MORPHOLOGY
UNIT 4: WORDS
DEFINITIONS
1/ The word may be described as the basic unit of language.
2/ A word is the smallest linguistic unit which can occur on its own in
speech or writing.
➢In speech, word boundaries may be recognised by slight pauses.
➢In writing, word boundaries are usually recognised by spaces between
words.
It has a sound form.
It may have different
Aspects of It has its
syntactic functions
the simplest morphological
and signal various
word structure.
meanings.
When used in actual
speech, it may occur in
different word forms.
Sound form
/ sli:p /
Syntactic functions:
- The child was sleeping
soundly. → verbal Morphological structure:
- He stood sleeping → SLEEP one free base
adverbial
- a sleeping child →
adjectival
Different word forms:
four inflected forms
: sleeps, sleeping, slept
(past simple) and slept
(past participle)
THE CLASSIFICATION OF WORDS ACCORDING TO THEIR INTERNAL
STRUCTURE
Simple
stay, flea, long, spirit
(a single free base)
Complex words–FB lioness
(Free base) rainy
Complex
one free morpheme as uncertain
(at least one bound
an IC rebirth
morpheme as an
Word televise
immediate Complex words–BB
constituent) (Bound base) suicide
one bound morpheme conclude
for each IC terminate
Compound
(two free bases (free high-class
morphemes) with or southeast
without bound wall fruit
morphemes) well-prepared
Compound words
Phonological Primary-secondary
‘blue,bell; ‘green,house
features pattern
Order
(the arrangement of
the elements in a Fall down = collapse (v): V + particle
compound may Downfall (n)
differ Break out = start suddenly (v)
from that of a Outbreak (n)
Syntactic features grammatical
structure in order)
She is a sweetheart. (n)
Indivisibility
She has a sweet heart.
(as solid blocks)
She has a sweet, kind heart.
Egghead: Intellectual
Specialized
Nut house:
Semantic features meanings
Hospital for the people with mental
(idiomatic status)
illness
Types of compounds noun base + noun base + –er
footballer
lefthander
mill-owner
Derivational
compounds
the derivational suffix adjective base + noun base + –ed:
is attached to the absent-minded, light-hearted, short-sighted,
combination as a black-haired, blue-eyed
whole
noun base + noun base + –ed
Types of bow-legged, war-minded, heart-shaped,
compounds moon-shaped
Repetitive
compounds
number base + noun base + –ed
five-coloured, three-fingered, one-eyed
Derivational compounds
drip-drip
Reduplicative fifty-fifty
compounds blah-blah
so so
Types of compounds
chit-chat
tittle-tattle
Ablaut zigzag
Repetitive compounds ping-pong
compounds
see-saw
Rhyme hurry-scurry
compounds willy-nilly
helter-skelter
THE CLASSIFICATION OF WORDS ACCORDING TO THEIR INTERNAL
STRUCTURE
Simple
stay, flea, long, spirit
(a single free base)
Complex words–FB lioness
(Free base) rainy
Complex
one free morpheme as uncertain
(at least one bound
an IC rebirth
morpheme as an
Word televise
immediate Complex words–BB
constituent) (Bound base) suicide
one bound morpheme conclude
for each IC terminate
Compound
(two free bases (free high-class
morphemes) with or southeast
without bound wall fruit
morphemes) well-prepared
S
C-FB
C-FB
C-BB
C-FB
C-FB
C-FB
C-FB
C-BB
C-FB
S
C-FB
C-FB
C-BB
Comp
GS
Comp
Comp
GS
GS
Comp
Comp
GS
Comp
GS
C-FB
S
C-BB
C-BB
C-FB
C-BB
S
C-FB
Comp
C-FB
C-FB
THE CLASSIFICATION OF WORDS ACCORDING TO THEIR WORD
FORMATION PROCESS
COINAGE
COMPOUNDING BORROWING
BACK-
BLENDING
FORMATION
WORDS
AFFIXATION CLIPPING
CONVERSION ACRONYMY
1. COINAGE
inventing names for
nylon, aspirin
new products
the creation of totally using specific brand Vaseline
new words by… names Frigidaire
sandwich
changing proper names robot
of individuals or places gargantuan
to common nouns jumbo
denim
2. BORROWING
champagne, garage,
From French beige, rouge,
couchette
rucksack,
From German
kindergarten
the process by which
words in a language
are borrowed from
another
cantata, opera,
From Italian
concerto
From American
shampoo, cot
Indian languages
3. BLENDING
SMOG = Smoke + fog
SMAZE = Smoke + maze
MOTEL = Motor + hotel
the fusion of two
SLIMNASTICS = Slim + gymnastics
words into one,
the FIRST part of BREATHALYZER
one word + the Breath + analyzer
=
LAST part of
another
BRUNCH = Breakfast + lunch
FRENGLISH French + English
TRANSCEIVER Transmitter + receiver
4. CLIPPING
Exam(ination)
Advert(isement)
Fan(atic)
Deleting the end of the Lab(oratory)
word Dorm(itory)
