Chapter 2

WORD STRUCTURE & FORMATION

A. WORD STRUCTURE
1. The morpheme :
1.1. Definition :
• the minimal meaningful language unit.
• not independent, occurs in speech only as part of word

1.2. The types of morphemes :

1.2.1. The root morpheme (mostly lexical morpheme/free) :
• the primary element of the word
• convey its essential lexical meaning
• remains after removing all the other elements
• cannot be analyzed any farther
E.g. care heart
careful hearten
carefulness dishearten
carefully heartily 1
1.2.2. The affixational morpheme
a. The grammatical morpheme (inflection or ending)
• used to create different forms of the same word
• carries the grammatical meaning only
• studied in grammar
E.g. - s in books, pens, tables
- ed in opened, arranged ....
Inflectional paradigm :
• a complete set of forms of a word in an inflectional pattern .
• the system of grammatical forms characteristic of a word
E.g. big, bigger, biggest (comparison)
cats, cat’s tail
opens, opened, opening

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b. The derivational morpheme (lexico-grammatical
morpheme)
• carrying both lexical and grammatical meaning.
• used to create new words
• studied in lexicology
E.g. pre in prewar ; re in rearrange ; ness in happiness ; ly in
fatherly
Derivational paradigm :
• the system of derivational forms characteristic of a word
E.g. fatherless, fatherhood, fatherly
care, careful, careless, carefully

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 THE DIVISION OF ENGLISH MORPHEMES

MORPHEME

ROOT AFFIXATIONAL

Free bound
inflectional derivational

prefix suffix

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 Division of morphemes
Morphemes

Lexical Grammatical

Free Bound Free Bound

N (jobless) (convert) Prep. (at, in)
V(worker) (incur) Art. (a, the)
Adj.(reddish) (exclude) Conj. (and, but)
Infl. Der.
N+S/’S un+happy
V+ED/ ING happiness
Adj+ER/ EST luckily
2. The word
2.1. Definition:
• a dialectical unity of form and content,
• an independent unit of language to form a sentence by itself
2.2.The types of the words:
a. Simple word : only consists of a root morpheme
E.g. man, land, small, table, etc.
b. Derived word: consists of a root with one or more derivational
morphemes: nationalize
E.g. hope+ful+ly read+able
R+de.Af+de.Af R+de.Af
c. Compound word: R+R (+ n de.Af)
• has at least two roots, with or without derivational morphemes.
E.g. noticeboard, lady killer, walkman, notebook
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 Division of English words
WORD

SIMPLE WORD DERIVED WORD COMPOUND WORD

(one root) (root + n derivational) (root +n root)

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 B. WORD FORMATION
I. Definition:
process of building new words from the already existing word
according to a certain structural and semantic patterns and
formulas
II. Affixation:
formation of new words with the help of affixes (prefix/suffix)
II.1. Prefixation
1. Characteristic features
• prefixes rarely form new parts of speech
• some coincide with words mostly prep & adv
E.g. over, out, up
2. Classification: 3 main groups :
• negative meaning : unhappy, disease, misfortune, immoral
• reversal or repetition of an action : undo, disconnect, remarriage
• space and time relationship : pre/ postwar, overwork,
supermarket
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 II.2. Suffixation :
1. Characteristic features:
-change the meaning of stems both lexically and grammatically
E.g. (to) write  writer
friend  friendly/friendship
cloud  cloudy/cloudless
- Suffixes have the peculiarities :
+ polysemy : -er in worker, doer, Londoner
+ homonym : -s in spectacles (eye glasses), colours (flag)
2. Classification :
according to parts of speech:
• - noun - suffixes : -er, - or, - ing, ness
• - adjective - suffixes : -able, -ful, -ish, -like, etc
• - verb - suffixes : -en, -ize , -ish
• - adverb - suffixes: -ly, -ward, -wise
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 COMPOUNDING (word - composition)
1. Definition :
the building of a new word by joining two or more words.
E.g. book keeper, well - known, (to) baby-sit
2. Characteristic features
Components of a compound:
- at least two root morphemes
E.g. worldwide, ice - cream, downstairs, motherland
R+R R+R R+R R+R
- derived words or even other compound words.
E.g. kindhearted, easy - going, greengrocer
R + DE.W R + DE.W R + DE.W
- or even other compound words
E.g. [[stone age] CP + [cave dweller] CP] CP
- English compounds have two stems :
+ determinatum (head) :
the second element, being the basic part in the
compound, usually expressing a general meaning
+ E.g : film star, home - made, maidservant
+ determinant (dependent/modifier):
the first element, being a determining part in the
compound, premodifying the determinatum
E.g. Wastepaper basket

