Lesson 2: Kinds of Morphemes

Lesson Objectives:
1. Define morphology
2. Classify morphemes as to bound, free, roots or stem
3. Divide words into morphemes

What is Morphology?

Words have internal structure. The study of this internal structure and the rules by which
words are formed is morphology. It is consisting of two morphemes, morph + ology
which means “science of word forms”.
By the way, morpheme is the linguistic term for the most elemental unit of
grammatical form. There are two kinds of morphemes- bound and free. Bound and
Free Morphemes
 Free Morphemes (lexemes)– are words with a complete meaning, so they can
stand alone as an independent word. Girl, boy, angel, host are examples of free
morphemes.
 Bound Morphemes (affixes)- these are lexical items incorporated into a word as a
dependent part. They cannot stand alone and must be connected to another
morpheme. Affixes such as prefixes, suffixes, infixes and circumfixes are bound
morphemes.
To review prefixes are morphemes added at the beginning of the word to form a
new word such as un, bi, il, or ir. Suffixes, on the other hand are syllables added
at the end of word to form a new word. -able, ish, are examples of suffixes. Other
languages may have infixes or circumfixes. Like the Filipino language which has
an infix (gitlapi) a morpheme inserted into other morphemes. Meanwhile, the
German language has a circumfix, a morpheme attached to a base morpheme both
initially and finally.
Roots and Stems (Aronoff & Nudeman, 2009)
 A stem is a base morpheme to which another morphological piece is attached.
The stem can be simple, made up of only one part, or complex, itself made up of
more than one piece. In the word re + consider + ation, consider is the stem.

 On the other hand, a root is like a stem in constituting the core of the word to
which other pieces attach, but the term refers only to morphologically simple
units. For example, disagree is the stem of disagreement, because it is the base to
which -ment attaches, but agree is the root.

3|Page
Learning Tasks:

I. Classify the following words as bound or free morphemes.

un sure ness ful ratio sends -ee aunt ed foot

Bound Free
Un Sure
Ness Ratio
Ful Sends
-ee Aunt
Ed Foot

II. Analyze the following words. List all the morphemes in each word and
identify them whether free or bound.
1. Husband
house-band (Free Morpheme)

2. Creation
create-ion (Free Morpheme)

3. Guardian
Guard-ian (Free Morpheme)

4. Irresistible
ir-resist-ible (Bound Morpheme)

5. untouchable
un-touch-able (Bound Morpheme)

III. Count how many morphemes each of the word has.

1. Misunderstanding mis.under.stand.ing (4)

2. Reconsider re.consider (2)
3. Incompletion in.complete.ion (3)
4. Disengagement dis.engage.ment (3)
5. Heroism hero.i.sm (3)

4|Page
 Lesson 3: Rules of Word Formation

Lesson Objective

1. Analyze the rules used in word formation

2. Apply rules learned in analyzing word formation rules

(1) Derivational Morphology

New lexemes that are formed with prefixes and suffixes on a base are often referred to as
derived words, and the process by which they are formed is derivation.
Categories of Affixes (Lieber, 2009)

(a) personal affixes: These are affixes that create ‘people nouns’ either from verbs or
from nouns. Among the personal affixes in English are the suffix -er which forms
agent nouns (the ‘doer’ of the action) like writer or runner and the suffix ee
which forms patient nouns (the person the action is done to).
(b) negative and privative affixes: Negative affixes add the meaning ‘not’ to their
base; examples in English are the prefixes un-, in-, and non- (unhappy,
inattentive, non-functional). Privative affixes mean something like ‘without X’; in
English, the suffix -less (shoeless, hopeless) is a privative suffix, and the prefix
de- has a privative flavor as well (for example, words like debug or debone mean
something like ‘cause to be without bugs/bones’).
(c) prepositional and relational affixes: Prepositional and relational affixes often
convey notions of space and/or time. Examples in English might be prefixes like
over- and out- (overfill, overcoat, outrun, outhouse).
(d) quantitative affixes: These are affixes that have something to do with amount. In
English we have affixes like -ful (handful, helpful) and multi- (multifaceted).
Another example might be the prefix re that means ‘repeated’ action (reread),
which we can consider quantitative if we conceive of a repeated action as being
done more than once.
(e) evaluative affixes: Evaluative affixes consist of diminutives, affixes that signal a
smaller version of the base (for example in English -let as in booklet or droplet)
and augmentatives, affixes that signal a bigger version of the base. The closest
we come to augmentative affixes in English are prefixes like mega- (megastore,
megabite).