Demo(stration)
Gym(nasium)
Telly (television set)
the process of cutting
off the beginning or the
end of a word, or both, Removing the (Omni)bus
leaving a part to stand beginning part of the (aero)plane
for the whole word (tele)phone
Deleting both ends of (In)flu(enza)
the word (Re)frige(rator)
5. ACRONYMY
NATO = North Atlantic Treaty Organization
National Aeronautics and Space
NASA =
Administration
United Nations Educational, Scientific and
UNESCO =
Cultural Organization
The process UNO = United Nations Organization
whereby a word
is formed from WHO = World Health Organization
the initials or
beginning
ASEAN = Association of Southeast Asian Nations
segments of a
succession of
words S.O.S = Save Our Souls
GDP = Gross Domestic Product
light amplification by stimulated emission of
laser =
radiation
self-contained underwater breathing
scuba =
apparatus
6. CONVERSION
COMPLETE
CONVERSION Auxiliary Verb → noun
Non-count noun → count noun
(the process of shifting a Intensive verb → intransitive verb
word from one word class
to another without adding Stative adjective → dynamic
an affix) adjective
CONVERSION Voicing of final consonants
APPROXIMATE (advice → advise, thief → thieve)
CONVERSION
(the process by which ‘a
word, in the course of
changing its grammatical Shift of stress
function, may undergo a Con’duct (v) → ‘conduct (n)
slight change of Con’flict (v) → ‘conflict (n)
pronunciation or spelling) contrast, convert, convict, export,
extract, import, insult, permit,
present, produce, rebel, record
6.1. COMPLETE CONVERSION
Auxiliary Verb → noun:
Must (v) → a must (n)
Affix → noun:
Ism [noun-forming suffix → countable noun]
Non-count noun → count noun:
INTO NOUN cups of coffee → two coffees
Count noun → non-count noun:
Floor [C] surface of a room → floor [U] extent, range, area
Proper noun → common noun:
a Rolls Royce, a Sony
Intransitive Verb → transitive verb:
COMPLETE She ran out of the house.
CONVERSION
London Transport run extra trains during the rush-hour.
INTO VERB Transitive Verb → intransitive verb:
Your book reads well. / We have eaten already.
Adverb or a preposition → verb:
She upped and left without a word.
Phrase → adjective:
INTO
ADJECTIVE under-the-weather
7. AFFIXATION
PREFIXATION
Pro-; anti-; contra-; …
The process by which an
affix is added to a base to
form a new word
- verb-forming suffixes: -fy; -ize
- adjective-forming suffixes: -al; -ful
SUFFIXATION - adverb-forming suffix: -ly
- noun-forming suffixes: -ment, -ance
8. BACK-FORMATION
emotion (n) → emote (v)
enthusiasm (n) → enthuse (v)
Verb from noun television (n) → televise (v)
editor (n) → edit (v)
baby-sitter (n) → baby-sit (v)
the process of air-condition
deriving words by nouns (including brainstorm
removing what is compounds brainwash
thought to be a nouns) ending in dry-clean
suffix from an –er/–or/ –ar or – housekeep
existing word ing sightsee
tape-record
>< suffixation
articulate
assassinate
co-educate
nouns ending in
emote
–tion or –ion
intuit
legislator
orate
9. COMPOUNDING
NOUNS pop group, whistle-blower, date-rape
ADJECTIVES class-ridden, heart-breaking, homesick
VERBS cold-shoulder, highlight, babysit
ADVERBS good-naturedly, however, nowadays
the process of
combining two or
more existing PRONOUNS anyone, everything, nobody
words to form a
new one NUMERALS sixty-three, nine-tenths
PREPOSITIONS as for, because of, next to
SEMI-AUX be going to, had better, have got to
CONJUNCTIONS except that, rather than, whenever
advertisement memorandum
gasoline violoncello
taximeter
Philip
photograph Joseph
Thomas
curiosity
periwig Frederick
Albert
brandy wine Eugene
Elizabeth
smoke + fog
electricity + execute
American + Indian
European + Asian
newspaper boy
medical care
happenstances
autobus
blurt
typewriter
coronation
baby-sitter
lazy
jelly
escalator
donation
television
= light given by the sun
= break of the day
= wood that drifts
= corn that has popped
= shake by the hand
= one who makes matches
= meat that has been minced
= water for drinking
= paper for typing on
= one who bathes in the sun
= work done at home
= bench for working at
= worm that produces silk
= dust produced by sawing
= tape used for measuring
= flake of soap
= shed for cows
c. scarecrow
a. noisy crow
f. crows
e. crow-like
b. eat crow
d. the crow
compounding acronymy
clipping blending
coinage borrowing
suffixation acronymy
conversion back-formation
