DERIVATIONAL MORPHEMES

ELE3103 ENGLISH FOR LANGUAGE TEACHERS

Mohd Saifu bin Ismail MT/PJ/BI 1

DERIVATIONAL MORPHEMES
A

derivation is the formation of words by adding prefixes and suffixes to existing words and bases. A derivational morpheme is the prefix or suffix used to create one word from another.

EXAMPLES
i.

Derivational morphemes can transform a word like friend in the following ways: Nouns

Friendship Unfriendliness
ii.

Adjectives

unfriendly Friendless

iii.

Verb

Befriend

There are noun-making morphemes, verb-making morphemes, adjective-making morphemes,, and adverb-making morphemes.

SOME COMMON NOUN-MAKING MORPHEMES INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING SUFFIXES:

Suffix
-acy -al -ance, -ence -dom

Meaning
state or quality act or process of state or quality of place or state of being

Example
privacy refusal maintenance, eminence freedom, kingdom

-er, -or
-ism -ist -ity, -ty -ment -sion, -tion

one who
doctrine, belief one who quality of condition of state of being

trainer, protector
communism chemist veracity argument concession, transition

SOME COMMON VERB-MAKING MORPHEMES INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING SUFFIXES:

Suffix Meaning Example

-ate
-en -ify, -fy -ize, -ise

become
become make or become become

eradicate
enlighten terrify civilize

SOME COMMON ADJECTIVE-MAKING MORPHEMES INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING SUFFIXES:

Suffix -able -al Meaning being 'able' relating to Example movable, portable global, manual

-en
-ful -ic -ive -less -ous -y

made of
full of characteristic of tending to lack of, without full of state, having

golden, wooden
hopeful, wishful domestic sensitive, selective endless, powerless enormous, mysterious windy, slowly

THE MOST COMMON ADVERB-MAKING MORPHEME IS THE SUFFIX -ly, WHICH PRIMARILY CHANGES ADJECTIVES TO ADVERBS:
quickly happily fiercely largely usefully equally

The End