Chapter 1

GRAMMATICAL UNITS

Presented by Ngo Phuong Thao

 Table of contents

01 02 03
MORPHEMES CLAUSES AND
PHRASES
AND WORDS SENTENCES

scribe the
ection here
The seven-rank hierarchy

SENTENCES SENTENCES
are analyzed into are used to build
CLAUSES CLAUSES
are analyzed into are used to build
PHRASES PHRASES
are analyzed into are used to build
WORDS WORDS
are analyzed into are used to build
MORPHEMES MORPHEMES
are analyzed into are used to build
MORPH MORPH
are analyzed into are used to build
ALOMORPH ALOMORPH
 01
MORPHEMES
AND
WORDS
Definition
- Morpheme is the smallest meaningful elements/units
into which words can be analyzed.

- Morphology refers to the way morphemes operate in

language.

- Word is a single unit of language that has meaning

and can be spoken or written.
1.1. Free and bound morphemes
Free morpheme Bound morpheme

Can stand alone as independent - Cannot stand alone in the language.

words since they carry full semantic - Adds the meaning or grammatical
weight. function of a free morpheme.

E.g: E.g:
care in careful -ful in careful
happy in unhappiness un- & -ness in unhappiness
order in disorder dis- in disorder
1.2. Roots, Stems, Bases and Affixes
- A root morpheme is the basic form to
which other morphemes can be attached.
E.g.
chron- (chronology, chronic, chronograph)

- Stems are also forms to which other morphemes

can be attached and may be made up of more than one
morphemes.
E.g.
repay, meatball
1.2. Roots, Stems, Bases and Affixes
- Stems are sometimes created by the juxtaposition of
two roots in a compound.
E.g. babysit

- Stems can also be formed by adding meaningless

elements to certain roots.
E.g. binary
The -n- is added to form these stems
trinity
1.2. Roots, Stems, Bases and Affixes
- The term bases refer to basic core words as elements in
larger words.
E.g.
Go, like, sing going, likes, sings

- Affixes include suffixes and prefixes, both are added

before a word to form a new word.
E.g.
Dis-, - able disorder, adoreable
1.3 "Lexical" and “grammatical" morphemes
Lexical
- Expresses meanings that can be
specified by using dictionary terms
or by pointing out examples of
things, events, or properties which
the morphemes can be used to
refer to.
E.g. tree, burp, above, red, anti,
-ism
Grammatical
- Expresses a very common
meaning or is specifically required
in some context.
- Expresses a relation within a
sentence rather than denoting
things, activities, etc., in the world.
E.g. -ed, -s
1.3 "Lexical" and “grammatical" morphemes
- Grammatical morphemes can be divided into 2 types:
free and bound grammatical morphemes.

- Free grammatical morphemes (or function words) are

independent words, while bound grammatical
morphemes cannot stand alone.

E.g.
Free grammatical morphemes: the, by, as in
Bound grammatical morphemes: -ed, -ing, -er, -est
1.4. Inflection and derivation
Inflectional morphemes Derivational morphemes

- Creates a new form of the old - Creates a new word when

word attached.

E.g. E.g.
-s in boys drinkable from drink
-es in potatoes taxation from tax
-ies in lorries
-es in "He goes to school every
day”
went from go
1.4. Inflection and derivation
- There are 8 inflectional affixes in English:
plural (-s and its irregular variants, e.g. men)
• plural (-s and its irregular variants, e.g. men)
• -'s (possessive)
• -s (verb suffix for third person singular present tense)
• -ing (verb suffix)
• -er (comparative)
• -est (superlative suffix)
• perfect' suffix on verbs (-en, and variants, e.g., as in put
and gone)
• past tense (-ed and irregular variants, e.g., as in bought
and ate)
1.4. Inflection and derivation
Inflectional morphology
- Studies the way in which
words vary (or inflect) in order
to express grammatical
contrasts in sentences.
Derivational morphology
(affixes)
- Studies the principles
governing the construction of
new words, without reference
to the specific grammatical
role a word might play in a
sentence.
1.4. Inflection and derivation
Inflectional morphemes Derivational morphemes

- Creates a new form of the old - Creates a new word when

word attached.

