MORPHOLOGY

MORPHOLOGY

MORPHOLOGY

MORPHOLOGY

“

“

Word Classes

Word Classes

and Affixes”

and Affixes”

Main Divisions of Word Classes

(Parts of Speech):

• Content Words

• Function Words

• Nouns
• Verbs
• Adjectives
• Adverbs

• Conjunctions
• Prepositions
• Articles
• Pronouns

Exercise: Determine the word

class of each of the following

words

a. canine
b. the
c. him
d. elegant
e. inconvenience
f. eloquently
g. comply
h. inasmuch as

i. over

a. Noun
b. Article
c. Pronoun
d. Adjective
e. Noun
f. Adverb
g. Verb
h. Conjunctio

n

i. Preposition

Morpheme:

The minimal unit of meaning

Free morpheme: a single

morpheme that constitutes a
word and can stand alone.

Bound morpheme: a

morpheme that must be
attached to another
morpheme.

Question #2

a, b, i, j, k, l, m

Example:
• Retroactive = retro + act + ive

Free morpheme = act
Bound morphemes = retro-, -ive

English Affixes

(based on the position)

Prefix: An affix

that occurs
before a
morpheme

Suffix: An affix

that occurs
after a
morpheme

English Prefixes

Examples of Negative Prefixes:

un-

non-

dis- a-

Examples of size and degree prefixes:

mini- sub-over-

super-

English Suffixes

Class preserving

suffixation:
-er  lecturer
-ian librarian
-ist  scientist
-let  piglet

Class changing

suffixation:
Verb  Noun
perform

performance

Adjective  Adverb
nice  nicely
Adjective  Noun
active  activity

Affixes

(based on the

function)

Inflections vs. Derivations

Inflections vs. Derivations

Definition

•

Derivational

morpheme: deriving

(creating) a new word

with a new meaning.

•

Inflectional morpheme:

changing the form of a

word because of the

rules of syntax.

English Inflectional Morphemes

Nouns

–s

plural

–’s

possessive

Verbs

–s

third person singular

present

–ed

past tense

–en

past participle

–ing

progressive

Adjectives

–er

comparative

–est

superlative

Some examples of English

Derivational Morpheme

• -ic : Noun  Adj ; alcohol  alcoholic
• -ance : Verb  Noun

; clear  clearance

• -ly : Adj  Adv ; exact  exactly
• -ity : Adj  Noun ; active  activity
• -able : Verb  Adj ; read  readable
• -ship : Noun  Noun

; friend  friendship

• re- : Verb  Verb ; cover  recover
• in- : Adj  Adj ; definite  indefinite

Describe the italic

affixes:

1)

impossible

2)

terrorized

3)

terrorize

4)

desks

5)

dislike

6)

humanity

7)

fastest

1)

Derivational
prefix

2)

Inflectional suffix

3)

Derivational
suffix

4)

Inflectional suffix

5)

Derivational
prefix

6)

Derivational
suffix

7)

Inflectional suffix

Describe the italic

affixes:

8)

premature

9)

untie

10)

darken

11)

fallen

12)

oxen

13)

faster

14)

lecturer

8)

Derivational
prefix

9)

Derivational
prefix

10)

Derivational
suffix

11)

Inflectional suffix

12)

Inflectional suffix

13)

Inflectional suffix

14)

Derivational
suffix

That’s All For Today

That’s All For Today

That’s All For Today

That’s All For Today

See You Next Week

See You Next Week