Chapter 4

The Classification of Morphemes

Content Morphemes Function Morphemes
Free Content Bound Content Free Function Bound Function
Morphemes Morphemes morphemes morphemes
Content Content Function Function
morphemes that morphemes that morphemes that morphemes that
cannot stand can stand alone cannot stand
can stand
alone alone
alone -A few are the Ex: the, and, at Ex: -s, -ed
root of words
Ex: dog, house Ex: -fer- All eight of them
-Most of them are They are the are (inflectional)
derivational “grammar” words affixes
They are the affixes that function as (Table 4.5/p.80)
root of words Ex: re-, -ment the root of words

Morphemes

Functional
Content Morphemes Morphemes

Free Bound Free Bound

Content content functional functional
Morpheme Morpheme Morphemes
Morphem
s(derivatri s (inflection)
es
on)
For example, they activated the program built for different nationalities.

Activated

ac ive at Content: act, ive, ate

t e Function: ed
Free: act
activate ed Bound: ive, ate, ed
Derivational: ive, ate
Inflectional: ed
activated

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The Internal Structure of Words

Morphemes within words are not randomly combined. In fact, they are
arranged to form words in very systematic ways.

First, the base to which a given affix is attached normally belongs to the
same grammartical category.

Second, the word produced by the addition of a given affix also normally
belongs to the same grammatical category.

Analyzing the Internal Structure of Words

The two facts about the addition of an affix to a base are very useful in
explaining the formation of words. That is, we can depend to the patterns
of affixes to determine the steps of forming a word. By observing the
grammatical category of the base and of the derived word, we can identify
the proper order of each affix that a word combines with.

It illustrates that morphemes within words have not just an obvious linear
order. They also have a layred relationship, that is, their conbination takes
place in particular steps. Such layered relationships of morphemes
organized in a word is referred to as the hierarchical structure.

Linguists usually represent the structure of words by means of a tree

diagram.

Ex: reelection

re elec ion
t

1. Structure of Ambiguous Words

On the morphological level, words can be structurally ambiguous. That

is, they are be interpreted into two or more possible ways due to the
fact that they have more than one morphological structure.

Affixes that have the same form but different meanings or functions like
these are said to be homophonous.

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Ex: unlockable: “not able to locked” or “able to be unlocked”

A
A

A V

un lock able un lock able

2. Complex Structure

Words can be very complex, consisting of several affixes and bases

joined together. Within these words, there are several layers of structure.
Each layer results from attaching an affix to base of the appropriate type,
the new form created in each layer then serves as the base for an affix in
the next larger layer.

Ex: nationalities
N

Natio al ity s
n

Unquestionably
Adv

un questio able ly
n

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Major Morphological Processes

Process Operation Example
Affixation Adding an affix (prefix or pay + -ment = payment
suffix) to a base
Compounding Combining two or more sleep + walk = sleepwalk
existing words
Alternation Substituting one segment man + -s = men ( [æ] → [ɛ]
for another )
sing + -ed = sang ( [ɪ] →
[æ] )
Suppletion Creating a word completely good + -er = better
different from its base
Conversion Converting the category of to right a wrong (verb
a word to another derived from adjective)
Clipping Shortening a word gym = gymnasium
Blending Combining parts of existing breakfast + lunch = brunch
words
Backformation Removing an affix from an television (n) → televise (v)
existing word
Acronymy Taking initial letters of radar = radio detecting and
words to form a new word ranging
CEO = chief executive
officer
Onomatopoeia Creating a word that is meow (for the sound of a
imitative of a natural sound cat)
Coinage Inventing a word from Google (v)
scratch
Borrowing Borrowing a word from paparazza (from Italian)
another language

Morphological Types of Languages

Type Characteristic
Isolating -Isolating languages are made up of many free morphemes
and very few bound morphemes.
-Most words contain one single morpheme, each morpheme
conveys one meaning
Agglutinating -Agglutinating languages form words by combining free and
bound morphemes
-These morphemes can be easily separated from each other
and each morpheme generally expresses one meaning
Fusional -Fusional languages form words by conbining free and bound
morphemes
-These morphemes are fused together, and it is hard to
separate the morphemes in a word and to map them with
their meaning.

Morphological Analysis
When doing a morphological analysis, it is necessary to make a list of
words we want to study, including both their form and meaning.

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 Chapter 4

1. Compare words that are partially similar both in form and meaning.
Find the recurring units and match them with the recurring
meanings.
2. For a set of words having the same form but different meanings,
they represent different morphemes. These morphemes are called
homophonous morphemes.
3. For a set of words having slightly different forms expressing the
same meaning, they represent the same morpheme. They are
allomorphs, or members of one morpheme. The choice of one form
over the others usually depends on the phonetic environment.

QUESTIONS
1. Study the following words and answer the questions below
Word Divide Morpheme Identify
pond pond free N
Chair+s Free+bound N+ Inflectional Suffix – plural
chairs
(-s)
dislike Dis+like Bound+free Prefix – negative(dis-)+V
Play+ed Free+bound V+ Inflectional Suffix – past
played
tense (-ed)
remake Re+make Bound+free Prefix – repetition (re-)+V
Manage+ment Free+bound V+ Derivational Suffix –
management
noun (-ment)
Bad+ly Free+bound Adj+ Derivational Suffix –
badly
adverb (-ly)
badminton badminton free N
Inter+nation+al+it Bound+free+bound+bound Prefix – between (inter-)+N+
y Derivational Suffix –
internationlity
adjective (-al), Derivational
Suffix – noun(-ity)
Tall+er Free+bound Adj+ Inflectional Suffix –
taller
comparative(-er)
prejudge Pre+judge Bound+free Prefix – before (pre-)+N
Music+ian+s Free+bound+bound N+ Derivational Suffix –
musicians noun (-ian), Inflectional
Suffix – plural (-s)
Observe+ation Free+bound V+ Derivational Suffix –
observation
noun (-ation)
Ir+resist+ible+ity Bound+free+bound+bound Prefix – negative(ir-)+V
+Derivational Suffix –
irresistibility
adjective (-ible), Derivational
Suffix – noun (-ity)

2. Draw a tree diagram to represent the morphology structure for each

word below

redo

re do
Chapter 4

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Chapter 4

nationality

adj

nation al ity

mistreatment

mis treat ment

inflammability

Adj

in flame able ity

smallest

Adj

small est

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amibiguities

amibig ity es
u
simplify

simpl ify
e

optional

adj

option al

overdressed
Adj

over dres ed
s

3. Indicate the morphological processes which apply to the words in

column A to create the words in column B
a. Blending: fanzine
b. Conversion: rebel (V → N)
c. Clipping: obits
d. Backformation: pronunciate (từ pronunciation)
e. Conversion: market (N->V)
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f. Suppletion: am → were
g. Affixation: decoration từ decorate + -ion
h. Compounding: pick+pocket
i. Blending: beefalo từ beef+ buffalo
j. Acronym: RAM
k. Clipping: gasoline-> gas
l. Alternation: overtake-> overtook
m. Alternation: speak-> spoke