wastepaper basket
determinant (dependent) determinatum (head)
, statesman, honeymoon
2.Criteria of compound words :
2.1. Phonological criterion :
- a heavy stress on the first element, especially most of
compound nouns.
E.g. 'PICKpocket, 'BLACKboard, 'FILMstar
- compound words which have double stress
E.g. 'good 'egg, 'happy - go - 'lucky
2.2. Inseparability criterion
- insertion of a word is impossible
E.g. homemade, honeymoon, house keeper
- sometimes, elements of a compound are separated in some
cases
E.g. Both cigar and cigarette smokers have to spend a lot
2.3. Semantic criterion
- single idea : A + B = S
E.g. make - up, brother - in - law, up - to - date
- The meaning of the whole compound word is not the sum
of the meanings of its components
E.g. green -grocer (a person selling vegetables),
honeymoon (vacation after wedding ceremony) , breakdown (a
stoppage through accident)
2.4. Graphic/ spelling criterion
if X: spelt with a hyphen or with no separation
then X: a compound.
E.g. notebook , fountainpen, take - in , teach - in
old age (not compound) old - age pensioner
(compound
3. Semi - affixes
- have generalized lexical meaning and great ability to be
combined with a great number of roots.
E.g. half in half - done, half - broken, half - eaten
well in well - fed, well - done, well - prepared
man in postman, chairman, cabman
- lose their grammatical independence, even their
meaning
- often used in combinations
4. Classification of compound words :
4.1.Classification according to meaning:
+ Non - idiomatic compounds (Motivated): meanings
easily deduced from the meaning of the components
E.g. bookshelf, salesgirl, handshake, table - cloth
+ Idiomatic compounds (Non-motivated): no relationship
between the meanings of the component;
meanings cannot be deduced
E.g. eye -wash (something said or done to deceive a
person)
fiddlesticks (nonsense, rubbish)
4.2. Classification according to componental relationships
+ Coordinate compounds :
components: both structurally and semantically independent
E.g. girl friend, Anglo - Saxon, oak - tree
+ Subordinate compounds :
domination of one component (structural center) over the other
(dependent).
E.g. book keeper, baby sitter, wrist - watch, road building
4.3. Classification according to the part of speech :
+ Compound nouns : sitting room, blackboard
+ Compound adjectives: hot tempered, age - long
+ Compound verbs : to handwash, to baby-sit
+ Compound adverbs: whole heatedly, self -confidently
+ Compound prepositions : into, onto, inside
4.4. Classification according to compositional types :
+ Compounds formed by juxtaposition (i.e. without
connecting elements)
E.g. queen-bee, heart-broken, daytime
+ Compounds formed by morphological means (i.e. with vowel or
consonant as a linking element)
E.g. speedometer, statesman, bridesmaid
+ Compounds formed by syntactical means (i.e. group of
words condensed into one word)
E.g. merry - go - round, up - to - date
+ Compounds formed by both by morphological and
syntactical means (i.e. phrases turned into compounds by means of
suffixes and hyphen) :
E.g. bottle -opener, heart - shaped, long - legged
5. Miscellanea of compounds :
+ Derivational compounds
structural integrity is ensured by a suffix
E.g. two - sided, broad - mended, honeymooner, pen -
holder
+ Reduplicative compounds :
imitating sounds or repeating one of their components
E.g. goody - goody , fifty - fifty, hush - hush, zig - zag , chit -
chat
+ Faded compounds :
compositional characteristic: "faded" & hardly recognizable .
E.g. breakfast, cupboard, highway, Sunday, boatswain
+ Dead compounds :
compositional characteristics: etymologically analysed &
discovered
E.g. husband , kidnap
 SHORTENING
1. Characteristic features
- highly productive, specifically in colloquial speech and
advertisement
- a good way of creating roots : can take endings.
E.g. examination exam, laboratory  lab,
television  TV, refrigerator  fridge
2. Types of shortening :
2.1 Acronyms : built from the initial letters of several words
E.g. S.O.S : Save Our Souls
BBC : British Broadcasting Corporation
UNO : United Nations Organizations
MP : Member of Parliament
Two special cases of acronyms :
+ Monograms :
- two or more letters combined in one design
- used in handkerchief, note - paper or in wedding invitation cards

