Morphology and Syntax

“The Hierarchical Structure of Words”

By

Ahmed Mohammad Hashim

The hierarchical structure of words suggests the division of compound and derived
words into their basic constituents. The hierarchical structure is obvious in compound
words more than in derived words. So, in this article, we will be dealing with the
hierarchical structure of compound words first and then of the derived words.
 Compound words are words that are made by the combination of two or more free
morphemes (Crystal 2008. 96). The rules for compounding words are different in
productivity. The most productive rule that compounds words is the Noun + Noun rule
in comparison to the Verb + Noun or to the Noun + Verb which are not very productive
(Haspelmath, 2002. 86).
According to the X-bar syntax theory, which states that phrases have heads in syntax,
many morphologists argued that words have heads too (Katamba and Stonham 2006.
317). The compound words are semantically divided into two categories, endocentric
and exocentric compounds. If the head of the compound word is the free morpheme that
occurs on the right, it is called endocentric and the first morpheme is called the
dependent. The dependent helps adjust and narrow the denotation of the head. Thus, the
endocentric compound word is a hyponym of the head. Let's take the compound word,
lipstick, for example. Lipstick refers to a specific type of stick not lip and the same is
true for overcoat, schoolboy or mobile phone (ibid 87).
Semantically speaking, endocentric compound words have a head, which is always
on the right, and one or more dependents. However, there is a small set of compound
words that have their head in the beginning, on the left, for example, grow up, set-in,
step out. These are verb-particle group called left-headed endocentric compound words,
known grammatically as phrasal verbs (Selkirk 1982. 19).
Syntactically speaking, the head of the compound word is the main constituent in the
whole word. So, the head stick is the main constituent of the compound word lipstick.
The second category of compound words is called exocentric. Exocentric compound
words have no head or dependent, such as, pickpocket, redhead, happy-go-lucky, and
cutpurse (ibid 26).

Now let us examine the hierarchical structure of some endocentric compound words:
• Lipstick: This is a endocentric compound word. The head is stick, and the
dependent is lip which helps identify what kind of sticks is meant.
N = head (stick) + dependent (lip)

• Overcoat: This compound word belongs to the endocentric category. The head is
coat, and the dependent is over.
N= head (coat) + dependent (over)
• Airport: This is an endocentric compound word. The head is port, and the
dependent is air.
N= head (port) + dependent (air)

• Teapot: This compound word belongs to the endocentric category. The head is
pot, and the dependent is tea.
N= head (pot) + dependent (tea)

• Sit-in: This word belongs to the left-headed endocentric category of compound

words. The head is the verb sit, and the dependent is the preposition in.
N = head (sit) + dependent (in)
 • Step out: This compound word belongs to the left-headed endocentric category.
The head is the verb step, and the dependent is the preposition out.
N = head (step) + dependent (out)

The process of compounding in English is recursive. That is, there is no stop to the
size of the compound words. Let's take, for example, lakeside, and grammar school.
These two compound words can make a new word like lakeside grammar school. In this
compound word the head is school. It belongs to the endocentric category of compound
words.
N = Head (school) + dependent (lakeside) + dependent (grammar)

When we are dealing with inflected compound nouns, two possible ways of analysis
are present. The first way is to consider that the inflection signals the whole compound
word. Such a way suggests that the compound word comes first and then the inflection
(Katamba and Stonham 2006, 325).

Let's take the word classrooms, for example, and try to draw its hierarchical structure
diagram according to the first way
*As we have seen in this diagram, the compound word classroom is analyzed first and then the
inflection.

The second way of analyzing inflected compound words is to analyze the inflection
as first thing that is associated with the head, and then the rest of the compound noun,
the dependent(s) (ibid).
Let's take the same word classrooms and try to draw its hierarchical structure diagram
according to the second way.

*This diagram shows that the inflection is part of the head. It is the first particle that is associated with
the head, and then comes the rest of the compound word, the dependent.

Now, we will shift to the derived words and their hierarchical structure. Derived
words consist of a root and an affix. Derived words are semantically considered to be
variations on the root, that is, when the derivational affix is added to the root, it changes
its part of speech (Vadasy and Nelson 2012, 21).
Derived words differ from compound words in that, their hierarchical structure
exhibits the semantic relations in details. Let's take the word undoable, for example, this
word has two meaning, either it is something that cannot be done, or something that can
be undone (Haspelmath 2002. 93). So, in this case, two different tree diagrams will be
drawn.

• Undoable (1) means something that cannot be done. The word is formed by the
addition of the negative suffix un- to doble.
 • Undoable (2) means that something can be undone. The word is formed by the
addition of the suffix -able to undo.

*So, if the derived word has two meanings, two tree diagrams will be drawn according to the meaning
of the word.

The tree representation exhibits also the properties of the derived words, giving details
about the word and its constituents. For example, the suffix -ment is added to verbs to
form nouns, such as treat, treatment. The suffix -able is added to verbs and sometimes to
nouns to form adjectives, such as, forget, forgettable, fashion, fashionable. So, the tree
representations tell us what is the class of forgettable, for example, and what are its
constituents.

This tree diagram shows that the word forgettable is an adjective made by the
combination of the verb forget and the suffix able.
 It is typical that the derivational affix changes the class of the word it is attached
to(Stegeberg 1981, 94 ). So the verb act, for instance, turns into an adjective when the
derivational -ive is added and the same verb, act, can be used with two derivational
suffixes -ive and -ate to form another verb that is totally different in meaning, activate
(ibid).
This process can be expressed by stating that the derivational affixes have their own
word-class, just like words. This means, that the derivational affixes can be the heads of
the derived words because the word-class is a head feature. The class of the word, that a
derivational affix is added to, is that of the derivational affix. So, active is an adjective
because of the derivational suffix -ive and treatment is a noun because of the
derivational suffix -ment, and the same is true for activate, that is a verb due to the
derivational suffix -ate.
However, not all derivational affixes can occur as heads in derived words. Some
derivational affixes do not alter the part of speech of the words they are attached to, for
instance, co-author, co-exist, and over-lord.

Let us now examine the hierarchical structure of some derived words.

• Treatment: This word is formed by the combination of the root teat and the
derivational suffix -ment.

• Forgettable: This word is formed by the combination of the root forget and the
derivational suffix -able.
• Doubtful: This word is made by the combination of the root doubt and the
derivational suffix -ful.

• Conspiracy: This word is formed by the combination of the root conspire and the
derivational suffic -acy.

• Unconstitutional: This word is formed by the combination of the negative prefix

un- with the root constitution and the derivational suffix -al
References:

• Crystal, David. 2008. A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics. Sixth edition.

Blackwell publishing Ltd.
• Haspelmath, Martin. 2002. Understanding Morphology. London: Oxford
University Press Inc.
• Katamba, Francis and Stonham, John. 2006. Morphology. Second edition.
Palgrave Macmillan.
• Selkirk, Elisabeth O. 1982. The Syntax of Words. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT
press
• Stageberg, Norman C. 1981. An Introductory English Grammar. Orlando, Florida:
Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.
• Vadasy, Patricia F. and Nelson, Ron J. 2012. Vocabulary Instruction for struggling
Students. New York: The Guilford Press.