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Revision for Morphology

The document outlines the differences between animal communication and human language, emphasizing that human language is complex and arbitrary, while animal communication is limited to immediate tasks. It defines key linguistic concepts such as morphemes, free and bound morphemes, and the functions of language, alongside the importance of linguistics in understanding communication. Additionally, it discusses inflectional and derivational affixes, as well as examples of suffixal homophones and base meanings.

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10 views

Revision for Morphology

The document outlines the differences between animal communication and human language, emphasizing that human language is complex and arbitrary, while animal communication is limited to immediate tasks. It defines key linguistic concepts such as morphemes, free and bound morphemes, and the functions of language, alongside the importance of linguistics in understanding communication. Additionally, it discusses inflectional and derivational affixes, as well as examples of suffixal homophones and base meanings.

Uploaded by

ridahtm5
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Revision for Morphology

What is the difference between animal


communication and human language?
Human language is a complex system that enables speaking,
conceptualizing, learning, planning, solving problems, and shaping
social structures, allowing humans to control life on Earth.

Animal communication, on the other hand, is limited to simple tasks


like warning others and responding to immediate situations, without
the ability to express abstract concepts or plan for the future.

Some definitions of language


Edward Sapir (1921) : A purely human and non-instinctive method
of communicating ideas, emotions, and desires by means of a
system of voluntarily produced (auditory) symbols.

David Crystal (1989) : Human vocal noise (or the graphic


representation of this noise in writing) used systematically and
conventionally by a community for purposes of communication.

# Human language is arbitrary – means that there is no natural or


logical connection between words and their meanings.

For example, the word “dog” in English, “‫ ”كلب‬in Arabic, and “perro”
in Spanish all refer to the same animal, but these words were
assigned randomly. There is no reason why a dog should be called
“dog” and not something else.
The Functions of Language
• Offering – Giving or providing something.

• Requesting – Asking for something ( "Could you give me...").

• Phatic Communion / Greeting – Social interactions to break ice


and maintain relationships ("Hello!", "How are you?").

• Emotive Utterance – Expressing emotions ( "I’m so happy!").

• Performative Utterance – Using language to perform an action


( "I declare you husband and wife.").

What is the difference between language and a


language?
Language is a universal human ability to use speech sounds for
communication, inherited genetically and unique to mankind.
A language is a specific system of communication used by a
particular society, forming part of its culture and acquired through
social interaction in early childhood.

The Elements of Language


1. Lexis – Words

2. Semantics – Meaning and the relation between words and the


real world

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3. Phonetics – Speech sounds in general

4. Phonology – Speech sounds of a specific language

5. Morphology – The structure of word

6. Syntax – The structure of phrases and sentences

What is linguistics? Why it is important?


Linguistics is the scientific study of language, including sounds,
sound patterns, word structure, word meaning, and sentence
structure. Studying linguistics helps you become a better
communicator, teacher, language learner, or translator by
deepening your understanding of how language works and evolves.

What is a morpheme? What is the difference


between a morpheme and a syllable?
A morpheme: The smallest unit that carries meaning in a word. It can be a
whole word (like "cat") or a part of a word (like "-s" in "cats" to show
plurality). A morpheme has a stable meaning and cannot be divided again.
Syllable: A unit of pronunciation with a vowel sound (e.g., “hap-py” has
two syllables but only one morpheme).

Free and bound morphemes


Free morphemes can stand alone as words with meaning.
Example: “book,” “run,” “happy.”

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Bound morphemes cannot stand alone and must attach to other
morphemes. Example: “-s” (plural), “un-“ (negation), “-ed” (past
tense).
For example: In “unhappiness”
“happy” is a free morpheme (it can stand alone as a word).
“un-“ and “-ness” are bound morphemes (they must attach to a
word).

Free and bound bases


A base is the core part of a word that carries its main meaning.
Other morphemes, like prefixes and suffixes, can be added to
modify its meaning.
Free base can stand alone as a word, like “help” in “helpful” or
“love” in “lovely.”
bound base cannot stand alone as a word and must combine with
other morphemes, like “struct” in “construct” or “ceive” in “receive.”
For example: In “blackboard”
Notice that “black” and “board” both are free morphemes because
each can stand alone as independent words, but “board” is the
base because it carries the main meaning of the word. “Black” acts
as a modifier describing the type of board.

Prefixes and suffixes


A prefix is a bound morpheme added to the beginning of a word to
change its meaning, such as “un-“ in “unhappy” or “re-“ in “rewrite.”
A suffix is a bound morpheme added to the end of a word to modify
its meaning or function, like “-ful” in “hopeful” or “-ed” in “played.
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INFLECTIONAL SUFFIXES ( Because they always come last in a
word, they are called suffixes.)

Inflectional suffixes are only eight suffixes added to words to


indicate grammatical changes, such as tense, number, possession,
or comparison. They don’t change part of speech¹, come last in a
word², attach to the same part of speech³, don’t pile up⁴.

DERIVATIONAL AFFIXES
Derivational affixes are numerous prefixes or suffixes that create a
new word by changing its meaning or part of speech. They can turn
verbs into nouns, adjectives into adverbs, etc. Unlike inflectional
affixes, They sometimes change part of speech¹, come either first
or last in a word², pile up³. Such as “-ness” in “happiness” , or “re-”
in “rewrite”.

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# Notice that, We add a hyphen after a prefix, before a suffix, and
on both sides of a bound base.
For example: “pre-” in preview, “-less” in hopeless, and “-ceive-” in
receive, or “-capt-” in capture.

SUFFIXAL HOMOPHONES 1 (-ER)


Homophones are words that sound the same but have different
spellings and meanings.

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Examples:
1. This is a heavier tennis racket than I want. {-ER cp}
2. We watched the shimmer of the evening light on the waves.
{ ER rp}
3. The fighter weighed in at 180 pounds. {-ER n}
4. He was tougher than he looked. {-ER cp}
5. The jabber of voices came through the open door. {-ER rp}

SUFFIXAL HOMOPHONES 2 (-ING)

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Examples:
1. It was a charming spot. {-ING aj} ( very charming/ seems
charming)
2. Jim lost both fillings from his tooth. {-ING nm} (adding s plural)
3. She saw the waiting cab. {-ING vb} ( …the cap waiting)
4. It was exciting to watch the flight. {-ING aj} (Most exciting/
quite exciting)
5. Old sayings are often half-true. {-ING nm} ( adding s plural)
6. From the bridge we watched the running water. {-ING vb}
(….the water running)

SOME BASES AND THEIR MEANINGS

Base Meaning
Aud (audio) Hear
Cide (suicide) Kill
Or (oral) Mouth/speak
Aqua (aquaplane) Water
Graphy ( photography Writing
Corp ( corporation) Body

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Mono (monologue) One
Pend ( pendulum) Hang
Man (manual) Hand
Ject (inject) Throw
Ten ( tenable) Hold
Biblio ( bibliophile) Book
Phile ( bibliophile) Lover
Geo ( geography) Earth
Meter (anemometer) Measuring
Tele ( Television) Distance
Sent ( sentiment) Feel
Gamy (polygamy) Marriage
Xero ( xeroderma) Dry
Vene ( intervene) Come
Inter ( intervene) Between
Cur ( recur) Run

Written by : Asmaa Mohamed ☺

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