WEEK 7

TOPIC: INFLECTIONAL
PARADIGMS
OBJECTIVE: TO IDENTIFY THE NOUN, PRONOUN, VERB AND COMPARABLE PARADIGM
 INFLECTIONAL PARADIGMS
• A paradigm is a set of related forms having the same stem but different affixes. As a
reminder, here is a derivational paradigm with the stem head:
Ahead
Behead
Header
Headlong
Paradigms are also formed by
Headship the words to which the
Heady inflectional affixes are attached.
These are called inflectional
subhead
paradigms. There are only four
od them.
NOUN PARADIGM
Nouns may be categorized in terms of:
• Number (singular or plural)
• Case (possessive or not)
PRONOUN PARADIGM
VERB PARADIGM
 THE VERB PARADIGM
• Verbs have five forms.
• Each of the five forms has its own uses:
1. The stem (base form) : occurs after to, modals, indicating simple present tense with all person except
3rd person singular, and indicating imperative mood.
2. The present third-person singular : {-s 3d}used with he, she , it or nouns which these pronouns will
substitute.
COMPARABLE PARADIGM
• Other adjectives and adverbs usually take the preceding more or most instead of –er/-est. Some
adjectives have suppletive (irregular) forms in the comparative and superlative such as ‘good’:
 CONCLUSION

• In all inflectional paradigms, the stem remains constant.

• The suffixes produce the difference in meaning among the forms of each paradigm.
• Membership in one of these inflectional paradigms is one of the signals that enables us to group words
into four of the major pats of speech- nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.