1. The Analysis of Word Structure
Lecture 5 Morphology
The Analysis of Word Structure

2. Morphology
Words like read, language, tall, on, etc. must be learned and stored as separate items in the lexicon.
However, countless other words can be constructed and comprehended by the application of some general rules.
Therefore, part of the linguistic competence is the ability to construct and interpret words.
This system of categories and rules involved in word formation and interpretation is called morphology.

3. Word definition
Words are meaningful linguistic units that can combine to form larger structures (phrases, clauses, or sentences).
A ward is associated with a particular meaning..
It is a unit of expression that is intuitively recognizable by native speakers.

4. Word identification
Words are the physically definable units one encounters in a stretch of writing or speech.
Words are most stable of all linguistic units, in respect of their internal structure.
Words are uninterruptible.

5. Word = free form A word is the smallest free form found in language.
A free form is an element that:
i can occur in isolation
bird vs. -s
and/or
ii whose position with respect to neighbouring elements isn’t entirely fixed.
Birds avoid cats. (before a verb)
Cats chase birds. (after a verb)
The birds (before a noun)
The young birds (before something else)

6. Morpheme
Concepts that are expressed by a word (free form) in one language may not necessarily have the same status in other languages:
Arabic English
/-/ my mother
So, we need a simpler alternative.

7. Morpheme
Words have an internal structure consisting of smaller units organized with respect to each other.
The most important component of word structure is the morpheme.
It is the smallest unit of language that carries information about meaning or function:
builder = build + -er
‘construct’ ‘one who does’
houses = house + -s
‘dwelling’ ‘more than one’

8. Morphemes Free and Bound
A free morpheme can be a word by itself; it can stand alone.
A bound morpheme must be attached to another element; it cannot stand alone.
free bound
car -s
smile -ed
tall -er
care -ful

9. Allomorphs Morphemes do not always have an invariant form.
The variant forms of a morpheme are called its allomorphs.
indefiniteness: a/an
past tense: d, t, әd
plural: z, s, әz

10. Word Structure
Complex words consist of a root and one or more affixes.
The root morpheme:
i contributes the most to the word’s meaning,
ii belongs to a lexical category.
An affix:
i does not belong to a lexical category,
ii is always a bound morpheme.

11. Word Structure
N V
V Aff Adj Aff
teach er modern ize

12. Word Structure A base is the form to which an affix is added.
It can be the root:
black – en
Or, it can be a larger unit:
blacken – ed

13. Word Structure V black en ed Base for -ed  V
Root and base  Adj Aff Aff
for -en
black en ed

14. Structure Modification Affixation
Affixation is the most common morphological process.
prefixing: inter-marry
suffixing: kind-ness
infixing: Aff (present)
/ \
k a t a b
\ | /
Root

15. Structure Modification Internal change
Internal change is a process that substitutes one non-morphemic segment for another:
sing sang
foot feet
These cannot be considered as examples on infixing:
i English does not have a root *sng (meaning ‘produce words in a musical tone’).
ii English does not have a morpheme i meaning ‘present’ or a morpheme a meaning ‘past’ in the sing/sang case.

16. Structure Modification Suppletion
Suppletion is a morphological process whereby a root morpheme is replaced by a phonologically unrelated form in order to indicate a grammatical contrast.
Basic form Suppletive form
I me
be were
good well

17. Structure Modification Stress placement
A base can undergo a change in the placement of stress to reflect a change in its category.
Verb Noun
presént présent
subjéct súbject
contést cóntest

18. Structure Modification Compounding
It is a common morphological process which involves the combination of lexical categories to create larger words.
The elements making up the compound are free forms..
Noun + Noun Adjective + Noun
campsite bluebird
bookcase greenhouse

19. Compounding N V Adj Adj N N V N Adj
In English, the rightmost morpheme determines the category of the entire compound. This morpheme is called the head.
N V Adj
Adj N N V N Adj
green house spoon feed nation wide

