2.

Word Classes and

Morphological Composition
of English Words

Mgr. Juraj Datko, PhD.;

Summer 2020/2021
 WORD CLASSES / PARTS OF SPEECH
- two major types:

❑ full / content / notional words = open classes (can form new words)
Nouns – James, house, poverty, family, milk, silver, ...
Adjectives – clever, young, simple, inactive, the rich, ...
Verbs – (to) put, (to) swim, (to) beat, (to) agree, (to) smell, ...
Adverbs – well, inside, today, often, nearly, ...

❑ function words = closed classes (cannot form new words)

Pronouns – she, theirs, this, myself, who, one another, both, much, ...
Auxiliary verbs – (to) be, (to) have, can, will, dare, ...
Determiners – a pen, some people, his car, such a good time, the first place, ...
Prepositions – in, from, about, by, off, ...
Conjunctions – and, but, not only/but also, whereas, if, ...
 MORPHOLOGICAL COMPOSITION OF WORDS
1.) Simple words = words without affixes
- examples: boy, cat, hot, weak, which, none, enough, then, (to) steal, (to) cut, shall, may,
the, no, up, with, yet, or, ...
2.) Derived words = words with affixes
- examples: ex-wife, kingdom, selfishness, interdependence, uncommon, reactive,
developmental, nonspecific, herself, across, slowly, likewise, carefully, disagree, glorify,
vaccinate, decentralize, ...
3.) Converted words = words (usually monomorphemic, less frequently polymorphemic)
that change their word class without affixes
- Conversion is predominant in verb-formation. (“Every word can be verbed.” - A. Perlis)
- examples: Merging of verbs and nouns
is caused by the disappearance
N > V: I have something in my eye. / They eyed him suspiciously. of synthetic forms.
V > N: We need to increase our productivity to see an increase in profits. Some linguists do not treat
substantivization and
Adj > N: My brother is unemployed. / The unemployed depend on the state. adjectivization as conversion.
N > Adj: A whole lemon contains 139% of the recommended daily vitamin C intake. / A
quarter cup of lemon juice contains 31% of the recommended daily intake of vitamin C.
Adj > V: Solar power provides clean energy. / Skin and clean the rabbit!
Adv > V: She looked down. / He downed five pints of cider.
Adv > Adj: She turned the volume up. / The system is now up.
Adv > N: The museum is open daily. / The trial was reported in all the dailies.
Prep > N: She looked out the window. / The play resulted in an out.
C > N: We had no choice but to leave. / No buts, just get out of here!
I > N: Raw herrings! Yuck! / Don’t talk to him! He’s a yuck!
4.) Compound words = two or more stems joined together referring to a
new word with its own meaning
- Compounds are rare among verbs but frequent among nouns and adjectives.
a.) two or more free morphemes: b.) derivational compounds
N + N: bodyguard cold-hearted, sun-dried,
Adj + N: blackberry thought-reading, housekeeper,

N + Adj: homesick narrowmindedness, ...

V + N: pickpocket c.) compounds with a linking element
Adv + N: downstairs mother-in-law, handicraft, saleswoman,
Adj + Adj: deaf-mute whiskey-and-soda, ...
V + N + N: wastepaper-basket
TASK:
Read the text and determine the word class of each word in the passage.

Languages evolve and change together with the people who speak them.
Language and identity are closely intertwined and what makes a
language goes beyond national borders and is constantly under
discussion. Languages develop alongside historical events. When
people refer to a 'majority' language, they often mean one that is the
official language of a sovereign country and spoken by the majority of
the country's population. Minority languages can refer to:
- regional, indigenous languages spoken in certain areas, also called
autochthonous languages, like Welsh or Breton,
- languages that have come from other areas of Europe, like Turkish
spoken in the UK, or Hungarian spoken in Slovakia.