Chapter-2 Morphology

TON DUC THANG UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

DIVISION OF LINGUISTICS, LITERATURE & CULTURAL STUDIES
INTRODUCTION TO LANGUAGE - 001164
Morphology:
CHAPTER 2:
The words of language
Lecturer: Le Thi Phuong
31/7/2020 001164-Chapter 2: The words of language 1

CONTENTS
I. Content words and Function words

II. Morphemes: the minimal units of meaning
III. Rules of word formation
IV. Other morphological Processes

WHAT IS MORPHOLOGY?
Morphology:
• Study of word-formation
• The study of internal structure of words and of the rules by
which words are formed.
UNHAPPINESS  UN – HAPPI – NESS

CONTENT WORDS AND FUNCTION WORDS
• Content words denote concepts (objects, actions and
attributes, ideas,...)
• Nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs are content words.
E.g. children, sing, beautifully …
• Sometimes called the open class words because we can
add and regularly do add new words to these classes.
• E.g: Facebook, blog, online, selfie …

CONTENT WORDS AND FUNCTION WORDS (CONT.)
Function words:
• do not have clear lexcial meaning or obvious concepts
associated with them.
• specify grammatical relations and have little or no semantic
content.
E.g. Conjunctions (and, or, but,…)
Prepositions (in, of, at,...)
Articles (the, a/an)
• Sometimes called closed class words


Exercise: Write C for content words and F for

function words.
1. He is a teacher.
2. Mr.Danh teaches morphology.
3. My favorite game is Pokémon.

Exercise: Write C for content words and F for

function words.
4. Morphology is not interesting.

5. Harry Potter is the best novel of the world.
6. She puts the Ipad in her schoolbag.
7. My mother hates cats.

MORPHEMES:
THE MINIMAL UNITS OF MEANING
1. What are morphemes?
2. Bound and free morphemes
3. Prefixes, suffixes and infixes
4. Roots and stems

WHAT ARE MORPHEMES?
Morphemes: minimal meaningful units which may

constitute words or parts of words.
UN – HAPPY
UN – SAFE
UN – FAIR
WHAT ARE MORPHEMES? (CONT.)
A single word: composed of 1 or more morphemes

A morpheme: represented by
• a single sound: morpheme –a: without. E.g: amoral, asexual
• a single syllable: childish ..
• 2 syllables: camel, lady, water ..
• 3 syllables: crocodile …
• 4 or more syllables: helicopter …

• The meaning of a morpheme: constant
E.g: singer, painter, worker … => er: one who does
• 2 different morphemes may be pronounced identically
E.g: singer # taller
• 2 morphemes may have the same meaning but different forms
E.g: singer = songster


BOUND AND FREE MORPHEMES
• E.g. Boy, desire, gentle, man
• Free morphemes may stand alone and constitute

words by themselves.

BOUND AND FREE MORPHEMES (CONT.)
E.g. –ish (childish), -ly (happily), dis- (disqualified)
• Bound morphemes are never words by themselves

but are always parts of words, must be attached to a
base morpheme.

BOUND AND FREE MORPHEMES (CONT.)
• Bound morphemes include:

+ prefixes
+ suffixes
+ infixes
+ circumfixes
• Prefixes, suffixes, infixes & circumfixes can be called
affixes.

PREFIXES, SUFFIXES AND INFIXES
E.g. prejudge, bisexual

Prefixes are morphemes that occur before other
morphemes.
E.g. singer, pianist, eating
• Suffixes are morphemes that occur after other

morphemes.

PREFIXES, SUFFIXES AND INFIXES (CONT.)
E.g. Bontoc (spoken in the Philippines)

Nouns/ Adjectives => Verbs
fikas (strong) fumikas (to be strong)
kilas (red) kumilas (to be red)
fusul (enemy) fumusul (to be an enemy)
Infixes: morphemes that are inserted into other morphemes.

