English Morphology and

Lexicology

Shao Guangqing
shaoguangqing@gmail.com
www.windofspring.weebly.com
What is morphology?
 Morphology is the study of word
formation, of the structure of words.
From observations to theory
 Some words can be divided into parts
which still have meaning.
 play play
 replay replay=re + play
 unable unable=un + able
playing=play + ing
 playing boldest=bold + est
 boldest carelessness=care + less + ness
 carelessness
 the morphemes
 From observations to theory
 Many words  boy
Lexical mor
have meaning by  food phemes
themselves; but  door
some words  car
have meaning
only when used  at/in/on…
with other  -ed/-ing/-s/-es
words.
 -est/-er
Grammatical morphe
mes
 From observations to theory
 Some of the  boy
Free morph
parts into which  food emes
words can be  door
divided can stand
alone as words;
 at/in/on
but others
 -ed/-ing/-s/-es
cannot.
 -est/-er

Bound
morphemes
 From observations to theory
 Those word-parts  -s/-es/-er/-est
that can occur  -ing/-ed
only in  Inflectional morphe
combination mes
must be
combined in the
 un-/in-/im-
correct way.
 -ly/-ment/-ful/-less
 Derivational morph
emes
 From observations to theory
 Language create  un + able=unable
new words  work +er=worker
systematically.  Derivation
 This is called the
process of word-
formation.  bedroom
 put-down
 outside
 Compound
Morphemes
 A morpheme can be defined as a minimal uni
t having more or less constant meaning and
more or less constant form.
 buyers =buy + er + s

 evidence?

 Each can occur in other combinations of m

orphemes without changing its meaning.

 buy: buying; buys

 -er: seller; fisher; buyer

 -s: boys; girls; dogs

Morphemes
 Morphemes can vary in size: neither the
number of syllables nor the length of
a word can indicate what is a
morpheme and what isn’t.
 For example, Albatross is a long word

but a single morpheme;

 -y (as in dreamy) is also a single

morpheme.
Morphemes
 Linguists have viewed morphemes as
made up of combinations of semantic
features.
 For example, we can analyze a word like
girls in terms of both its morphological
and its semantic structure:
 Morphological: girls = {girl} + {s}

 Semantic: {girl} = [-adult; -male;

+human, ...] + {s} = {PLU} = [plural]

Morphemes
 Two different morphemes may be pro
nounced (and even sometimes spelle
d) the same way.
 V+-er: buyer
 the agentive morpheme {AG} since it indic
ates the agent of an action
 Adj.+-er: shorter
 the comparative morpheme {COMP} since i
t indicates the comparative degree of an ad
jective
Morphemes
 We can’t always hold to the definition
of a morpheme as having unchanging
form.
 boys: {boy} + {-s}={boy} + {PLR}
 boxes: {box} + {-es}= {box} + {PLR}
 men: {man} + {PLU}

walked: {walk} + {-ed}= {walk} + {PAST}

went: {go} + {PAST}
Morphemes
 Sometimes it is very difficult to identif
y morpheme boundaries.
 For example, the word hamburger origin
ally meant {Hamburg} = ‘a city in Germ
any’ + {er} =‘originating from.’
 But probably most people now understan
d the word as meaning {ham} = ‘ham’ +
{burger} = ‘hot patty served on a round
bun.’
Summary: Morpheme
 A morpheme is a short segment of
language that meets three criteria:
 It is a word or a part of a word that has
meaning;
 It cannot be divided into smaller
meaningful parts;
 It recurs in differing verbal environments
with a relatively stable meaning.
Practice: how many morphemes does
each of the following word contain?
 1.play ____
 2. replay ____
 3. date ____
 4. antedate ____
 5. weak ____
 6. weaken ____
 7. man ____
 8. manly ____
 9. miniskirt ____
 10. cheaper ____
Practice: write the meaning of the
underlined morphemes
 1. antedate ____________________
before
 2. again
replay ______________________
 3. manly ______________________
-like, having the attributes of
 4. keeper ______________________
one who…
 5. unable ______________________
not
 6. inclined to
rainy _______________________
 7. not
inactive _____________________
 8. malfunction __________________
badly
Morphemes
Lexical and Grammatical
Morphemes
 Lexical morphemes are those that having
meaning by themselves (more accurately,
they have sense).
 Nouns, verbs, adjectives ({boy},
{buy}, {big}) are typical lexical
morphemes.
 Grammatical morphemes specify a
relationship between other morphemes.
 Prepositions, articles, conjunctions
({of}, {the}, {but}) are grammatical
morphemes.
Free and Bound Morphemes
 Free morphemes are those that can stand a
lone as words. They may be lexical morphe
mes ({serve}, {press}), or grammatical m
orphemes ({at}, {and}).
 Bound morphemes can occur only in combi
nation—they are parts of a word. They may
be lexical morphemes (such as {-clude} as
in include, exclude, preclude) or they may
be grammatical (such as {PLU} = plural as
in boys, girls, and cats).
Inflectional and Derivational
Morphemes

