Morphology 1

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Morphology is the field within linguis

tics

that studies the internal

structure of words.

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• the smallest unit of grammatical analysis.

a morpheme

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

be identifiable from one word to

another



and



Contribute in some way to the
meaning of the whole word.

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MORPHEMES

 derivational

inflectional

work – work(-s)

work – work (-ed)

paradigm

read + -er

un- + tie

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A word and its forms: DERIVATION

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 Derivationally related words are

different words with a shared base.

 We talk about so called word classes ,

primary grammatical categories, parts of

speech or lexical categories:

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Why do we group words into categories?

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 The lexicon (vocabulary) of language - much higher

than a hundred thousand.

 It is convenient not to study individual items but to

group certain items into classes sharing certain

features, and examine them together

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

conversion (or zero derivation)



word passing from one word class to

another (or several others) without

taking any affix

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

A word and its forms: INFLECTION

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

(- s ), (- ed),(-er), are attached to words to indicate

their grammatical functions, for example number,

tense, degree, without involving a full semantic

change (i.e. a change in meaning).



i n f l e x i o n a l morphemes.



p a r a d i g m



Inflectionally related word forms are the forms of the

same word



A paradigm is the complete set of related word-forms

associated with a given lexeme

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LEXEME ?

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

PERFORM



This pianist performs in the local hall

every week.



Mary told us that this pianist

performed in the local hall every week.



These pianists perform in the local hall

every week.

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

PERFORM = LEXEME=an abstract

kind of word of which the word

forms are all inflectional variants

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

TELL is a lexeme of told (past tense of

tell )



PIANIST is a lexeme of PIANISTS

(plural of pianist)

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

Inflection vs. word-formation

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

inflectional rules - relate different
forms of the same lexeme



word-formation - relate two different
lexemes.

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

word-formation:



derivation and compounding

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

COMPOUNDS

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

A compound is a word composed of
more than one free morpheme.

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

COMPOUND VERBS:



COMPOUND ADJECTIVES



COMPOUND NOUNS



HEADED AND HEADLESS COMPOUNDS



BLENDS AND ACRONYMS



COMPOUNDS CONTAINING BOUND

COMBINING FORMS



PHRASAL WORDS

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

COMPOUND VERBS

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

VERB_VERB (VV)



stir-fry, freeze-dry



NOUN –VERB (NV)



hand-wash, air-condition , steam-clean



ADJECITVE-VERB (AV)



dry-clean, whitewash



PREPOSITION-VERB (PV)

underestimate, outrun, overcook



ADVERB-VERB (Ad-V)



downsize, upgrade

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

right-headed

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

Blacklist

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

collective meaning

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

Hyphenation



Unhyphenated,solid -compound verbs
with single-syllable modifiers



overhang



hyphenated - longer modifiers



Air-condition

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

COMPOUND ADJECTIVES



are constructed in a very similar way to the compound

nouns



a modifier of a noun



It consists of two or more morphemes of which the left-

hand component limits or changes the modification of the

right-hand one



"the dark-green dress": dark limits the green that modifies

dress.

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

NOUN-ADJECTIVE (NA)
sky-high, coal-black, oil-rich



ADJECTIVE-ADJECTIVE (AA)

grey-green, red-hot


PREPOSITION-ADJECTIVE (PA)

underfull, overactive

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

VA structure, corresponding to the VV verbs would

resemble hypothetical „sing-happy“ (happy enough to sing),



„fail-safe“ (designed to return to a safe condition if it fails or

goes wrong).



They scarcely exist, even though it is easy enough to find

plausible meanings for them.



This reflects the relative reluctance of verbs to participate

in compounding generally in English.



All the compounds here are again right – headed.

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

Solid compound adjectives



earsplitting, eyecatching, and downtown. (AmE)



ear-splitting, eye-catching (BrE)



Numbers that are spelled out and have the s

uffix -fold added: "fifteenfold", "sixfold".



Points of the compass:



northwest, northwester, northwesterly,

northwestwards, but not North-West Frontier.

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

Hyphenated compound adjectives



A compound adjective is hyphenated if

the hyphen helps the reader

differentiate a compound adjective

from two adjacent adjectives that each

independently modify the noun.

