Lecture 2
LEXICAL UNITS: STRUCTURE AND CLASSIFICATION
WORD IDENTIFICATION AND DEFINITION - Difficulties in arriving at a consistent use of the term WORD: a) Due to word identification decisions over word boundaries: e.g. bee sting 1 word or 2 words? - decisions over the status: e.g. is the/a a word in the same sense as mother? b) Due to word definition a major problem of linguistic theory
Definitions of the term word
A unit of expression which has universal intuitive recognition by native speakers; A linguistic form that can meaningfully be spoken in isolation; An element of human speech, to which meaning is attached, apt to be used grammatically; it can be understood by a human collectivity constituted in a historical community.
Three main senses of the term word
(a) Word a physically definable unit encountered -in a stretch of writing (separated by space) orthographic word - in a stretch of speech (bounded by pauses) phonological word A neutral term that covers both: WORD FORM
(b) Word (in a more abstract sense) the common factor underlying a set of forms (i.e. variants of the same unit) e.g. talk, talks, talking, talked, talker have TALK as a common factor or lexeme = an abstract entity found in a dictionary that has a certain meaning
(c) Word: an abstract unit to be set up to show how words work in GRAMMAR. Thus, word = a grammatical unit of the same kind as the morpheme. Morpheme= the smallest unit that has meaning or that serves a grammatical function TALK (lexeme) talks, talking, talker, talked (word forms of TALK) {talk}, {-s}, {-ing}, {-er}, {-ed} (morphemes)
Classification of morphemes (I)
Lexical (semantic/derivational) -denote extralinguistic objects -open set -precede grammatical morphemes (in Gm. lgs) -combination with other lexical morphemes often restricted -result of combination=new lexemes -change either the word-class or meaning of the root they are attached to Grammatical (functional/inflectional) -denote grammatical functions and syntactic relations -closed set -follow lexical morphemes -combination with other morphemes relatively unrestricted -result of combination=new word forms -they dont change the meaning or the word-class of the root
INFLECTION WORD FORMATION
Classification of morphemes (II)
Free Content words (nouns, verbs, adjectives) vs. Function words (prepositions, conjunctions, articles)
Bound Suffixes Prefixes Infixes Bound bases (-ceive, -duce, -sist, -tain) Bound roots (sanct-, tox-) Blocked morphemes (Fri -, cran-)
Classification of morphemes Lexical Free (roots/stems) {GIRL} {TELL} {YELLOW} Bound Grammatical Free (function words) {THE} {AND} {TO} Bound (inflections) -s (plural) -ed -ing
prefixes suffixes bound blocked bases morphemes {IN-} {-NESS} {-TAIN} {FRI-} {RE-} {-LY} {-DUCE} {CRAN-} L+L=WORD-FORMATION
L+G= INFLECTION
Roots, stems, bases, and affixes
Root = basic part of a lexeme; can not be further analysed either in terms of derivational or inflectional morphology; part of a word-form that remains when all inflectional and derivational affixes have been removed e.g. underprivileged
Stem: of concern only when dealing with inflectional morphology; it is that part of the word-form which remains when all inflectional affixes have been removed e.g. the undefeatables Base: any form to which affixes of any kind can be added Both roots and stems can be bases, but not all bases are roots and stems; e.g. undefeatables Affixes: bound morphs that always appear with a base: prefixes and suffixes
Some remarks on morphemes 1. morphemes are distinct from syllables: e.g. in-dus-try 3 syllables, 1 morpheme; hats one syllable, 2 morphemes. 2. the same spelling does not necessarily indicate identical morphemes two different types of morphemes may be rendered by identical spelling. e.g. teacher vs. happier Differences? 3. mis-identification morphemes: e.g. hamburger = {Hamburg} + {er} (originating from, as in Southerner). Nowadays: {ham} = ham + {burger}= hot patty served on a round bun. Proof: {burger} combined with any substance that could be eaten (e.g. cheeseburger, shrimp burger, veggie burger); it can be a free morpheme, as in a burger and fries.
EXERCISES
1) Divide the following words into the component morphemes. Use hyphens and the traditional spelling, according to the model: MODEL: enlighten en - light - en
a) impoverish b) anticipative c) anticlimatical d) dishearten e) burlesquely f) dishonestly g) undeceivable h) wholesaler
i) utilitarianism j) catchword k) impermeability l) vertebrally m) downtowner n) telescopic o) sanitize p) volubility
2) Divide the words into their constituent morphemes, specifying the nature of each morpheme, according to the model. MODEL: impersonalism: im- = prefix, person = noun stem, -al = suffix, -ism = suffix a) foolishly b) multinational c) deepen d) rosy e) beautify f) industrialization g) ex-president h) impressionism i) glove maker j) trans-European k) vulgarism l) non-didactic m) preconceivable n) post-modernism o) overdone p) underestimated
3. Consider carefully the words in (a -c). To what extent do the words in a given list contain the same morpheme? a) analysis, anabasis, anachronism, analogy, anaconda, anabaptist, anarchy, anorak. b) nominal, nominate, gnomic, nomic, nomenclature, noun. c) pedal, peduncle, pediform, p(a)ederast, p(a)edagogue, peddle, pedant.
