing/-s/-es
-est/-er
Grammatical morphemes

5. From observations to theory
Some of the parts into which words can be divided can stand alone as words; but others cannot.
boy
food
door
at/in/on
Free morphemes
-ed/-ing/-s/-es
-est/-er
Bound
morphemes

6. From observations to theory
Those word-parts that can occur only in combination must be combined in the correct way.
-s/-es/-er/-est
-ing/-ed
Inflectional morphemes
un-/in-/im-
-ly/-ment/-ful/-less
Derivational morphemes

7. From observations to theory
Language create new words systematically.
This is called the process of word-formation.
un + able=unable
work +er=worker
Derivation
bedroom
put-down
outside
Compound

8. Morphemes
A morpheme can be defined as a minimal unit having more or less constant meaning and more or less constant form.
buyers =buy + er + s
evidence?
Each can occur in other combinations of morphemes without changing its meaning.
buy: buying; buys
-er: seller; fisher; buyer
-s: boys; girls; dogs

9. Morphemes
Morphemes can vary in size: neither the number of syllables nor the length of a word can indicate what is a morpheme and what isn’t.
For example, Albatross is a long word but a single morpheme;
-y (as in dreamy) is also a single morpheme.

10. Morphemes
Linguists have viewed morphemes as made up of combinations of semantic features.
For example, we can analyze a word like girls in terms of both its morphological and its semantic structure:
Morphological: girls = {girl} + {s}
Semantic: {girl} = [-adult; -male; +human, ...] + {s} = {PLU} = [plural]

11. Morphemes
Two different morphemes may be pronounced (and even sometimes spelled) the same way.
V+-er: buyer
the agentive morpheme {AG} since it indicates the agent of an action
Adj.+-er: shorter
the comparative morpheme {COMP} since it indicates the comparative degree of an adjective

12. Morphemes
We can’t always hold to the definition of a morpheme as having unchanging form.
boys: {boy} + {-s}={boy} + {PLR}
boxes: {box} + {-es}= {box} + {PLR}
men: {man} + {PLU}
walked: {walk} + {-ed}= {walk} + {PAST}
went: {go} + {PAST}

13. Morphemes
Sometimes it is very difficult to identify morpheme boundaries.
For example, the word hamburger originally meant {Hamburg} = ‘a city in Germany’ + {er} =‘originating from.’
But probably most people now understand the word as meaning {ham} = ‘ham’ + {burger} = ‘hot patty served on a round bun.’

14. Summary: Morpheme
A morpheme is a short segment of language that meets three criteria:
It is a word or a part of a word that has meaning;
It cannot be divided into smaller meaningful parts;
It recurs in differing verbal environments with a relatively stable meaning.

15. Practice: how many morphemes does each of the following word contain?
1. play ____
2. replay ____
3. date ____
4. antedate ____
5. weak ____
6. weaken ____
7. man ____
8. manly ____
9. miniskirt ____
10. cheaper ____

16. Practice: write the meaning of the underlined morphemes
1. antedate ____________________
2. replay ______________________
3. manly ______________________
4. keeper ______________________
5. unable ______________________
6. rainy _______________________
7. inactive _____________________
8. malfunction __________________
before
again
-like, having the attributes of
one who…
not
inclined to
not
badly

17. Morphemes

18. Lexical and Grammatical Morphemes
Lexical morphemes are those that having meaning by themselves (more accurately, they have sense).
Nouns, verbs, adjectives ({boy}, {buy}, {big}) are typical lexical morphemes.
Grammatical morphemes specify a relationship between other morphemes.
Prepositions, articles, conjunctions ({of}, {the}, {but}) are grammatical morphemes.

19. Free and Bound Morphemes
Free morphemes are those that can stand alone as words. They may be lexical morphemes ({serve}, {press}), or grammatical morphemes ({at}, {and}).
Bound morphemes can occur only in combination—they are parts of a word. They may be lexical morphemes (such as {-clude} as in include, exclude, preclude) or they may be grammatical (such as {PLU} = plural as in boys, girls, and cats).

