DERIVATIONAL

MORPHEMES
 DERIVATIONAL MORPHEMES?
What is derivation?
Affixes + root words = new word, new
meaning
Examples of derivational morphemes:
ify
cation
ize
ish
ness

e.g : addition of ify to the word pure

gives the meaning to make pure
WHAT DOES DERIVATIONAL
MORPHEMES DO?
Derivational morpheme + base
word
Adds new
meaning

Changes the grammatical

class
 ADDS NEW MEANING
Love + able = lovable

Read + able = Readable

Friend + ship = Friendship

Il + legal = Illegal
CHANGES THE GRAMMATICAL
CLASS
LOVE (noun/verb) + ABLE = LOVEABLE (adj)

CLEAR (verb) + ANCE = CLEARANCE (noun)

VACCIN (noun) + ATE = VACCINATE ( verb)

EXACT(adjective) + ly = EXACTLY(adverb)
 INFLECTIONAL
MORPHEMES
Affixes + root words to indicate
basic grammatical categories
(tense, plurality)

Adds general meaning instead

of a whole new meaning

e.g : cat + s = cats (plural)

walk + ed = walked (past
tense)
Inflectional Example
morphemes
-s 3rd person She wait-s at the
singular present caf
-ed Past tense She wait-ed at the
caf
-ing progressive She is drink-ing the
coffee
-s plural Jane ate the muffin-
s
-en Past participle Jane has eat-en the
muffins
-s Possesive Janes hair is short

-er comparative Jane has short-er

hair than Alex
-est superlative Janes hair is the
short-est
WORD FORMATION
 AFFIXATION

Adding prefixes /
suffixes to form a new
form of word
-ion -ity
To give a whole new
meaning to words, generally
 BACK FORMATION

Back-formation is when a shorter

word (lexeme) is created from a
longer word. Back-formation occurs
when an affix (prefix, suffix) is taken
away from a word to create a new
one.

e.g : BABYSIT - BABYSITTER

CONVERSATE- CONVERSATION
 babysit from babysitter (a verb from
a noun)
edit from editor (a verb from a noun)
syringe from syringes (a singular
form from a plural)
euthanase/euthanize from
euthanasia (a verb from a noun)
enthuse from enthusiasm (a verb
from a noun)
resurrect from resurrection (a verb
from a noun)
sleaze from sleazy (a noun from an
adjective)