PREFIXES, SUFFIXES AND INFIXES (CONT.)
E.g. In Chickasaw ( a language in Oklahoma)
Circumfixes: morphemes that are attached to a base morpheme

both initially & finally => discontinuous morphemes

ROOTS AND STEMS
• Complex word = a morpheme ROOT + Affixe(s)

E.g. painter, reread, conceive, linguist
• A root may or may not stand alone as a word.
paint + er = painter
re + read = reread
con + ceive = conceive
ling + uist = linguist

ROOTS AND STEMS (CONT.)
• Bound roots:
+ not occur in isolation
+ acquire meaning only in combination with other

morphemes
E.g: deceive, conceive, perceive

• STEM = Root morpheme + an affix

• Other affixes + a stem = a more complex stem.
Root believe (verb)
Stem believe + able (verb + suffix)
Stem un + believe + able (prefix + verb + suffix)
Word un + believe + able+ ly (prefix + verb + suffix+ suffix)
• With the addition of each new affix, a new stem and a

new word are formed.
• Base: any root or stem to which an affix is attached.
=> system, systematic, unsystematic, unsystematical:

bases
Exercise: Underline the roots in these words.

1. Womanly 7. Enlighten
2. Endear 8. Friendship
3. Failure 9. Befriend
4. Famous 10. Unfriend
5. Infamous 11. Subway
6. Lighten 12. Preschool

Exercise: Underline the roots in these words.

1. Womanly 7. Enlighten
2. Endear 8. Friendship
3. Failure 9. Befriend
4. Famous 10. Unfriend
5. Infamous 11. Subway
6. Lighten 12. Preschool

RULES OF WORD FORMATION
By using the morphological rules of English, we create

new words

RULES OF WORD FORMATION:
DERIVATIONAL MORPHOLOGY
• E.g. -ish (boyish), -full (beautiful), en- (enlarge) …

• Derivational morphemes have clear semantic
content.
• Roots, prefixes and most suffixes are derivational
morphemes.
• The form that results from the addition of a
derivational morpheme is called a derived word.

DERIVATIONAL MORPHOLOGY (CONT.)
• The derived word may be of a different word class

from the original word.
E.g. Friend (n) + ship -> friendship
believe (v) + able  believable (adj)
dark (adj) + en  darken (v)

INFLECTIONAL MORPHOLOGY
• E.g: -s (boys), -er ( cleverer), -ed (watched)

• Inflectional morphemes don’t add lexical meaning but
have certain grammatical functions (represent
relationships between different parts of a sentence)
• Inflectional morphemes are always
bound morphemes.
• All English inflectional morphemes are suffixes.

INFLECTIONAL MORPHEMES (CONT.)
English Inflectional Morphemes Examples

-s plural She ate the donut-s.
-’s possessive Disa’s hair is short.
-er comparative Disa has short-er hair than Karin.
-est superlative Disa has the short-est hair.
-s third-person singular present She wait-s at home.
-ed past tense She wait-ed at home.
-ing progressive She is eat-ing the donut.

• Inflectional morphemes never change the

word class of the stems
E.g.
1. I sail the ocean blue.
2. He sails the ocean blue.
3. John sailed the ocean blue.

• Inflectional morphemes in English follow the

derivational morphemes in a words
• E.g.: possible => possibility => possibilities
• Inflectional morphemes are productive ( apply freely
to nearly every appropriate base)
E.g.: Boys, girls, dolls, cars …



STOP & CHECK (CONT.)
Task 1: Decide True (T) or False (F)

F 1. Content words are sometimes called close class words.
T 2. Function words specify grammatical relations and have little
or not semantic content.
T 3. Morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit.
F 4. All roots can stand alone.
F 5. All English suffixes are derivational morphemes.
T 6. All English inflectional morphemes are suffixes.

Task 2. Complete concepts
1. Content words denote ....... such as objects, actions and
attributes, and ideas that we can think about.
nouns verbs
2. ........... , ............. , adjectives, and adverbs are content words.
Give 5 examples of content words.

Task 2. Complete lexical meanings

3. Function words do not have clear ........... or obvious concepts
associated with them. They specify .......... relations and have
little or no semantic content. grammatical
Free morphemes may constitute words by themselves. Give 5
4. .........
examples.
Bound
5. .......... morphemes are never words by themselves but are
always parts of words. Give 5 examples.
6. Prefixes, suffixes, and infixes are ............ morphemes.
bound
Task 2. Complete before

7. Prefixes are morphemes that occur ........... other morphemes. Give 5
examples.
after
8. Suffixes are morphemes that occur ......... other morphemes. Give 5
examples.
inserted
9. Infixes are morphemes that are ........... into other morphemes.

