MORPHOLOGY AND SYNTAX

CHAPTER 5 FORM-CLASSES
FORM CLASSES

1. Nouns

2. Verbs

3. Adjectives

4. Adverbs

5. Uninflected words
PARTS OF SPEECH

parts of speech : The major classes of lexical

morphemes.
The word classes can be put into three
groups:
Form-classes
Structure-classes
Positional classes
nominal, verbal, adjectival, and adverbial.
 FORM CLASSES

NOUNS
VERBS
ADJECTIVES
ADVERDS
UNINFLECTED WORDS
 STRUCTURE CLASSES

Qualifiers
Prepositions
Determiners
Auxiliaries
Pronouns
POSITIONAL CLASSES

Nominal: stand in the position of

nouns
Verbal: stand in the position of verbs
Adjectival: stand in the position of
adjectives
Adverbial:: stand in the position of
adverbs
FORM CLASSES
1. NOUNS
Meaning: names of persons, places, things, and
ideas
English nouns may typically be made:
-definite in meaning by the, as in the book, the guy,
the answer
-possessive by suffixing –’s, as in boy’s, man’s;
-negative by non-: non-believer, nonsense.
2. VERBS
express action, being, and states of being.
English verbs may typically be made:
-past in meaning by suffixing –(e)d , as in work
worked
-into agents by suffixing –er , as in dodoer,
walk walker
-negative by prefixing dis- , as in agreedisagree,
appeardisappear
Ex: I worked.
I do my homework.
I disagreed with her.
3. ADJECTIVES
modify nouns.
English adjectives may typically be:
-in comparisons by –er or more:
tall taller, beautifulmore beautiful
-modified by intensifiers:
very, too very tall, too tall
-made negative by un-
unhappy, unforgettable

Ex: The young girl brought me a very long letter

from the teacher, and then she quickly
disappeared.
4. ADVERBS

The adverbs have four suffixes:

the derivational suffixes
–ly, -wise, -ward, –s ­
and one free form like.
Source adjective Derived Adverb
fortunate fortunately
Source noun Derived Adverb
student studentwise
Source noun Derived Adverb
north northward
Source noun Derived Adverb
night nights
Source noun Derived Adverb
student studentlike
Source adjective Derived Adverb
casual-like
 5. UNINFLECTED WORDS
Uninflected words take no inflectional endings
Words that are traditionally called nouns:
pathos, advice, tennis, evidence, botany,
charisma.
Words that are traditionally called adverbs:
often, seldom, also, never, perhaps.
Words that are traditionally called adjectives:
antic, menial, only, tired
Most of the words in the structure-classes: the,
must, quite, from, and, since, which, all
Classify the italicized words as N (noun),
V(verb), Aj (adjective), Av (Adverb), or UW (uninflected word).

Minnie is fond of Siamese cats. N

1.The island was colonized by the Northmen.
2.One of her stockings is torn.
3.What punishment do you think should be
administered?
4.Fritz always say the wrong thing.
5.Her room was in a state of chaos.
6.We’ll gladly refund your money.
7.The nurse puts a disinfectant on the cut.
8.Carl sleeps late mornings.