Morphology: Words & Morphemes
Base Definition
Any form to which an affix is added. May also be a root or it may be a root plus one+ affixes.
Suffix Definition & Examples
Attached to the end of a base. EX: -ed, -ing, -ize
Prefix Definition & Examples
Attached to the front of a base. EX: pre-, de-, un-
Affix Definition
Bound morphemes that may be added to a root to modify its meaning and/or lexical category. EX: dog-s, de-humid-ifi-er
Root Definition
Constitutes the semantic core of the word. Has lexical category (verb, noun, adjective...)
Ordering of Inflection and Derivation
Derivational rules apply before inflectional ones. They are always closer to the root than inflectional affixes are. EX: neighbor-hood-s, not neighbor-s-hood
Word Examples
Dogs, dog, the, deactivate, hotdog
Morphological Rule Definition
Each affix has a rule which specifies which part of speech it attaches to, and which part of speech the resulting word is.
T/F: Derivational affixes always change the part of speech.
FALSE - Sometimes, but not always
T/F: All roots are free.
FALSE - some are bound
Two Types of Morphemes
Free or Bound
Bound Morpheme
Morpheme that can't stand alone and has to be attached to another morpheme (-s, de-, -er)
Free Morpheme
Morpheme that is a word and can stand alone (dog, act, with, taco)
Inflectional Affixes
Never changes part of speech, adds grammatical information but doesn't change fundamental meaning
Two Types of Words
Simplex or Complex
Derivational Affixes
Sometimes changes part of speech (e.g. changes V to N), changes meaning of word significantly
T/F: Every word consists of at least one root, plus optional affixes.
TRUE
Word Definition
The smallest meaningful unit of language that can stand alone (that is free).
Morpheme Definition
The smallest meaningful unit or language.
Morphology Definition
The system of categories and rules involved in word formation.
Derivational Affix Examples
cat -> cat-ty happy -> un-happy bake -> baker ice -> de-ice
Inflectional Affix Examples
cat -> cats happy -> happier bake -> baked ice -> ice's
Examples of Morphemes
dog, -s, act, -ive, read, -er, re-, -ing