Introduction

Lexical morphology is a subfield of linguistics that deals with the study of the internal
structure of words. Morphology, on the other hand, is the study of the structure and formation of
words. In this assignment, we will explore the concept of lexical morphology and morphology
models as presented by different scholars, and we will provide examples to illustrate their
theories.

1. Lexical morphology

1.1. The Word-and-Paradigm approach

The Word-and-Paradigm approach is a theory proposed by Matthews (1974) and focuses

on the paradigmatic relationships among words. According to this theory, a language has a finite
set of paradigms, and each paradigm consists of a set of word forms that are related to each other
through a set of grammatical features.

For example, in English, the paradigm for the verb "to be" consists of "am, is, are, was,
and were" which are related to each other through the features of person, number, and tense.

1.2. The Item-and-Arrangement approach

The Item-and-Arrangement approach, proposed by Hockett (1954), posits that words are
composed of morphemes, which are the smallest units of meaning in language. Morphemes can
be combined in different ways to form different words. According to this theory, there are two
types of morphemes: free morphemes, which can stand alone as words, and bound morphemes,
which must be attached to other morphemes to form words.

For example, the word "unhappiness" consists of three morphemes: "un-", which is a
bound morpheme meaning "not," "happy," which is a free morpheme, and "-ness," which is a
bound morpheme that forms a noun from an adjective.

1.3. The Network Morphology approach

The Network Morphology approach, proposed by Aronoff (1994), suggests that words
are represented as networks of morphemes, where each morpheme has a set of relationships with
other morphemes. This approach emphasizes the importance of the relationships between
morphemes and the patterns that emerge from these relationships.

For example, the English verb "to run" can be analyzed as a network of morphemes
consisting of the root "run," the present tense morpheme "-s," and the past tense morpheme "-
ed."

2. Morphology models

2.1. The Word-and-Paradigm Model

The Word-and-Paradigm Model, proposed by Halle and Marantz (1993), is based on the
Word-and-Paradigm approach and posits that words are stored in the mental lexicon as a set of
paradigmatic forms. Each word form is related to other forms in the same paradigm through a set
of morphological features. This model emphasizes the importance of the relationship between a
word's form and its meaning.

For example, the word "cat" can be stored in the mental lexicon as a set of paradigmatic
forms, such as "cat, cats."

2.2. The Distributed Morphology Model

The Distributed Morphology Model, proposed by Halle and Marantz (1993), is based on
the Item-and-Arrangement approach and posits that words are formed through the combination
of morphemes that are distributed throughout the syntactic structure of a sentence. This model
emphasizes the importance of syntactic structures in the formation of words.

For example, the word "unhappiness" can be formed through the combination of the
morphemes "un-", "happy," and "-ness," which are distributed throughout the syntactic structure
of a sentence.

2.3. The Construction Morphology Model

The Construction Morphology Model, proposed by Booij and Goldberg (2003), suggests
that words are formed through the combination of constructions, which are patterns of form and
meaning that are stored in the mental lexicon. This model emphasizes the importance of the
relationship between form and meaning in the formation of words.

For example, the word "butterfly" can be analyzed as a construction that combines the
concepts of "butter" and "fly" to form a new concept.

Conclusion

In this assignment, we explored the concept of lexical morphology and morphology

models as presented by different scholars. We learned that lexical morphology is the study of the
internal structure of words, while morphology is the study of the structure and formation of
words. We also saw that different scholars have proposed different theories and models to
explain how words are formed and stored in the mental lexicon. Through examples, we saw how
these theories and models can be applied to different languages and words.

References

Bauer, L. (1983). English word-formation. Cambridge University Press.

Booij, G. (2007). The grammar of words: An introduction to linguistic morphology. Oxford

University Press.

Bybee, J. (1985). Morphology: A study of the relation between meaning and form. John
Benjamins Publishing.
Giegerich, H. J. (1999). Understanding morphology. Oxford University Press.

Goldberg, A. E. (1995). Constructions: A construction grammar approach to argument structure.

University of Chicago Press.

Jackendoff, R. (1975). Morphological and semantic regularities in the lexicon. Language, 51(3),
639-671.

Marchand, H. (1969). The categories and types of present-day English word-formation: A

synchronic-diacronic approach. University of Munich Press.

Marantz, A. (1997). No escape from syntax: Don't try morphological analysis in the privacy of
your own lexicon. University of Pennsylvania Working Papers in Linguistics, 4(2),
201-225.

Matthews, P. H. (1991). Morphology (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Pinker, S. (1999). Words and rules: The ingredients of language. Basic Books.

Stump, G. T. (2001). Inflectional morphology: A theory of paradigm structure. Cambridge

University Press.