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Exercise 1

The document contains examples of morphological analysis exercises. It provides words and asks to identify the number of syllables, morphemes (free and bound), and parts of speech. There are multiple exercises with increasing levels of complexity, including distinguishing inflectional vs. derivational affixes, identifying odd words out with explanations, analyzing immediate constituents, and defining roots, stems and bases in morphology. The purpose is to practice morphological analysis skills through examples.

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64 views

Exercise 1

The document contains examples of morphological analysis exercises. It provides words and asks to identify the number of syllables, morphemes (free and bound), and parts of speech. There are multiple exercises with increasing levels of complexity, including distinguishing inflectional vs. derivational affixes, identifying odd words out with explanations, analyzing immediate constituents, and defining roots, stems and bases in morphology. The purpose is to practice morphological analysis skills through examples.

Uploaded by

Trần Cầm
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Exercise 1

Make identification of the following words


Words Number Number of Free Bound
of morphemes morphemes morphemes
syllables
EX boats 1 2 boat -s
1 pretests
2 carelessly
3 misjudgemen
t
4 unfriendliness
5 pleasure
6 antedate
7 island
8 Paper
9 Mahogany
10 ugly

Exercise 2
Make identification of the following words
Words Number Number of Free Bound
of morphemes morphemes morphemes
syllables
EX boats 1 2 boat -s
11 hygiene
12 misconceiving
13 immortal
14 unpredictable
15 intervene
16 audience
17 emit
18 subscribe
19 oppose
20 recurrence
Exercise 3
Make identification of the following words
Words Number Number of Free Bound
of morphemes morphemes morphemes
syllables
EX boats 1 2 boat -s
21 dysfunctional
22 contradict
23 inspect
25 invisible
26 portable
27 progressive
28 kingdom
29 drinkable
30 letter

Exercise 4
Make identification of the following words
Words Number Number of Free Bound
of morphemes morphemes morphemes
syllables
EX boats 1 2 boat -s
40 semicircle
41 pesticide
42 extinguisher
43 broader
44 narrower
45 cookers
46 postage
47 dictatorship
48 reappearanc
e
49 doorbells
50 command
Exercise 4
Inflectional versus Derivational Affixes
◾ Is -ly an inflectional or a derivational affix? 
 
◾ Like an inflectional affix, it seems to attach to many (though not all)
the members of the class of adjective, as in quickly, helpfully, sadly,
softly, sharply, foolishly. 
 
◾ If -ly is an inflectional suffix marking the grammatical category
adverb, then it should meet the following criteria for inflectional
suffixes:
 
a. never change the part of speech of a root,
b. follow, not precede, any derivational suffixes,
c. affix to virtually any member of the category adjective.
 
Does -ly meet these criteria? Try to think of examples which violate
these principles.
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Exercise 4
Pick the odd out and give your explanations 

1. A dancer B. farmer C. reporter D. thicker 


2. A. thinner B. letter C. taller D. bigger 
3. A. fortress B. actress C. hostess D. stewardess 
4. A. advisor B. factor C. sailor D. visitor 
5. A. enable B. eatable C. drinkable D. readable 
6. A. thorny B. dairy C. needy D. rocky 
7. A. geese B. teeth C. fleet D. feet 
8. A. soften B. harden C. chicken D. sharpen 
9. A. cooker B. heater C. reaper D. blister 
10. A. incurable B. inborn C. indirect D. inaccurate 
11. A. unpack B. unfair C. unsafe D. unkind 
12. A. reappear B. rebuild C. reassure D. remarry 
13. A. smartly B. manly C. cutely D. rudely 
14. A. princely B. cheaply C. orderly D. worldly 
15. A. entail B. enlarge C. enforce D. enfeeble 
16. A. silken B. woolen C. wooden D. stiffen 
17. A. shortage B. cottage C. spoilage D. blockage 
18. A. helpful B. useful C. handful D. careful 
19. A. kingdom B. condom C. freedom D. wisdom 
20. A. guitarist B. pianist C. violinist D. enlist
==========================================================
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Exercise 5
Morphology: Immediate constituents
1. international (adjective)

A. nation + -al + -inter B. nation + -inter + -al


2. unpardonable (adjective) 

A. pardon + -able + -un B. pardon + -un + -able

3. unbelievable (adjective)

A. believe + -able + -un B. believe + -un + -able

4. unwritten (PP)

A. write + -un + -en B. write + -en + -un

5. insincerity (noun)

A. sincere + ity + in B. sincere + in- + ity

6. unhappiness 

A. happy + -ness + un- B. happy + un- + -ness

7. restatement (noun)

A. state + re- + -ment B. state + -ment + re-

8. repackage (verb)

A. pack + re- + -age B. pack + -age + re-

Further reading
English Word-Formation (1983) by Laurie Bauer
As you can see below, Bauer acknowledges the root/stem/base
problem and then explains a model that removes the
ambiguity.
The Problem: “‘Root’, ‘stem’ and ‘base’ are all terms used in the
literature to designate that part of a word that remains when
all affixes have been removed. Of more recent years, however,
there has been some attempt to distinguish consistently
between these three terms.”
Root: “A root is a form which is not further analysable, either in
terms of derivational or inflectional morphology. It is that part
of word-form that remains when all inflectional and
derivational affixes have been removed… In the form
‘untouchables’ the root is ‘touch’.”
Stem: “A stem is of concern only when dealing with inflectional
morphology. In the form ‘untouchables’ the stem is
‘untouchable’.” [In short, when you remove the inflectional
suffixes, you have the stem.]
Base: “A base is any form to which affixes of any kind can be
added. This means that any root or any stem can be termed a
base; ‘touchable’ can act as a base for prefixation to give
‘untouchable’.”

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