E.g. E.g.
-s in boys drinkable from drink
-es in potatoes taxation from tax
-ies in lorries
-es in "He goes to school every
day”
went from go
1.5. Other ways of forming new words
1.5.1. Compounding
Compound Nouns Compound Verbs Compound Adjectives
N+N P+N N+V N + Adj. V+N
V+N Adv. + N Adj. + V V + Adj. Adj. + N
N+V V+P P+V Adj. + Adj. P+N
Adj. + N Phrase Adj. + N Adv. + Adj. V+V
V+V compounds P + Adj. Adj./Adv. + N
N+N V+P
Compound Adverbs Neoclassical
compounds
Uptightly Astronaut

cross-modally hydroelectric
mechanophobe
1.5. Other ways of forming new words
1.5.2. Conversion 1.5.3. Acronyms 1.5.4. Brand names
A word changes its Turns word-initial Turn brand names
class without any letter sequences into common
change of form. into ordinary words. nouns/verbs.
E.g. hand to hand E.g. NATO, WTO E.g. kleenex

1.5.7.Extending the domain

1.5.5.Blends 1.5.6.Clippings of derivational morphemes
Two words merge Crcate an informal Makes a derivational
into each other. shortening of a word. morpheme more
E.g. brunch E.g. Ad productive than it was.
(breakfast + lunch) (advertisement) E.g. prioritize
 02
PHRASES
Definition
- A group of words that is part of a sentence.

- There are 2 types of phrase: adjectival phrase

and adverbial phrase.

The adjectival phrase modifies a noun, the adverbial

phrase modifies a verb, and can usually be replaced
by a single -word adverb.
Definition
Example:
The assailant struck the man behind the ear.
adverbial
The assailant struck the man behind the railway station. phrase
The lecture begins at one o'clock.

People in poor countries often suffer from malnutrition. adjectival

phrase
1.2. Roots, Stems, Bases and Affixes
Endocentric phrases Exocentric phrases

- Expand a central element (the Phrases which cannot be analyzed

head) in the same way as “endocentric
- Have the same grammatical phrases”.
function as the central word or the
head.
E.g. E.g.
cars inside / the cars.
the cars
the big cars
all the big cars
all the big cars in the garage
Contemporary syntax classification
In considering word classes (or parts of speech),
contemporary syntax classifies English phrases into:

• Noun Phrase (NP)

• Verb phrase (VP)

• Adjective Phrase (Adj P)

• Adverb Phrase (AP)

• Prepositional Phrase (PP)
1. Noun Phrase (NP)
Functional formula: (Premodifier) + Head + (Postmodifier)
E.g.
The students in class ETE.

2. Verb Phrase (VP)

Functional formula: (Auxiliary) + Head + (Object/Complement) + (Modifier)

E.g.
He has been sleeping in his room for 12 hours.
3. Adjective Phrase (Adj P)
Functional formula: (Intensifier) + Head + (Complement)
E.g.
Delighted to meet you.

4. Adverb Phrase (AP)

Functional formula: (Intensifier) + Head
E.g.
very quickly

5. Prepositional Phrase (PP)

Functional formula: Head + Object
E.g.
in the garden
 03
CLAUSES AND SENTENCES
3.1. Sentence

- A sentence is a combination of words

- Used to express a complete thought
- A sentence contains both a subject and a predicate
- There are 2 main types of sentence: Simple sentence and
complicated sentence.
3.1. Sentence
 Simple sentence
- A sentence that cannot be subdivided into
constituent sentences is called simple sentence.
E.g.
S+V She is singing

S+V+O She is eating a hotdog

S + V + C (Complement) She is a witch
3.1. Sentence
 Complicated sentence
- A complicated sentence contains in it combined simple
sentences.

- A sentence within a sentence is sometimes called

an embedded sentence (or clauses).
E.g.
I buy it because I like it.
3.2. Clause
- The term clause refers to a sentence within
a sentence.
- Looks like a complete sentence being a part
of a complete sentence.
- Has a subject and a finite verb.
E.g.
I lie down
3.2. Clause
- There are 2 main ways to form a complicated sentence:

• They may either be co-ordinated, which means

a number of clauses in a sentence are equal.
E.g.
I ate steamed rice and you ate fried rice Compound sentence

• One clause may be subordinate to the main clause.

E.g.
I ate steamed rice while you ate fried rice Complex sentence

main clause
3.1. Sentence
 Elliptical sentences
- Sentences are allowed to omit part of their
structure and thus are dependent on a previous
sentence called elliptical sentences.
E.g.
A: Where are you going?
B: To town.
THANK
YOU!