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

"acetic acid solution": a bitter solution
producing vinegar or acetic acid (acetic
+ acid + solution)



"acetic-acid solution": a solution of

acetic acid

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

The hyphen is unneeded when capitalization

or italicization makes grouping clear:



old English scholar: an old person who is

English and a scholar, or an old scholar who
studies English



"Old English scholar": a scholar of Old English
.



"De facto proceedings" (not "de-facto")

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

no risk of ambiguities - may be written

without a hyphen:



Sunday morning walk.

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

Hyphenated compound adjectives may have

been formed originally by an adjective

preceding a noun:



Round table" "round-table discussion"

→



"Blue sky" "blue-sky law"

→



"Red light" "red-light district"

→



"Four wheels" "four-wheel drive

→

" (the singu

lar, not the plural, is used)

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

Others may have originated with a

verb preceding an adjective or

adverb:



"Feel good" "feel-good factor"

→



"Buy now, pay later" "buy-now pay-

→

later purchase"

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

others are created with an original

verb preceding a preposition.



"Stick on" "stick-on label"

→



"Walk on" "walk-on part"

→



"Stand by" "stand-by fare"

→



"Roll on, roll off" "roll-on roll-off

→

ferry"

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

The following compound adjectives are

always hyphenated when they are not

written as one word:

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

An adjective preceding a noun to

which -d or -ed has been added as a pa

st-participle construction, used before
a noun:



"loud-mouthed hooligan"



"middle-aged lady"



"rose-tinted glasses"

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

A noun, adjective, or adverb

preceding a present participle:



"an awe-inspiring personality"



"a long-lasting affair"



"a far-reaching decision

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

Numbers spelled out or as numerics:



"seven-year itch"



"five-sided polygon"



"20th-century poem"



"30-piece band"



"tenth-storey window"

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

A numeric with the affix -fold has a

hyphen (15-fold), but when spelled out

takes a solid construction (fifteenfold).

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

Numbers, spelled out or numeric,

with added -odd: sixteen-odd, 70-odd.



Compound adjectives with high- or

low-: "high-level discussion", "low-

price markup".



Colours in compounds:



"a dark-blue sweater"



"a reddish-orange dress".

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

Fractions as modifiers are

hyphenated: "five-eighths inches",

but not in "a thirty-three thousandth

part".



Fractions used as nouns have no

hyphens: "I ate only one third of the

pie."

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

Comparatives and superlatives in

compound adjectives also take

hyphens:



"the highest-placed competitor"



"a shorter-term loan"



However, a construction with most is

not hyphenated:



"the most respected member".

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

The following compound adjectives

are not normally hyphenated:

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

Where there is no risk of ambiguity:



"a Sunday morning walk"



Left-hand components of a compound

adjective that end in -ly that modify right-

hand components that are past participles

(ending in -ed):



"a hotly disputed subject"



"a greatly improved scheme"



"a distantly related celebrity"

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

Compound adjectives that include com

paratives and superlatives with more,
most, less or least:



"a more recent development"



"the most respected member"



"a less opportune moment"



"the least expected event"

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

Ordinarily hyphenated compounds

with intensive adverbs in front of

adjectives:



"very much admired classicist"



"really well accepted proposal"

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

COMPOUND NOUNS

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

Verb- noun (VN): swearword,

drophammer, playtime



Noun-noun (NN): hairnet, mosquito

net, butterfly net, hair restorer



Adjective-noun (AN): blackboard,

greenstone, faintheart



Preposition – noun (PN): in-group,

outpost, overcoat

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

Most of these are also right-headed.

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

If we try to think of more examples for the

four types, we will probably find the task

easiest for the NN type.



In fact, almost any pair of nouns can be

juxtaposed in English so as to form a

compound or a phrase – provided that there

is something that this compound or phrase

could plausibly mean.

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

Concatenating words without case mar

kers



compounds - arbitrarily long.



Short compounds - in three different

ways

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

solid or closed : housewife, lawsuit, wallpaper, etc.



hyphenated form:



compounds that contain affixes

house-build(er),single-mind(ed)(ness),


adjective-adjective compounds

blue-green


verb-verb compounds,

freeze-dry


compounds that contain articles,

mother-of-pearl

salt-and-pepper

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

open or spaced form consisting of

newer combinations of usually longer

words, such as distance learning,

player piano, lawn tennis, etc.