10. With the addition of each new affix to the base, a new ....... and a new
word are formed. stem
11. ........... morphemes have meaning. They play the main role in
Derivational
constituting the meaning of words.
Task 2. Complete derivational

12. Roots, prefixes and most suffixes are .......... morphemes.
13. The form that results from the addition of a derivational morpheme is
called a ........................
derived word different
14. The derived word may also be of a .......... word class than the original
word. bound
15. Inflectional morphemes are always ......... morphemes. Give 5 examples.
16. Inflectional morphemes have NO meaning but have certain ..............
functions. grammatical
17. Inflectional morphemes never .......... the parts of speech of the stems.
change

HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURE OF WORDS
• Word: not a string of morphemes but has the internal

structure of word => hierarchical structure
Tree
diagram

HIERARCHICAL STRUCTURE OF WORDS (CONT.)
• Word: not a string of morphemes but has the internal

structure of word => hierarchical structure
Tree
diagram

• Structurally ambiguous words: have more than 1 structures

Ex: unlockable

Imagine you are inside a room and you Imagine you are inside a locked room
want some privacy. You would be trying to get out. You would be very
unhappy to find the door is relieved to find that the door is
“unlockable” unlockable – “able to be unlocked”





able

OTHER MORPHOLOGICAL PROCESSES
1. Clipping
2. Back-formation / reversion
3. Eponymy
4. Compounding
5. Blending
6. Acronymy
7. Alphabetic abbreviation

MORPHOLOGICAL PROCESSES (CONT.)
• Clipping: cutting off the beginning / end of the word

or both. This process does NOT create new words.
E.g. Advertisment  ad
Aeroplane  plane

• Back-formation (reversion): taking away

derivational morpheme(s) from the words to create
new ones.
E.g. Editor (n)  edit (v)
Babysitter (n)  babysit (v)
• Eponymy: using proper names as words.

E.g. Sandwich, cologne

• Compounding: joining two or more words to form

new, compound words.
E.g.
• note + book → notebook
• high + light → highlight
• stir + fry → stir-fry
• Traffic + lights → traffic lights

• Blending: combining two words, deleting

part of the words that are combined.
E.g. smog = smoke + fog
brunch = breakfast + lunch

• Acronymy: Words derived from the initials of

several words.
E.g.
• WHO (World Health Organization)
• UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and
Cultural Organization)

• Alphabetic abbreviation: when the string of letters is

not easily pronounced as a word, the “acronym” is
produced by sounding out each letter.
E.g.
NFL – National Football League

Exercise 1: Give the full form of the following

acronyms and abbreviations:
1. GDP
2. GNP
3. UNICEF
4. TOEIC

Exercise 1: Give the full form of the following acronyms

and abbreviations:
1. GDP = Gross Domestic Product
2. GNP = Gross National Product
3. UNICEF = the United Nations International
Children's Emergency Fund
4. TOEIC =
Test Of English for International Communication

Exercise 2: Give the clipped form for each of the

following word.
1. Photograph
2. Gasoline
3. Taxicab
4. Omnibus
5. Violoncello
6. Raccoon
Exercise 2: Give the clipped form for each of the following

word.
1. Photograph => photo
2. Gasoline => gas
3. Taxicab => cab/ taxi
4. Omnibus => bus
5. Violoncello => cello
6. Raccoon => coon

Exercise 3: Provide the original words of the following

blended.
1. Medicare
2. Motel
3. Newsboy
4. Telecast
5. Smog
6. Webinar
Exercise 3: Provide the original words of the following

blended.
1. Medicare = medical + care
2. Motel = motor + hotel
3. Newsboy = newspaper + boy
4. Telecast = television + broadcast.
5. Smog = smoke + fog
6. Webinar = web + seminar → webinar