+ Homonymy :
based on the use of identical sounds of words letters
E.g. U2 = ?, mobi 4Y = ?
I. O .U = ?
2.2. Clipping :
- shortening a word of two or more syllables (usually N and A)
+ Initial clipping : the first part of a word is clipped :
E.g. telephone  phone, helicopter  copter
+ Final clipping : the last part of a word is clipped :
E.g. Advertisement  ad , microphone  mike
+ Initio - final clipping : the first and the last part are clipped
E.g. influenza  flu , detective  tec
+ Elliptico - conversional clipping (phrasal clipping) : E.g.
music
ular
popA

popN
perm (from permanent ware), taxicab (from taxi meter - cab)
3. Blending :
parts of words merge into one new word.
E.g. breakfast and lunch

br + unch

smoke and fog

sm + og

transfer and resistor

trans + istor
CONVERSION ZERO DERIVATION
XA +   XB (A & B: different parts of speech)
1. Definition
new word formed in a different part of speech without adding any
element.
E.g. workN  to workV , loveN  to loveV , waterN  to waterV
2. Characteristic features :
- The difference between words in each pair is :
+ Morphological : new paradigm
E.g. work - worked - working
+ Syntactic : new function
E.g. He worked very hard
+ Semantic : completely new meaning
E.g. act : a scene in a play
to act : to do something
- the most productive way of creating new words
3. Forms of conversion :
a. Traditional conversion :
commonly and traditionally used by the public, recorded in
dictionaries
b. Occasional conversion :
- individual use of conversion in special situation, occasions,
- to express one's idea vividly, humorously.
E.g. package - to package, wireless - to wireless, holiday -
to holiday
c. Partial conversion: verb +   noun
in verbal phrases like : "have, take, make + N"
E.g. dance  to have a dance,
progress  to make progress
d. Substantiation : Adjective +   Noun
E.g. deaf  the deaf ; rich  the rich
poor  the poor ; old  the old
Back derivation/back formation : XA - Af X'B
1. Definition :
subtracting a real or supposed affix from existing words.
E.g. baby - sitter - er (Af)  to baby sit
beggar - gar (Af)  to beg
2. Characteristic features
- an opposite process to affixation :
- fairly productive in building compound verbs from
compound nouns
E.g. to tape record (from tape recorder), to air condition (from air -
conditioner)
 SOUND IMITATION (ONNOMATOPOEIA)
1 Definition : (phonetical motivation)
imitating sounds produced by actions, things and so on.
2 Classification :
Word showing showing showing showing showing showing
used animals actions actions noise of forceful move
for themsel made by by man metallic motion ment of
ves animals things water
E.g. the crow to moo, babble clink, clash, flush,
(from to mew, chatter tinkle crash, splash,
crow), to purr, giggle, whack, babble
the to roar, grunt, whip,
cuckoo to howl, grumble whisk.
(from to neigh murmur
cuckoo)
 ABLAUT & STRESS SHIFT- SOUND AND STRESS
INTERCHANGE
1. Sound interchange go – went suppletion
changing the root vowel or consonant form the old word.
E.g. song  to sing
/ s I ŋ /  /s I ŋ /
breath  breathe
/ bre T /  / bri: D /
2. Stress interchange
building the place of the stress on the old one.
E.g. present  to present
/’preznt/  / pri’zent ,
accent  to accent
/ ‘&ksent/  / @ ‘sent /
•End of Chapter 2

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