Handout 1 – Class 3 – Morphology and Syntax

1. Identifying morphemes
The following piece is taken from ‘Here Comes the Son’, a review of the 2009 film about
John Lennon (N#803:48). Divide each word that has internal structure into morphemes
and indicate whether each morpheme is free or bound. If bound, state whether
derivational or inflectional. Are there any grammatical free morphemes? Discuss any
problems which you encountered in your analysis.
But here we have Nowhere Boy, a new biopic of John Lennon, and the surprise is that
it’s rather fresh and watchable. Director Sam Taylor Wood avoids the Beatles clichés by
focusing on John’s early years, before he left for Hamburg with Paul and George, and
long before he became more famous than Jesus.

2. Determining constituents
If, by using the tests for constituency, we can establish that extremely silly is a
constituent in the sentence He always tells extremely silly jokes, does this mean that
extremely silly jokes cannot be a constituent of the same sentence? How about silly jokes
in the same sentence, can that be a constituent of that sentence if extremely silly is?

3. Determining constituents
Decide whether or not the bracketed sequence of words in each of the following
sentences is a constituent of that sentence. Remember that some tests will work better
than others depending on the nature of the string. If the result is ambiguous, test an
alternative constituent to see if that gives a clearer result.
a) The Telegraph called [David Beckham's new beard] the most memorable part of
England's 3–0 win over Belarus.
b) Giggs scored a truly [sublime goal].
c) Alf Ramsey gave [Colin Bell his England debut] against Sweden at Wembley in
May 1968.
d) The objective is to hit [the goal keeper with the ball].

4. Constituency
The following pairs of sentences appear superficially similar even though they have
very different constituent structures. Use three constituency tests to demonstrate the
differences.

1
The following pairs of sentences are superficially similar in structure. In fact they have
quite different constituent structures. Use two constituency tests to uncover the
differences. (In each case the (a) versions are the original.)

1. a) Mrs Birpitz accidentally bit off her husband’s nose. (AUS#51:39)

b) Mrs Birpitz accidentally fell off her husband’s ladder.

2. a) She brings in the garbage cans every week. (AUS#65:29)

b) She sits in the garbage cans every week.

3 a) You’ve met someone gorgeous. (AUS#51:38-9)

b) You’ve made someone gorgeous.