Morphology

Morphology: is the study of word structure, and word

anatomy.
Morphemes: is the smallest morphologically
meaningful unit of a language. There is two types of
Morphemes (Free: stand alone as a word. For example:
Teacher, Student..( Bound: Don’t stand alone as a word.
For example: Suffix, prefixes,…..
Morphemes vs words
Any word should be a morphemes. But every
morphemes can’t be a word.
Word as types: refer to the distinct number of word in
a sentence. Example: a lazy student is the student who
doesn’t take notes.
Word as taken: refer to the total number of word in
sentence.
What is word? One morpheme or multiple that stand
alone as meaningful unit in a lunguage. For example: I,
she , fish, Multiple Example. Information There are two
types of word according to structure
1: Simple (Simplex): words consist one morpheme. For
example: Come, stand, wish, bad, 2: Complex: words

By: Helal Ahmad “ Noori “ 1

consist of More then one word. For example: unhappy,
successfully, enlargement,
Lexemes: are the headwords in a dictionary. For
example: try, tries, trying,
Note: any lexemes could be a morphemes but every
morphemes can’t be a lexemes
Lexemes: ( know as word families, only differ the
grammatical ending. For example: bring , talk,
Word formation:
❖ Blending: is a type of formation in which two or
more
Word are merged to form a new word.
Ex: internet. Inter mean international, or net mean
network
❖ Inflectional Morphemes: neither changed the
grammatical categories not the meaning.
Ex: classes, fly, flyies
❖ Derivational Morphemes: they change both the
meaning and categories.
For example : tech-re, it both change the meaning and
categories

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 ❖ Endocentric Compound: Have one head which
fulfils same linguistic function as one of its Part.
Ex: News paper
❖ Exocentric Compound: Are head less compound
which have no heat to fulfil any linguistic function.
Ex: light house
❖ Note: we create the sound in our mind for sounds
➢ Mental Lexicon: refer to your mental storage of
word

❖Lexicographer : is the dictionary Maker refer to

the people whose job is to make dictionaries.
❖Nonce Word:( occasionalism Word) Are the
words that could be Heard or seen very early.
Ex: Agree many
❖How many words?
Psycholinguists estimate that the average English-
speaking six-year-old Knows 10,000 words, and the
average high-school graduate around 60,000
words.
❖ Fast mapping: mapping is the ability to pick up
new words on the basis of a few random exposures
to them.
❖ Affixation: The process of adding affixes to roots
or base in order to vary function, modify meaning.

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 ❖ Word Structure: Divided a Complex word into is
basic part.
❖ What do affixes mean? When we made the
distinction between affixes and bound bases above,
we did so on the basis of a rather vague notion of
semantic robustnes
❖ Types of Affixes:
✓ Personal or participant affixes: These are
affixes that create ‘people nouns.
✓ Locative affixes: this are affixes that designate a
place. For example, in English we can use the suffix
– or – age
✓ Abstract Affixes: These are affixes that create
abstract nouns. For example: happiness
✓ Negative affixes: Nagitaive affixes add the meaning
not to their base. For example:: Un—in and non
Unhappy, inattentive, nonfunctional
✓ Private affixes: Private affixes mean something like
without X. Ex: Less—shoeless, hopeless.
✓ Prepositional and relational affixes: Prepositional
and relational affixes often convey notions of space
and / or time. We have over and out, pre and post.
Ex:overfill, overcoat, preschool, postwar.
✓ Quantitative affixes: These are affixes that have
something to do with amount. Ex:ful—handful—
helpful.

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 ✓ Evaluative affixes: Evaluative affixes consist of
diminutives, affixes that signal a smaller version of
the base. Ex: let—booklet—droplet.

➢ Word structure: The admissible arrangement

of sounds in words. Sound structure, syllable
structure, morphology. Ex: unhappiness
➢ Compounding words: Compounding words are
words that are composed of two (or more)
bases, roots, or stems. In English we generally
use free bases to compose compounds as the
example below.
A. Compounds of two nouns: windmill, dog
bed, book store.
B.Compounds of two adjectives: icy cold,
blue-green, red hot.
C.Compounds of an adjective and noun:
greenhouse, blackboard.
D. Compounds of noun and an adjective:
sky blue, cherry red, rock hard.
➢ Compound structure: We can look at compounds
as having internal structure in precisely the same
way that derived words do. And we can represent
that structure in the form of word trees.
➢ Types of compounds word:
1. Synthetic compounds words
2. Root compounds words

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 ❖ Synthetic compounds words: Synthetic
compounds are composed of two lexemes, where
the second element is derived from a verb, and the
first is interpreted as an argument of that verb. Ex:
Dog walker, hand washing, and homemade.
❖ Root compounds words: Root compounds are
made up of two lexemes. Which may be nouns,
adjectives, or verbs. The second lexeme is typically
not derived from a verb. Ex: windmill, ice cold,
hard hat, and red hot.
❖ Root: is the most basic form of a word that carries
the core meaning. Ex: Quick, fast, wrong
❖ Stem: is word a derived form of a root. Ex: unhappy
– unhappiness
❖ Base: refer to both root and Stem to which affixes
and be attached. Ex: truthfulness – awareness

