Morphology
the study of word-formation and
the internal structure of words
Morphology
Morphology is the study of the
internal structure of words.
The two major branches of
morphology are
(1) word-formation (or lexical
morphology) deals with the creation of
new words.
(2) inflection (or inflectional
morphology) deals with the
grammatical forms of the same word
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Morpheme, morph, allomorph
The basic unit for morphological
description is the morpheme, the
smallest individually meaningful element
in the utterance of a language.
Morphemes are abstract units,
established for the analysis of word
structure. A textual, context sensitive
realization of a morpheme is called a
morph. When a word segment represents
one morpheme in sound or writing, the
segment is a morph.
Morpheme, morph, allomorph
Variant members of a set of morphs
are allomorphs of the same
morpheme: in-, im-, and ir- are
allomorphs of a particular prefix
morpheme:
the morpheme realized by the prefix
in- of incompetent is also found in il-
of illegal, im- of impatient, and ir- of
irregular.
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Conditioning of allomorphs:
phonetic, lexical, grammatical
Phonetic conditioning may involve progressive
or regressive assimilation (determined by the
preceding sound)  eg. dogs / cats
Lexical conditioning applies when the choice of
allomorph depends on the particular word. The
plural allomorph -en of oxen is unique to that
word.
Grammatical conditioning is recognizable in
the change from the final voiceless consonants
/s/, /f/, /T/ to the voiced /z/, /v/, /D/ when some
nouns are converted into verbs:
their use /s/, they use /z/, our belief /f/, we believe
/v/, my mouth /T/ we mouth /D
Portmanteau morph, empty morph,
suppletive morph
A portmanteau morph corresponds to a bundle of
morphemes. The word am is a portmanteau morph: it
contains the morphemes {be}, {present}, {1st
person}, and {singular}, but it cannot be segmented
into morphs. Similarly, men consists of the morphemes
{man} and {plural}, and took of the morphemes
{take} and {past}.
Empty morph are those which have no meaning, e.g.
the to used to introduce infinitives
A suppletive (or suppletive morph) is a form from
a different root that is used in a paradigm, a
grammatically related set of forms.
The comparatives and superlatives of four highly frequent
adjectives are suppletives
good better, best
bad worse, worst
much more, most
little less, least
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Zero morph
Some linguists recognize a zero morph where a
morpheme is expected in the grammatical system
but no morph is there.
The absence of a relative pronoun in a letter I wrote
(compare a letter that I wrote) is noted by
postulating a zero relative pronoun.
The plural of sheep is identical with the singular
sheep, though (say) the plural of cow is cows; the
plural noun sheep has been said to have a zero
morph.
A zero article has been postulated for plural nouns
and for non-count nouns (e.g. sugar) to fill the
paradigm of indefinite and definite articles:
a garden; the garden; gardens; the gardens
sugar; the sugar
Free morph, bound morph
A free morph can occur by itself as a
word, whereas a bound morph is always
combined with another morph.
Affixes are always attached to a base and are
therefore bound morphs: the prefix en- in
enjoy, the suffix -ity in activity, and the
inflectional suffix -s in tasks.
Roots may be free morphs: tidy in untidy,
move in movement, own in owner.
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Paradigm, conjugation, declension
A paradigm is a set of grammatically related forms of a
word. Paradigms can be established in English for verbs,
nouns, adjectives, and (to a limited extent) adverbs. The
terms conjugations and declensions are useful in highly
inflected languages
Paradigms for verbs are conjugations. We conjugate a verb
when we give its variant forms:
play / plays / playing / played
Paradigms for nouns are declensions (little variation in
declension). Four forms:
girl, girl's, girls, girls
There is a paradigm for adjectives that are inflected for
comparison:
old, older, oldest.
Relatively few adverbs are also inflected for comparison:
(work) hard, harder, hardest, badly, worse, worst.
There are paradigms of pronouns, particularly personal
pronouns;
for example: I, me, my
Affix, prefix, suffix, root
Unhappy consists of the word happy to which the
affix un- has been attached. If the affix comes at
the beginning (like un- in unhappy) it is a prefix,
if it comes at the end (like - ly in happily) it is a
suffix. Unhappily therefore has both a prefix and
a suffix.
The segment to which an affix is attached need
not occur as a word itself: capture = capt + ure.
We find capt in other words captive, captor,
captivate, recapture each of them with affixes
that appear elsewhere. Capt is the root of these
words, but unlike happy it does not exist as a
word. The root is what remains when we strip all
the affixes from a word.
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Root vs. base
We attach affixes to the base of a word, which is not necessarily
identical with its root,
The structure of a complex word that has a base distinct from its root
is illustrated by the diagram for undoubtedly - the root doubt is the
base for doubted, that doubted is the base for undoubted, so
undoubted (and not the obsolete word doubtedly) is the base for
undoubtedly
Root problems
It is often unclear what the root of a
word is, particularly for many borrowings
from Greek and Latin, since their
etymology is not known to most speakers
of the language, or for words that in the
course of centuries have changed their
form or meaning.