(2) Inflectional Morphology

5|Page
 There are also morphemes that have strictly grammatical functions. They mark
properties such as tense, number, person and so forth.

Here are examples of English inflectional morphemes:

-s third person singular

present
-ed past tense
-ing progressive
-en past participle
-s plural
-‘s possessive
-er comparative
-est superlative

(3) Compounding

Compounds are words that are composed of two (or more) bases, roots, or stems.
Let us take the following examples:

6|Page
 (a) compounds of two nouns: windmill, dog bed, book store
(b) compounds of two adjectives: icy cold, blue-green, red hot
(c) compounds of an adjective and a noun: greenhouse, blackboard, hard hat
(d) compounds of a noun and an adjective: sky blue, cherry red, rock hard
The structure of the compound nouns can be shown in the following diagram:

N Adj

N N adj adj

dog bed blue green

There are types of compounds as discussed by Lieber (2009):

There are some concepts which needs to be clarified before going into the different types
of compounds.
Compounds are right-headed. The head of the compound is the element that serves to
determine both the part of speech and the semantic kind denoted by the compound as a
whole. In the case of the words, greenhouse and sky blue, the second word determines
the part of speech. The former is a noun and the latter an adjective. Similarly, the second
base determines the semantic category of the compound – in the former case a type of
building, and in the latter a color.
It can also be root (also known as primary) compounds and synthetic (also known as
deverbal) compounds. Synthetic compounds are composed of two lexemes, where the
head lexeme is derived from a verb, and the nonhead is interpreted as an argument of that
verb. Dog walker, hand washing, and home made are all synthetic compounds. Root
compounds, in contrast are made up of two lexemes, which may be nouns, adjectives, or
verbs; the second lexeme is typically not derived from a verb. The semantic relationship
between the head and the nonhead in root compounds is quite free as long as it’s not the
relationship between a verb and its argument. Examples are windmill, ice cold, hard hat,
and red hot

7|Page
 (1) attributive compound
In an attributive compound the nonhead acts as a modifier of the head. So, snail
mail is (metaphorically) a kind of mail that moves like a snail, and a windmill is a
kind of mill that is activated by wind
(2) coordinative compounds
The first element of the compound does not modify the second; instead, the two
have equal weight. Example producer-director, blue-green
(3) subordinative compounds
In subordinative compounds one element is interpreted as the argument of the
other, usually as its object. Truck driver, hand mixer and home invasion are
examples of this.

(3) Conversion

Conversion is a process of forming new lexemes merely by shifting the category or part
of speech of an already existing lexeme without adding an affix. It is also known as
functional shift. In English, we often create new verbs from nouns. Example: fish - to
fish; to kick – a kick
(4) Minor Processes

(4.1) Coinage - to make up entirely new words from whole cloth, a process
called coinage.
(4.2) Backformation - there are words that historically existed as
monomorphemic bases, but which ended in a sequence of sounds identical to or
reminiscent of that of certain affixes. When native speakers come to perceive
these words as being complex rather than simple, they create what is called a
backformation

8|Page
 (4.3) Blending is a process of word formation in which parts of lexemes that
are not themselves morphemes are combined to form a new lexeme. Brunch, and
smog are some of them.
(4.4) Acronyms and initialisms. When the first letters of words that make up a
name or a phrase are used to create a new word, the results are called acronyms or
initialisms.
(4.5) Clipping is a means of creating new words by shortening already existing
words. For example, we have info created from information, blog created from
web log, or fridge from refrigerator.
Fromkin,Rodman, & Hyams, (2010) sum up of the knowledge of how morphemes in
English are classified in this diagram:

Learning Tasks:

I. Divide the following words into morphemes and label whether they are prefix,
suffix, base, or inflection

9|Page
 prefix base suffix inflection
(1) unwinnable

(2) knowledgeable
(3) unguided
(4) disrespectful
(5) grantee
(6) overexcited
(7) mathematical
(8) underestimates
(9) resume
(10) gratification

II. Identify the rules used in forming the following words.

1. Container _____________________________
2. Submits _____________________________
3. Peddler _____________________________
4. AIDS _____________________________
5. Skitch _____________________________
6. Spime _____________________________
7. Liaise _____________________________
8. Surveil _____________________________
9. Xerox _____________________________
10. Drug trafficking _____________________________

III. Fill-in the table below with compound words.

ATTRIBUTIVE COORDINATIVE SUBORDINATIVE

1 Big city Actor-director
2 School bus Tuinman-chauffeur
3 Soda can Gardener-
4 Tennis ball
5 bookcase

IV. Exercise C. Survey your first language. Complete the table below and identify
the rules of word formation used by your language or dialect.

A. Forming the plural form of Nouns

Nouns Singular Form Plural form
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)

10 | P a g e
 (5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
(10)

Word formation Rules in forming the plural form of nouns:

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
______________________________
B. Comparison of Adjectives
Adjective Positive Comparative Superlative
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
(10)

Word formation rule in comparing adjectives:

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
C. Forming the past and future tense of verbs
Verb Present tense Past Tense Future Tense
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)

11 | P a g e
 (10)

Word formation rules used in forming the past and future tense of a verb:
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

Lesson 4: Productivity & Creativity

Lesson Objectives:

1. Explain the different factors that contribute or restricts the productivity of word
formation.

Factors Contributing to Productivity (Lieber, 2009)

12 | P a g e
 ➢Words can be easily segmented
➢When an affix is attached to base,
a the
pronunciation of both morphemes stays
the same
transparency ➢meaning of the derived word is exactly
what is expected
➢example;pureness, fluidity

the extent that speakers of

a language need new
words of a particularsort. ➢the number of
productivity
different bases that
might be available for
affixes to attach to,
usefulness frequency of thus resulting in new
base
words.

Lieber (2009) also enumerated the different restrictions on productivity:

Restrictions
categorial restrictions
phonological restrictions
Description
Almost all affixes are
restricted to bases of
specific categories
Sometimes affixes will
attach only to bases that fit
certain phonological
patterns.
Example
-ity and -ness attach to
adjectives, -ize attaches to
nouns and adjectives, or
un- attaches to adjectives
or verbs.
-ize prefers nouns and
adjectives that consist of
two or more syllables,
where the final syllable
does not bear primary
stress

The suffix -en, which

the meaning of the base
etymological restrictions
Some affixes are restricted
to particular subclasses of
bases
forms verbs from
adjectives, attaches only to
bases that end in obstruent
(stops, fricatives, and
affricates) like darken,
brighten, and deafen but
not slimmen and *tallen.
negative un- prefers
bases that are not
themselves negative in
meaning
there are affixes in English
that prefer to attach to
bases that are native – for
example the suffix -en that
forms adjectives from
nouns (wooden, waxen but
not *metalen or

13 | P a g e
 *carbonen).
syntactic restrictions Sometimes affixes are the suffix -able generally
sensitive to syntactic attaches to transitive
properties of their verbs, specifically verbs
bases that can be passivized.
transitive verb love to
lovable but there is no
snorable from the
intransitive verb snore

Productivity vs Creativity
Productivity is the extent to which lexeme formation processes can be used to
create new words. Meanwhile, morphological creativity, in contrast, is the domain
of unproductive processes like suffixation of -th or marginal lexeme formation
processes like blending or backformation. It occurs when speakers use such
processes consciously to form new words, often to be humorous or playful or to
draw attention to those words for other reasons.

LEARNING TASK:

References:
Fromkin, V.,Rodman, R.,Hyams, N., (2010). Introduction to Linguistics. Singapore: Cengage
learning Asia Pte Ltd.

McGregor, W. (2009). Linguistics an Introduction. New York: Continuous International

Publishing Group.

Lieber, R. (2009). Introducing Morphology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

14 | P a g e
15 | P a g e