20. Derivation
Through the addition of an affix, derivation forms a word with a meaning and/or category distinct form that of its base.
base derived word
sell seller
teach teacher
i category change: verb  noun
ii meaning change: X  someone who does X

21. Complex Derivations
Since derivation can apply more than once, it is possible to create multiple levels of word structure.
Verb + -ive = Adj.
act + -ive = active
Adj. + -ate = Verb
active + -ate = activate
Verb + -ion = Noun
activate + -ion = activation

22. [N [V [Adj [V act] ive] ate] ion]
V Aff Aff Aff
act ive ate ion

23. un-happy-ness ? (a) N (b) N Adj N Aff Adj Aff Aff Adj Aff
un happy ness un happy ness

24. un-happy-ness ?
The prefix un- combines freely with adjectives, but not with nouns:
unhealthy / unhealthy
health + y *un + health
un +healthy *unhealth + y
Therefore, analysis (a) is more plausible than analysis (b).

25. Constraints on Derivation
Derivation does not apply freely to the members of a given category:
i -ant combines with Latinate bases:
Latinate Native
defendant *fightant
servant *teachant
ii -en combines with monosyllabic obstruent-final base adjectives:
whiten *abstracten (disyllabic)
quicken *bluen (non-obstruent-final)

26. Class 1 derivational affixes
Class 1 affixes normally trigger changes in segments of the base.
They usually also affect the assignment of stress.
part-ial final consonant of the base changes from /t/ to /∫/
prodúct-ive stress shifts to second syllable (cf. próduct)
public-ity final consonant of the base changes from /k/ to /s/, and stress shifts to second syllable (públic vs. publícity)

27. Class 2 derivational affixes
In contrast, class 2 affixes tend to be phonologically neutral, having no effect on the segmental makeup of the base or the stress assignment.
prompt-ness no change triggered
hair-less no change triggered
hope-ful no change triggered
self-ish no change triggered

28. Inflection Inflection is the modification of a word’s form.
Inflectional affixes signal grammatical relationships but do not change the grammatical class.
The base to which an inflectional affix is added is the stem.
The stem includes the root and all derivational affixes.

29. English Inflectional Affixes
{-s pl} noun plural
{-s 3rd sg} present third person singular
{-ing vb} present participle
{-ed pt} past tense
{-ed pp} past participle
{-er cp} comparative
{-est sp} superlative

30. Inflection vs. Derivation
Inflection and derivation are both marked by affixation.
So, the distinction between the two processes can be subtle.
It is not always clear which function a particular affix has.
Three criteria help distinguish between inflectional and derivational affixes.

31. Category Change The output of inflection:
[N [N book ] s ] [V [V work ] ed ]
There is no change in either the category of the base or the type of meaning it denotes. (another form of the word)
The output of derivation:
[N [V govern ] ment ] [N [N king ] dom ]
There is a change in the category of the base and/or the type of meaning it denotes. (another word)

32. Order
The derivational affix must be closer to the root than the inflectional affix. This means that the former combines with the base before the latter.
N N
N Aff Aff N Aff Aff
neighbour hood s *neighbour s hood

33. Productivity
The distribution of inflectional affixes is considerably freer than that of the derivational affixes.
-ize vs. plural -s
modern-ize (cf. *new-ize)
legalize (cf. *lawful-ize)
However, the suffix -s can combine with almost any noun that allows a plural form.

34. Summing up
Morphology is concerned with the structure and formation of words in human language.
Words consist of smaller formative elements called morphemes.
These elements can be classified in a number of ways (free vs. bound, root vs. affix).
Operations that can combine and modify morphemes include affixation, internal change, suppletion, and compounding.
The two basic types of word formation in English are derivation and inflection.

35. Syntax Syntactic Data and Syntactic Rules
Constituent Order, Case Marking, and Thematic Roles
Phrases and Constituent Structure