Does handsome consist of the root  hand
(perhaps related to the word  hand ) and the
suffix -some (which is a suffix in toothsome,
awesome, troublesome) or should we rather
say that it is an unanalysable whole for
present-day speakers?
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Sources of New Words and
Meanings
Borrowings and existing resources
words from other languages (karaoke from
Japanese)
the addition of new meanings to existing words
or expressions (the metaphorical extensions of
menu for a set of options in a computer
program)
new words and expressions are created from
the resources of the language itself. They are
formed from existing words in a variety of
ways (prefixation, suffixation, compounding,
conversion)
Main Types of Word-Formation
Prefixation: the addition of a prefix in
front of a base; for example:
pro-life, recycle, deselect
Suffixation: the addition of a suffix at
the end of a base; for example:
ageism, marginalize, additive
Compounding - combination of two or
more bases (homesick)
Conversion: the change of a base
from one word class to another
without any change in form (out)
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Compounding (or composition):
the combination of two or more bases; for
example: hands-on (as in hands-on experience),
helpline, spin doctor
nouns: pop group, whistle-blower, date-rape
adjectives: class-ridden, heart-breaking, homesick
verbs: babysit, dry-clean, cold-shoulder
adverbs: good-naturedly, however, nowadays
pronouns: anyone, everything, nobody
numerals: sixty-three, nine-tenths
prepositions: as for, because of, next to
semi-auxiliaries: be going to, had better, have got
to
conjunctions: except that, rather than, whenever
Conversion
Conversion is the process of shifting a word to a
different word class without adding an affix. It
resembles suffixation, which usually has the same
effect. For example, from the adjective humid is
derived the verb humidify ('make humid') by
suffixation. Analogously, from the adjective wet is
derived the verb wet ('make wet') by conversion,
e.g.
They tried to out him. (adverb to verb)
That course is a must for someone like you.
(auxiliary to noun)
Don't give me any its or buts. (conjunctions to
nouns)
I haven't yet learned the ins and outs of the
business.
(adverbs/prepositions to nouns)
I don't have the know-how, (verb plus adverb to
noun)
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Back-formation
Back-formation is the process of
deriving words by dropping what is
thought to be a suffix or (occasionally) a
prefix. It applies chiefly to the coining of
verbs from nouns.
The two major sources of back-formation
are
(1) nouns (including compound nouns) ending
in -er/-or/-ar (doc for doctor) or -ing, and
(2) nouns ending in  tion or  ion .
Clipping
Clipping is a shortening of a word by the
omission of one or more syllables. What is left
may be the beginning of a word (exam from
examination), less frequently the end (phone
from telephone), and infrequently the middle (flu
from influenza).
examples of clippings:
bike (bicycle) decaf (decaffeinated coffee)
fan (fanatic) memo (memorandum)
fax (facsimile) mike (microphone)
fridge (refrigerator) movie (moving picture)
hyper (hyperactive) photo (photograph)
intercom (intercommunication system) pub (public
house)
lab (laboratory) zoo (zoological gardens)
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Acronyms
Acronyms are another abbreviatory device. They are
words generally nouns formed from the initial letters
of parts of a word or phrase. The letters may be
pronounced as words (AIDS, also Aids, from Acquired
Immune Deficiency Syndrome) or they may be
pronounced as a series of letters (UN).
Examples of acronyms:
AI artificial intelligence
a.s.a.p. as soon as possible
CD-ROM compact disk, read-only memory
e.g. exempli gratia ('for example' in Latin)
HIV - human immunodeficiency virus
NIMBY - nimby not in my backyard
PC - personal computer
PS - postscript
RSVP - repondez s'il vous plait ('please answer' in French)
scuba - self-contained underwater breathing apparatus
Blends
Blends are yet another abbreviatory
device, which has also been productive in
the last few decades. They are
compounds formed from bits of two
words: brunch from the combination of
breakfast and lunch.
further examples of blends:
camcorder camera + recorder
contraception contra + conception
motel motor + hotel
smog smoke + fog
transistor transfer + resistor
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Miscellaneous
Two other ways in which words are formed are:
1. onomatopoeia words felt to be suggestive of
the sounds they refer to: bubble, burp, clatter, hiss,
mutter, splash;
2. words from proper names: braille, lynch,
pasteurize, platonic, sadist.
It is very rare for new words to be created
without being composed of existing words or
parts of words. Two examples are gas and googol
(the number that is written as the number 1 followed by
100 zeros, or ten to the power 100 ), though gas is
said to be modelled on chaos.
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