Exercise 4: State the formation process of the

following words
1. IELTS 8. Burger
2. Pickpocket 9. Brunch
3. Fax 10. low-paid
4. ATM 11. Pro
5. Radar 12. CD
6. Babysit 13. Sandwich
7. watt 14. Jeans
31/7/2020 15. watt
001164-Chapter 2: The words of language 63
Exercise 4: State the formation process of the following words
1. IELTS = International English Language Test System
(Acronymy)
2. pickpocket: Pick + pocket => pickpocket (compounding)
3. fax: Facsimile =>fax (Clipping)
4. ATM = Automatic Teller Machine (Alphabetic abbreviation)
5. Radar = Radio Angle detection and ranging (Acronymy)
6. Babysitter => babysit (Backformation)
7. Watt (Eponymy)

8. Hamburger => burger (clipping)

9. Breakfast + lunch = Brunch (blending)
10. Low + paid -> low-paid (compounding)
11. Professor -> pro (clipping)
12. Compact Disc => CD (Alphabetic abbreviation)
13. Sandwich (Eponymy)
14 jeans (Eponymy)

HOMEWORK
• Complete all the tasks in Further practice (Handout

Chapter 2)
• Do the Quiz for Chapter 2 (TDT E-Learning System)
• Have the assigned reading materials read:
Fromkin, V., Rodman, R., & Hyams, N., [2014], An
Introduction to Language, Tenth Edition, Cengage
Learning, New York.
Pages: 77-94

Chapter-2 Morphology

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TON DUC THANG UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

INTRODUCTION TO LANGUAGE - 001164

31/7/2020 001164-Chapter 2: The words of language 1

I. Content words and Function words

31/7/2020 001164-Chapter 2: The words of language 2

UNHAPPINESS  UN – HAPPI – NESS

31/7/2020 001164-Chapter 2: The words of language 3

31/7/2020 001164-Chapter 2: The words of language 4

31/7/2020 001164-Chapter 2: The words of language 5

31/7/2020 001164-Chapter 2: The words of language 6

Exercise: Write C for content words and F for

31/7/2020 001164-Chapter 2: The words of language 7

Exercise: Write C for content words and F for

4. Morphology is not interesting.

31/7/2020 001164-Chapter 2: The words of language 8

1. What are morphemes?

2. Bound and free morphemes

3. Prefixes, suffixes and infixes

4. Roots and stems

31/7/2020 001164-Chapter 2: The words of language 9

Morphemes: minimal meaningful units which may

A single word: composed of 1 or more morphemes

31/7/2020 001164-Chapter 2: The words of language 11

• a single sound: morpheme –a: without. E.g: amoral, asexual

• a single syllable: childish ..

• 2 syllables: camel, lady, water ..

• 4 or more syllables: helicopter …

31/7/2020 001164-Chapter 2: The words of language 13

31/7/2020 001164-Chapter 2: The words of language 14

• E.g. Boy, desire, gentle, man

• Free morphemes may stand alone and constitute

31/7/2020 001164-Chapter 2: The words of language 15

E.g. –ish (childish), -ly (happily), dis- (disqualified)

• Bound morphemes are never words by themselves

31/7/2020 001164-Chapter 2: The words of language 16

• Bound morphemes include:

31/7/2020 001164-Chapter 2: The words of language 17

E.g. prejudge, bisexual

E.g. singer, pianist, eating

• Suffixes are morphemes that occur after other

31/7/2020 001164-Chapter 2: The words of language 18

E.g. Bontoc (spoken in the Philippines)

Infixes: morphemes that are inserted into other morphemes.

31/7/2020 001164-Chapter 2: The words of language 19

E.g. In Chickasaw ( a language in Oklahoma)

Circumfixes: morphemes that are attached to a base morpheme

31/7/2020 001164-Chapter 2: The words of language 20

• Complex word = a morpheme ROOT + Affixe(s)

31/7/2020 001164-Chapter 2: The words of language 21

+ not occur in isolation

+ acquire meaning only in combination with other

E.g: deceive, conceive, perceive

31/7/2020 001164-Chapter 2: The words of language 22

• STEM = Root morpheme + an affix

• With the addition of each new affix, a new stem and a

• Base: any root or stem to which an affix is attached.

=> system, systematic, unsystematic, unsystematical:

Exercise: Underline the roots in these words.

31/7/2020 001164-Chapter 2: The words of language 25

Exercise: Underline the roots in these words.

31/7/2020 001164-Chapter 2: The words of language 26

By using the morphological rules of English, we create