IMMEDIATE CONSTITUENTS IN MORPHOLOGY

1. DEFINITION
‘IMMEDIATE CONSTITUENTS are any of the two meaningful
parts forming a larger linguistic unit’ [Arnold, 1986: 83].
Four sorts of morphemes – bases, prefixes, infixes, and suffixes
are put together to build words. When we analyse a word, we
usually divide a word into two parts of which it seems to have
been composed.
Example: un|gentle|man|ly

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 ANALYSIS
• Let’s consider Bloomfield’s analysis of the word
ungentlemanly
• Comparing this word with other words, we recognize the
morpheme un- as a negative prefix because we have
often come across words built on the pattern un- + adj.
base: uncertain, unconscious, uneasy, unfortunate,
unmistakable, unnatural, unearthly, unsightly, untimely,
unwomanly, etc.
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• at the first cut we obtain the two following immediate
constituents: un- and gentlemanly: un- | gentlemanly
• Continuing our analysis, we see that there are many adjectives
following the pattern noun base + -ly, such as womanly,
masterly, scholarly, soldierly, manly, etc. with the same
semantic relationship of ‘having the quality of the person
denoted by the base’.

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 • Thus, at the second cut we obtain the two following
immediate constituents: gentleman and -ly”: gentleman | -
ly
• There are compound nouns following the pattern adj. +
noun, such as nobleman, highbrow, middlebrow, lowbrow,
lazysusan, flatfoot, etc. Thus, the third cut separates the
two free bases of the compound noun gentleman, resulting
in the two immediate constituents: gentle and man:
gentle|man

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 • We have now shown the layers of structure by which the
word has been composed, down to its ultimate
constituents: un-, gentle, man, and -ly.
un- gentle|man -ly

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 • Doing word diagrams, like the one right above, to show
layers of structure, we make successive divisions into two
parts, each of which is called an IMMEDIATE CONSTITUENT,
abbreviated IC.

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 SOME RECOMMENDATIONS ON IC DIVISION
• ① If a word ends in an inflectional suffix, the first cut is between
this suffix and the rest of the word.
• work + -er |-s
• pre- + conceiv(e)| -ed
• mal- + formation | -s

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 • ② One of the IC’s should be, if possible, a free form. A free
form is one that can be uttered alone with meaning: egg,
doing, enlarge, supportable, etc. Here are examples of
wrong and right first cuts:
• WRONG: en- | large + -ment
• RIGHT: en- + large | -ment
• in- + depend | -ent >< in- | depend + -ent
• un- + law | -ful >< un- | law + -ful

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 • ③. The meanings of the IC’s should be related to the meaning of the
word. It would be wrong to cut ‘restrain’ like this: rest | rain
• Because neither ‘rest’ nor ‘rain’ has a semantic connection with
‘restrain’. Nor would a division of ‘starchy’ as: star | chy
• Be right because this would give an unrelated morpheme {star} and a
meaningless fragment ‘chy’. The two examples are properly cut in this
way:
• re- | strain starch |-y

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 DIAGRAM
When we analyze a word, we show the process of word
formation in reverse. First, we divide the word into two
parts. We continue this way cutting every parts into two
more until we can reduce the word to its ultimate
constituents, that is to the morphemes of which the
word is composed – those which cannot be divided any
more:

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• ungentlemanly

un- gentlemanly

gentleman -ly

gentle man

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• un- gentle|man -ly

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• The two IC’s of the first layer of construction are ‘un-‘and
‘gentlemanly’
• The two IC’s of the second layer of construction are
‘gentleman’ and ‘-ly’
• The two IC’s of the third layer of construction are ‘gentle’
and ‘man’

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 EXERCISES
• EXERCISE 1: Give the IC cuts of each of the following
words. Identify all the possible morphemes in each of the
following words:
• 1. arriv(e) – al
arrive: a free base which is a verb
-al: a derivational class-changing noun-forming suffix
meaning ‘process or state of’

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 verb + -al = noun meaning ‘process or state of
verb-ing’
arrive + -al = arrival meaning ‘process or state of
arriving’
Examples:
survival, recital, removal, (dis)approval, proposal,
refusal, acquittal, etc.

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 • build -s
• build: a free base which is a verb
• -s /-z/ : an allomorph of the inflectional verb present
tense third person singular morpheme -s3

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 • hopefully Adjective +-ly1 = Adverb
hope -ful -ly hopeful + -ly1 = hopefully

- hope: a free base which is a noun

-ful /-fl/: a derivational class-changing adjective-forming suffix
meaning ‘full of ‘
-ly /-li /: the derivational class-changing adverb-forming suffix -ly1
meaning ‘in the specified manner’

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 EXERCISE
• Give the IC cuts of each of the following words. Identify all
the possible morphemes in each of the following words:

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 1. lifelessness 7. prehistoric
2. ungracious 8. deepened
3. unlawful 9. inflammation
4. uninspired 10. midafternoon
5. unemployment 11. reappearance
6. malconstruction 12. expressionism

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 1. lifelessness 7. prehistoric
2. ungracious 8. deepened
3. unlawful 9. inflammation
4. uninspired 10. midafternoon
5. unemployment 11. reappearance
6. malconstruction 12. expressionism

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 Identify the inflectional affixes, derivational affixes, roots,
stems, bases in the following words

• atoms • daydreaming
• atomic • bypasses
• subatomic • supersalesman
• automically • cigarette lighters

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 Diagram these words to show the layers of structure

• itemized • counterdeclaration
• professional • unsophisticatedness
• Icelandic • transferential
• misjudgment • marriageability
• uncomfortable • irresponsibilities

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 Write the meaning of the italicized morphemes
• antedate • malfunction
• replay • impossible
• manly • penniless
• keeper • disagreement
• unable • ex-coach

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 1. Explain why ‘a’ and ‘an’ are two allomorphs of the same
morpheme.
2. Identify the allomorphs of the inflectional verb past simple
morpheme {ed1} in the verb ‘be’. How are they conditioned?

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 Write the allomorphic formula for each of the following past-
tense forms
speak / spoke • bite / bit
begin / began • burn / burnt
find / found • grow / grew
bring / brought • tear / torn
see / saw • choose / chosen

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 SOME COMMON AFFIXES
-ation: V+ -ation = Noun Examples: formation, -ic = Noun + -ic = Adj
relaxation, combination, conversation, explanation, Examples: historic, symbolic,
etc.
metalic,
-ment: V+-ment = Noun development, movement,
improvement, retirement, employment, agreement, -i/ous = Noun + -ous = Adj.
etc. humorous, glamorous,
- al: V+-al = Noun dangerous, famous
arrival, refusal, approval, proposal, recital, etc.
-al = Noun + -al = Adj
-ance: V+ -ance = noun
national, cultural, natural
acceptance, importance,
-ive = V + -ive = Adj
-ure: V + ure = Nouns
selective, collective, active, creative
pleasure, failure, creature

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