20. Inflectional and Derivational Morphemes
Inflectional Affixes
Derivational Affixes
All are suffixes
May be either suffixes or prefixes
Have a wide range of application. E.g.
most English nouns can be made
plural, with {PLU}
May have a wide or narrow range

21. Inflectional and Derivational Morphemes
Inflectional Affixes
Derivational Affixes
All native to English (since Old English
was spoken around AD)
Many were adopted from Latin, Greek,
or other languages. (Though others,
especially the suffixes, are native,
including {-ful}, {-like}, {-ly}, and {AG})

22. Inflectional Affixes -s in boys -’s in boy’s -er in older
{PLU}=plural
-’s in boy’s
{POSS}=possessive
-er in older
{COMP}=comparative
-est in oldest
{SUP}=superlative
boys={boy}+{PLU}
boy’s= {boy}+{POSS}
older= {old}+{COMP}
oldest= {old}+{SUP}

23. Inflectional Affixes -s in walks -ed in walked -en in driven
{PRES}=present
-ed in walked
{PAST}=past
-en in driven
{PAST PART}=past participle
-ing in driving
{PRES PART}=present participle
walks= {walk}+{PRES}
walked= {walk}+{PAST}
driven= {drive}+{PAST PART}
driving= {drive}+{PRES PART}

24. Inflectional Affixes Irregular forms {sheep}+{PLU} {good}+{COMP}
better
{good}+{COMP}
best
{good}+{SUP}
drove
{drive}+{PAST}

25. Inflected form: Present tense
{root}+{PRES}
John loves Mary.
={love}+{PRES}= {love}+{-s}
I love Mary.
={love}+{PRES}= {love}+{ ∅ }

26. Inflected form: Past tense
{root}+{PAST}
John walked.
={walk}+{PAST}= {walk}+{-ed}
I drove.
={drive}+{PAST}

27. summary: features of inflectional suffixes
1. They do not change the part of speech.
Eg: boy, boys (nouns)
cough, coughed (verbs)
cold, colder (adjectives)
2. They come last in a word.
Eg: shortened, girls, coldest

28. summary: features of inflectional suffixes
3. They go with all stems of a given part of speech.
Eg: He eats, drinks, dreams, entertains…
the quickest, slowest, coldest, …
4. They do not pile up; only one ends a word.
Eg: flakes, working, higher, written
*workinged
carelessness (derivational suffix)
Exception: the students’ worries students’ ={root}+{PLU}+{POSS}

29. Derivational Affixes derivational suffixes:
{ize} attaches to a noun and turns it into a verb: rubberize
{ize} also attaches to an adjective and turns it into a verb: normalize
{ful} attaches to a noun and turns it into an adjective: playful, helpful
{ly} attaches to an adjective and turns it into an adverb: grandly, proudly
A different {ly} attaches to a noun and changes it into an adjective: manly, friendly

30. Features of derivational suffixes
1. A derivational suffixe usually changes the part of speech of the word to which it is added.
2. Derivational suffixes usually do not close a word; that is, after a derivational suffix one can sometimes add another derivational suffix and can frequently add an inflectional suffix.
care + ful + ness=carefulness
fertilize + er + s=fertilizers

31. Derivational Affixes derivational prefixes
{un-}, {dis-}, {a-}, {anti-}, all of which indicate some kind of negation: unhappy, dislike, atypical, anti-aircraft.
{pre-} indicates the meaning of “before”: predict, pre-election…
{post-} indicates the meaning of “after”: postpone, post-graduation, postwar
for more

32. Word formation 1. derivation 2. category extension 3. compound
replay; disagree; movement; careful…
2. category extension
chair (noun) chair (verb)
3. compound
class+room=classroom; break+fast=breakfast
4. root creation (invention)
Kodak; nylon; quark…

33. Word formation 5. clipped form (clipping) 6. blend 7. acronym
laboratory-lab; dormitory-dorm; gymnasium-gym; professor-prof; examination-exam
6. blend
smoke+fog=smog; gasoline+alcohol=gasohol
stagnation+inflation=stagflation
7. acronym
National Aeronautics and Space Administration-NASA
North Atlantic Treaty Organization-NATO

34. Word formation 8. proper name 9. folk etymology 10. back formation
Hamburg- hamburger
9. folk etymology
A foreign word is assimilated to native forms.
cucuracha (Spanish)-cockroach (English)
10. back formation
burglar-burgle; beggar-beg; editor-edit

35. Practice: clipping
Give the original words from which these clipped words were formed.
math __________ mike __________
psych _________ disco __________
taxi __________ memo __________
bus __________ pike ___________
flu ___________ fridge ___________
microphone
mathematics
psychology
discotheque
taxicab
memorandum
omnibus
turnpike
refrigerator
influenza

36. Practice: acronym Give the originals of the following acronyms radar
UNESCO
OPEC OK
Radio Detection and Ranging
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
oll korrect

37. Practice: blending Give the originals of these blends
simulcast
telecast
Give the blends that result from these words
transfer+resistor
automobile+omnibus
escalade+elevator
 simultaneous broadcast
television broadcast
transistor
autobus
escalator

38. Practice: back-formation
Write the words from which they are back-formed.
housekeep
typewrite
baby-sit
peddle
televise
greed

39. THANK YOU