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

container

ship/container-ship/containership



and



particle

board/particle-board/particleboard.

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

two kinds of NN compound.

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hairnet
mosquito net
butterfly net
hair restorer

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

restorer in hair restorer is derived

from a verb (restore).

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

Verbs, unlike most nouns and

adjectives, impose expectations and

requirements on the noun phrases

that accompany them in the

sentence.

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

These expected or required nominal

concomitants to a verb are called its

arguments.



If a NN compound is derived from a verb,

the most natural way to interpret the whole

compound is quite precise, the first element

expresses the object argument of the verb

(that is , the person or thing that undergoes

the action).



For example, an X-restorer, whatever X is,

something or someone that restores X.

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

Sign-writer, slum clearance, crime

prevention, wish-fulfilment.

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

crime prevention

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

NN compound like hairnet or

mosquito net, in which the right-hand

noun is not derived from a verb and

whose interpretation is not precisely

predictable on pure linguistic basis - a

primary or root compound.

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

NN compound like hair restorer or

slum clearance, in which the first

element is interpreted as the object of

the verb contained within the second -

a secondary or verbal compound

(synthetic compound)



Secondary compounds are certainly

right-headed

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

HEADED AND HEADLESS

COMPOUNDS:

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

Adjective-noun (AN): blackboard,

greenstone, faintheart

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

faintheart

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

faintheart - headless -its status as a

noun is not determined by either of its

components.



Headless AN compounds loudmouth,

redshank (a kind of a bird that has red

legs)



headless NN compounds

stickleback( a kind of fish with spines

on its back), sabretooth.

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

A few VN-compound nouns resemble

secondary compounds in that the

noun at the right is interpreted as the

object of the verb.



Pickpocket, killjoy



Headless -a pickpocket is not a kind

of pocket,

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

Some nouns consist of a verb and a preposition or

adverb:



Take-off, sell-out, wrap-up, sit-in



As for headless adjectives, there are quite a number

consisting of a preposition and a noun.



Overland, in-house, with profits, offshore, downmarket,

upscale, underweight, over-budget



The adjectival status of these compounds can often be

confirmed by their appropriateness in comparative

contexts and with the modifier very:



They live in a very downmarket neighbourhood.



This year’s expenditure is even more over-budget than

last year’s .

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

exocentric



endocentric.

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

Blends and acronyms

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

a kind of compound where at least one

component is reproduced only

partially - blends.

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

smog



talkathon



cheeseburger

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

acronyms



NATO (for North Atlantic Treaty

Organization), ANZAC (for Australian

and New Zealand Army Corps), RAM

(random access memory), SCSI

(pronounced scuzzy, small computer

system interface), AIDS (aquired

immune deficiency syndrome) .

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

If the conventional way of reading the

string is by pronouncing the name of

each letter in turn, as with USA and RP

(received pronunciation), then it is not

an acronym but an abbreviation.

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

Compounds containing bound

combining forms.

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

compounds that are made up of bound roots, known

as combining forms.



Anthropology, sociology, cardiogram,

electrocardiogram, retrograde, retrospect,

plantigrade.



For most of these the meaning of the whole is clearly

determinable from that of the parts.



For example: anthrop (o) – human plus –(o) logy,

science or study, yields a word that means science or

study of human beings and planti- (sole) (of foot) and

–grade (walking) yields a word meaning walkin on the

soles of the feet.

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

Phrasal words

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

jack-in-the-box.

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

Structurally this has the appearance of a noun phrase

in which the head noun, jack, is modified by a

prepositional phrase, in the box , exactly parallel to

the phrases :



People in the street or (a) book on the shelf.



They form their plurals by suffixing –s not to the head

noun (as in books on the shelf) but to the whole

expression : book on the shelves, jack-in-the boxes,



They jumped up and down like jack-in-the boxes.



Though structurally a phrase, then, it behaves as a

word.

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

Let´s contrast it with another item which is at

least as idiosyncratic in meaning and which

has a superficially similar structure: brother

– in – law.



A crucial difference is that brother-in-law

forms its plural by affixing – s not to the

whole expression but to the head noun:



Brothers –in –law



Despite its hypens, therefore, brother-in-law

is not a word at all but a phrase.

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

Another examples of phrasal words:



Dyed-in-the –wool Republican /s



Couldn´t-care-less attitude