LING 103
Introduction to
English Linguistics
2016
MORPHOLOGY 1
Revision
As we have seen, phonemes and syllables are units of sound that are meaningless.
e.g.
kæ
ʧ
ə
z
These units of sound are combined in various ways that become ‘meaningful’
for a speaker.
meaning
kæʧ
‘catch’
= {to seize with one’s hands}
kæʧ + əz
‘catches’ =
{third person singular present}
Meaningful units of sound are called morphemes
The study of meaningful units, their formation and combination is called
morphology
Defining ‘morpheme’
A morpheme is defined as
the smallest meaningful unit in a language
a meaningful segment of a word form
constant in shape and meaning
Do not confuse word and morpheme
By definition, every word comprises one or more morphemes
BUT
not every morpheme is a word
car
=
one morpheme
word
oppositionality
=
four morphemes
word
-(e)d
=
one morpheme
affix
Simple words (monomorphemic)
Single morpheme words are morphologically simple and cannot be broken into
smaller units without losing all meaning
house
data
calorie
Notice monomorphemic does not always coincide with syllable count
Monomorphemic forms are also called the root morpheme
Root Morpheme
The root morpheme contains the most significant aspects of semantic content (i.e.
the basic meaning of the word you are analysing) and cannot be reduced into
smaller meaningful constituents.
The root is revealed by removing all additional morphemes that have been
attached to it
Complex words (polymorphemic)
Words that consist of two or more morphemes are morphologically complex
house + s
walk + ing
un + pleasant
Complex forms consist of a base to which affixes are added e.g.
‘rereads’
re-
+
prefix +
- read
- base -
-
+ -s
+ suffix
root
root vs. base
Notice that initially the root and base describe the same thing
BUT once the root has been added to, it is then only a base for further additions
root = the minimal form of any morpheme
‘nation’
base = any morpheme that can be added to
‘-nation- ’
root vs. base contd.
An example using
‘nation’
as the root/base
nation
national
nationalise
denationalise
root/base
base
base
base
denationalisation
base
Summary
There is only one root morpheme. If we decide to add to it, it then becomes a
base as well. Every subsequent form is, potentially, a base that can be added to.
predenationalisation
Exercise
In the following sentence, divide the words into their smallest meaningful units.
Remember: you are reducing each word to its root form + any additional
morphemes
Our nosey cats sometimes ran to the three sheep who lived here
Our
to
nose + y
the
three
cat + s
some + time + s
sheep + {pl}
who
run + {past tense}
live + ed
here
Sometimes nothing can mean something
Consider the plural morpheme –s, which attaches to nouns to make them plural.
cat + -s = cats
aardvark + -s = aardvarks
We find occasional variations
children
corpora
alumni
But notice there is a plural morpheme attached to the root word which can be
pronounced by speakers
Zero morpheme
As we saw in the previous exercise, the plural of sheep is sheep not *sheeps.
Clearly sheep changes meaning, but it has NO plural morpheme which can be
pronounced
one cat
but
two cats
one sheep
two sheep + Ø
‘Ø’ signifies that although there is no change in pronunciation, there has been a
change in meaning (in this case to ‘plural’)
deer
fish
moose
salmon
Free vs Bound Morphemes
free morphemes can be used as independent words forms
cat
ice-cream
textbook
bound morphemes must attach to other morphemes to be meaningful
-ly
pre-
de-
-ed
Exercise
Divide the following words into free and bound morphemes
unkindly
un + kind + ly
B
F
B
review
re + view
B
F
illegal
il + legal
B
F
disappear
unclear
nuclear
dis +appear
B
F
un+ clear
B
F
nuclear
F
imprudent
im + prudent
B
F
delimitations
de + limit + ation + s
B F
B
B
The distinction between free and bound morphemes allows us to define two
types of words that are not simple:
Complex words: at least two morphemes, one of which is bound
cats
construction
Compound words: two or more free morphemes treated as a single morpheme
pickpocket
pick + pocket
greenhouse effect
green + house + effect
The two can co-occur
pick + pocket + s
compound
and
complex
False morpheme friends
Occasionally a part or parts of a word may resemble a morpheme
e.g.
mother
=
female parent
Cannot be analysed as
moth + er
‘one who moths’
(c.f. baker, maker etc.)
All morphemes must contribute to the overall meaning of the word you are
analysing
Exercise:
Analyse the following into their component morphemes
reader
recent
goal
global
relight
delight
endless
defriend
Answers
read + er
recent
re + light
delight
goal
end + less
globe + al
de + friend
Less obvious examples
Does
‘symphony’ = sym + phony?
Remember you must be able to give a consistent meaning to anything you
analyse as a morpheme.
Can you identify the same morphemes elsewhere?
symphony
euphony
phonology
telephone
-phon- = ‘sound’
symphony
symbiosis
synchronous
symmetrical
sym- / syn- = ‘together / share’
Notice that this process works equally well for the remainder of the morphemes
in our example words
euphony
eu + thanasia
phonology
soci + ology
telephone
tele + scope
symbiosis
anti + biosis
symmetrical
geo + metrical
synchronous chrono + logical
Exercise
Dig evidence out of your head to prove that ‘construction’ can be divided into
morphemes.
NOTE: You must be able to give a meaning to the root morpheme. It may
not be EXACTLY the same, but it will be obviously close in meaning
‘construction’
A possible answer set
construction
con + struct + ion
‘process of building / creating’
destruction
de + struct + ion
‘process of unbuilding’
instruction
in + struct + ion
‘creating / building knowledge’
obstruction
ob + struct + ion
‘creating / building a barrier’
Also note structure ‘something that is built or created’
– struct – = build / create
bound root
Notice struct is the most meaningful part of each word. This description marks it
as the root of the word. However, also note that struct cannot occur by itself.
We call this morphemes like
–struct –
a bound root