Inflectional Affixes Derivational Affixes

All are suffixes May be either suffixes
or prefixes

Have a wide range of May have a wide or

application. E.g. narrow range
most English nouns
can be made
plural, with {PLU}
Inflectional and Derivational
Morphemes
Inflectional Affixes Derivational Affixes
All native to English Many were adopted fr
(since Old English om Latin, Greek,
was spoken around or other languages. (T
500-1000 AD) hough others,
especially the suffixes,
are native,
including {-ful}, {-lik
e}, {-ly}, and {AG})
Inflectional Affixes
 -s in boys boys={boy}+{PLU}
 {PLU}=plural
 -’s in boy’s boy’s= {boy}+{POS
 S}
{POSS}=possessive
 -er in older older= {old}+{COM
 P}
{COMP}=comparative
 -est in oldest oldest= {old}+{SUP}
 {SUP}=superlative
Inflectional Affixes
 -s in walks walks= {walk}+{PRE
 S}
{PRES}=present
 -ed in walked walked= {walk}+{PAST}
 {PAST}=past
 -en in driven driven= {drive}+{PAST PAR
 T}
{PAST PART}=past participle
 -ing in driving driving= {drive}+{PRES PAR
 T}
{PRES PART}=present participle
Inflectional Affixes
 Irregular forms
 sheep
 {sheep}+{PLU}
 better
 {good}+{COMP}
 best
 {good}+{SUP}
 drove
 {drive}+{PAST}
Inflected form: Present tense
 {root}+{PRES}
 John loves Mary.
 ={love}+{PRES}= {love}+{-s}

 I love Mary.
 ={love}+{PRES}= {love}+{ ∅ }
Inflected form: Past tense
 {root}+{PAST}
 John walked.
 ={walk}+{PAST}= {walk}+{-ed}

 I drove.
 ={drive}+{PAST}
summary: features of inflectional
suffixes
 1. They do not change the part of spe
ech.
 Eg: boy, boys (nouns)
cough, coughed (verbs)
cold, colder (adjectives)
 2. They come last in a word.
 Eg: shortened, girls, coldest
summary: features of inflectional
suffixes
 3. They go with all stems of a given part of
speech.
 Eg: He eats, drinks, dreams, entertains…

the quickest, slowest, coldest, …

 4. They do not pile up; only one ends a wor
d.
 Eg: flakes, working, higher, written

*workinged
carelessness (derivational suffix)
 Exception: the students’ worries studen
ts’ ={root}+{PLU}+{POSS}
Derivational Affixes
 derivational suffixes:
 {ize} attaches to a noun and turns it into
a verb: rubberize
 {ize} also attaches to an adjective and tu
rns it into a verb: normalize
 {ful} attaches to a noun and turns it into
an adjective: playful, helpful
 {ly} attaches to an adjective and turns it
into an adverb: grandly, proudly
 A different {ly} attaches to a noun and ch
anges it into an adjective: manly, friendly
Features of derivational suffixes
 1. A derivational suffixe usually changes th
e part of speech of the word to which it is a
dded.
 2. Derivational suffixes usually do not close a
word; that is, after a derivational suffix one c
an sometimes add another derivational suff
ix and can frequently add an inflectional su
ffix.
 care + ful + ness=carefulness

 fertilize + er + s=fertilizers
Derivational Affixes
 derivational prefixes
 {un-}, {dis-}, {a-}, {anti-}, all of which
indicate some kind of negation: unhapp
y, dislike, atypical, anti-aircraft.
 {pre-} indicates the meaning of “befor
e”: predict, pre-election…
 {post-} indicates the meaning of “after”:
postpone, post-graduation, postwar
 www.windofspring.weebly.com for more
Word formation
 1. derivation
 replay; disagree; movement; careful…
 2. category extension
 chair (noun) chair (verb)
 3. compound
 class+room=classroom; break+fast=bre
akfast
 4. root creation (invention)
 Kodak; nylon; quark…
Word formation
 5. clipped form (clipping)
 laboratory-lab; dormitory-dorm; gymnasium-gy
m; professor-prof; examination-exam
 6. blend
 smoke+fog=smog; gasoline+alcohol=gasohol
 stagnation+inflation=stagflation
 7. acronym
 National Aeronautics and Space Administration-
NASA
 North Atlantic Treaty Organization-NATO
Word formation
 8. proper name
 Hamburg- hamburger
 9. folk etymology
 A foreign word is assimilated to native fo
rms.
cucuracha (Spanish)-cockroach (English)
 10. back formation
 burglar-burgle; beggar-beg; editor-edit
Practice: clipping
 Give the original words from which
these clipped words were formed.
 math mathematics microphone
__________ mike __________
 psych psychology discotheque
_________ disco __________
 taxicab
taxi __________ memorandum
memo __________
 omnibus
bus __________ turnpike
pike ___________
 influenza
flu ___________ refrigerator
fridge ___________
Practice: acronym
 Give the originals of the following
acronyms
 radar Radio Detection and Ranging
 UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientifi
c and Cultural Organization
 OPEC Organization of Petroleum Exporting Cou
ntries
 OK oll korrect
Practice: blending
 Give the originals of these blends
 simulcast  simultaneous broadcast
 telecast television broadcast
 Give the blends that result from these
words
 transfer+resistor transistor
 automobile+omnibus autobus
 escalade+elevator escalator
Practice: back-formation
 Write the words from which they are
back-formed.
 housekeep
 typewrite
 baby-sit
 peddle
 televise
 greed