❖ Head: is the main componet that carries the overall

meaning in a componet. Ex: black board.
➢ Compound according to Head they have two types.
A. Right Headed: the ones in which the main
componet is located on is right side. Ex: raincoat
B.Left Headed: the ones is which the main componet
is located on it’s left side. Ex : sunflower
1: attributes. About the relationship

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1:Attributes Compound: Have a modifier that gives
additional information about The head. Ex: read apple
– black Money
2: coordinative compound: two are more elements of
the equal rank are joined together to form a new word.
Ex: black and white.
3:Subordinated compound: Two or more element are
joind together as on Head and another as modifier. Ex:-
Book store
4: Functional shift :18 changing the Category of a word
such as noun u, verb n.
Wrote water Kick Kick n
Coinage:-I’s the way of Forming new words.
Back Formation, is the way of forming new word by
removing affixes From them. Ex: editor edit
information inform.
Acronym :- IS Creating a new Word from the initials of
several words and pronounced as one word.
Initials:- Are the First letters of Someone or somethings
name. Ex: USA UK WHO
Morphemes and their types
Clipping: Is a way of forming new word by removing
some letters From it. Information – info

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Productivity: refer to generating new word that slightly
or completely seem as in their previous form. Ex:
create – creation
Creativity: refer to the way of creating new word that
takes a complete different form. Ex: person – people
Factors of productivity
1: trans parency: refer to the wanderstion a word
category adding affixes to it. Ex: less- Head – headless
2: frequency of base: tells that how often the base form
of a word is used to create a new word. Ex: part – expart
3-UseFullness: Refers to how important meaningful
and useful the word is. Ex: tele – telephone
Affixes :- Aare bound morphemes which are added to
other Free morphemes to create new words.
Prefixes: Are bound morphemes which fare added at
the beginning a free morpheme to change its meaning.
Ex: in- im- in
Suffixes: Are bound morphemes which are added at the
and end of Free morpheme to change their meaning. -
ly-able-tion- less, s, ness
Infixes:-the are bound morphemes which Are added
with a free morphemes to change its meaning .

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Circumfixes: Consist of two. Part 1 prefixes” “e sufixes
added at the beginning and end of a Word at once to
change its meaning.
Ex:-un + Comfort + able un happly + ly
Affixes subtypes.
Inter Fixes: occur within a word to modify ito meaning
(by inserting additional letters.) International
Simul fixes- Replace Some specific part of words such,
grammatical Category and verb times.
Ex: Sing Song Foot Feet / man men /Come Came, Drink
Drunk
Transfixes: occur within a word to modify. It by
inserting additional element to the word. Ex: (Book) in
Arabic (kutub)
Reduplication: - Is a morphological process in which all
or part of word Is repeated. Ex: mama, papa, Bye-bye
Inflection:- Is a morphological process in which word
Form is changed not the category.
Note: Sometimes inflection indicts. Grammatical
category 1:Number 2:person 2: gender 4: case 5: tense

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Number – In morphology, number is. Inflectional
morpheme which state if A noun is singular or plural.
S – es – ies
Person: in morphology person is a metrological
process which idicates the subject F of a sentence. First
– second – or third person.
Gender: - In morphological gender is an inflectional
category which indicates the sentence of nouns.
Case: In morphology, Case is a Process which indicates
the way of a noun in a sentences.
Part of case

1: Normative Case : in this case the nouns function as

the subject. ( I she he ) of sentences.
2: accusative case: in this case the nouns function as
the object (me, her , his, ) of sentences.
3: Genitive case: in this case the nouns inside indicate
the passsion in the sentence. ( my car, your pen , their
home)
4: dative case: this case indicate indirect object in
sentences
( To you, to him , to them)

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5-Ablative case: Indicates a movement away from
something (away Form home, out of the window… )
Note: These case vary in different language

6- Ergative case: In this case the nouns function the

subject of transitive Verb. Ex:I eats e apple
7- Absolutive Case: In this case the nouns function as
subject of an intransitive verb.
Ex: She is raining
Default Ending: refers to the regular inflected form of
words
Ex-nouns+s / Verb+ed / adjectiveter/ ets
Strong Verbs: are the ones in morphology which have
an internal stem change.
Ex:- Sing Sang Sung/run- ran
Weak verb: in morphology, fallow regular conjugation
Ex: went – wanted
Paradigm: Refers to the set of inflected Form of words
that Follow a common pattern (gender, tense, number
Mood…)
Ex: Be is, am, are, was were.

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Conjugation: in morphology refer to process of
changing verb Form. (Gender, tense number, mood) Ex:
speak spoke, Spoken
Declension: in morpology refer to the process of
changing noun Form. Ex:- marker markers Finger
Fingers

Inflectional classes: in morphology. Refer the group of

words that share similar inflectional pattern. Ex:
Strong verb, weak verbs
Theme vowels: are ones that are added in the middle of
verbs to inflect them according to person.

End of the semester 5

Your brother Helal Ahmad “ Noori “
Date 2023/ 11/ 23

By: Helal Ahmad “ Noori “ 12

By: Helal Ahmad “ Noori “ 13