Vietnam National University HCM Department of English

INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

MORPHOLOGY

Course code: EL023IU

- Number of credits: 3
- Number of periods: 45 Theory: 45 Exercises: 0 Practice: 0
- Assessment: Ongoing assessment: 30% - Midterm Exam: 30% - Final Exam: 40%
- Score scale: 100
- Prerequisite: Introduction to Linguistics Course code: EL013IU
- Previous course: Course code:
- Parallel course: Course code:
- Program: English Linguistics
- Level: Undergraduate

1. Course Aims
The course aims at providing students with some basic knowledge of morphological terms and
processes. After this course, students will have a good understanding of English word forms.
Students will also be able to carry out the morphological analysis of English
English words.

2. Course Description
This course gives students deep knowledge into word structure and word formation. The
course provides students with considerable knowledge of morphological terms and concepts
including roots, affixes, morphemes, inflection, derivation and words structure. It also guides
students through the analysis of words in English. Last but not least, the course provides
students insights into the history of English word formation and other languages.

3. Course Books and Other Required Materials

Course books and other required materials:
[1] Carstairs-McCarthy,
McCarthy, A. (2001). An introduction to English Morphology: Words and Their
structure. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Reference books:
[2] Haspelmath, M., & Sims, A. (2010). Understanding morphology (2nd edition).
tion). New York:
Routledge.

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BA in English Linguistics – Public version 1
 Vietnam National University HCM Department of English
INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

4. Course Assessment Policy

Course assessment is based on the whole course on-going
on going progress and exams as follows.
Components Percentage
A1: On-going
going assessment 30%
A2: Midterm Examination 30%
A3: Final Examination 40%
All students are required to attend at least 80% course hours to be eligible to sit in the final
exam.

5. Course Contents
Week/ Chapter Contents
Week 1 Introduction to Morphology
Week 2 Words, sentences and dictionaries
Week 3 A word and its part:
- Taking words apart
- Bound morpheme vs. free morpheme
- Root, affix and combining form
Week 4 A word and its part (cont):
- Morphemes & allomorphs
Week 5 A word and its forms:
- Lexemes, word forms and grammatical words
- Regular and irregular inflection
- Forms of nouns/ pronouns/ determiners /verbs/ adjectives
Week 6 A word and its relatives:
- Adverbs derived from adjectives
- Nouns derived from nouns
- Nouns derived from members of other word classes
- Adjectives derived from adjectives
- Verbs derived from verbs
Week 7 Compound words, blends and phrasal words
Week 8 Review
MIDTERM EXAMINATION (A2)
Week 9 A word and its structure:
- Meaning and structure
- Affixes as heads

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BA in English Linguistics – Public version 2
 Vietnam National University HCM Department of English
INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

Week/ Chapter Contents

Week 10 A word and its structure (cont.):
- Multiple affixation
- Compounds within compounds
- Mismatches between meaning and structure
Week 11 Productivity
Week 12 The historical sources of English word formation
Week 13 Words in English and in languages generally
Week 14 Mini test
Week 15 Review
FINAL EXAMINATION (A3)

Designed by: Nguyễn Lê Bảo Ngọc,

Ng M.A. Ho Chi Minh City, August 15, 2019
Revised by: Approved by the English Department Chair
Reviewed by:

Dr. Nguyễn
Nguy Huy Cường

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BA in English Linguistics – Public version 3