Morphology: Study of forms

Word as the smallest independent unit of language

Morpheme: minimal unit of meaning

Bound morpheme: affixes (They can’t stand by themselves)
Free morpheme: nouns, adjectives… (stand by themselves)

 Lexical morphemes
 Functional morphemes

Inflectional morphemes: 3rd persons, past

Positive prefixes

Added to the beginning of a free morpheme to form a new word

ante-, be-, en(m)-, fore-, hyper-, inter-, intra-, macro-, maxi-, mega-, micro-, mid-, midi-, mini-,
post-, pre-, super- and ultra-.

The process of deriving a new noun from different word classes is referred to as nominalization

A noun-forming prefix, also called a nominal prefix or a nominalizer

[ANTE-]: denotes order in time; ante-church

[FORE-]: designates order in time; forefather

[MACRO-]: describes size; macroevolution

[MAXI-]: large or long of the object named in the root; maxi-taxi

[MEGA-]: expresses measurement; megawatt

[MICRO-]: expresses size; micro-organism

[MID-]: denote order in time; midcareer, mid-flow, mid-prelude

[MIDI-]: indicates size, medium size of the object mentioned in the root; midi-coat, midi-dress

[MINI-]: diminutive; mini-camera, mini-dress, mini-gun

[POST-]: after; postmodernism

[PRE-]: Precede; pre-judge

Adjective-forming prefixes

An adjective-forming prefix: adjectivalization

[HYPER-]: highlights degree; hypertension

[INTER-]: between the entities; inter-continent

[INTRA-]: within the entity; intra-racial

[SUPER-]: exceeding, greater in power; super-athlete, super-genius, super-hero

[ULTRA-]: represents degree in physical terms; ultra-violet, ultra-violet

Verb-forming prefixes

A verb-forming prefix, also called a verbal prefix: verbalization

[BE-]: signifies causation: befoul

[EN(M)-]: do the action, provide an entity, put an entity in the thing, confer on the entity: emblaze,
enkindle

Negative prefixes

a(n)-, ab-, anti-, contra-, counter-, de-, dis-, in-, mal-, mis-, non-, pseudo-, quasi-, semi-, sub-, un-
and under-.

[A(N)-]: divergent from the quality: an amoral; unlike the quality: atemporal sphere

[AB-]: embodies distinction: aboral

[DE-]: symbolizes oppositeness: decontrol, declassify

[DIS-]: distinction: disreputable, dissimilar

[IN-]: distinction in quality: inaccurate

[NON-]: failing to do the action: non-payment, non-resistance; not belong to the thing: non-
believer, non-reader; different: non-aggressive, non-verbal

[UN-]: stand for distinction: unhelpful, unwise

Suffixal Categories
A domain is background knowledge with respect to which suffixes can be characterized.

A facet is a portion of a domain which deals with a special physical or social experience
Compound categories
A noun compound is a structure that is made up of two free morphemes or lexical substructures:
to express a new idea.

 ‘H is part of M’: armpit, chest wall, coat collar, jacket pockets, company board, court jury
 ‘M is part of H’: a flower garden is a garden of flowers.
 ‘H is made of M’: bronze medal, cotton socks; rye whiskey is whiskey made from
fermented rye.
 ‘H is used for M’: a teaspoon is a spoon used for stirring tea
 ‘M is used for H’: a steam engine is an engine that uses steam to generate power
Compound Domains
Compounding: joining of two separate words: fast-food
Blending: Angry+hungry: Hangry
Clipping: Gasolina -> Gas (informal speech)
Hypocorisms: A longer word reduced to a single syllable: Moving picture
(movie) Breakfast (brekky)
Backformation: emote: emotion (V -> N)
Conversion: use the noun as a verb: butter the toast, please
Derivation: Prefixes, suffixes and infixes
Eponymy: A name that is used to name other things
Aspect: Whereas tense is concerned with locating an (entire) event in time relative to the moment
of speaking, aspect is a grammatical category that encodes a different kind of temporal
characteristic, such as whether an action is (or was) completed, ongoing, repeated (iterative), or
habitual