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lecture2 lexicology

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Назик Баястанова
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lecture2 lexicology

Uploaded by

Назик Баястанова
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© © All Rights Reserved
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LECTURE TWO:

MORPHOLOGY :
THE STRUCTURE OF THE
ENGLISH WORDS

1. THE MORPHEME. TYPES


OF MORPHEMES
2. DERIVATIONAL AND
INFLECTIONAL MORPHEMES
MORPHOLOGY
Morphology deals with the
systematic correspondence between the
form and meaning of words.
Analysis at a morphological level is
concerned with structural elements of
meaningful part of the word called
morphemes that can not be further
divided;
Morpheme is a language unit of
meaning or grammatical function having
its own sound form:
E.g.: sin-ful, un-do//play-ed, soon-er, toy-
s;
MORPHEMIC TYPES OF WORDS

Words can be classified into


1) monomorphemic(or root-words consist of
only one root morpheme, e.g.dog, little,take
etc.)
2) polymorphic- all polymorphic words fall into
two subgroups:
 Derived words(one root-morpheme and
derivational affix, e.g.acceptable, outdo, etc)
 Compound words(according to the number of
root morphemes they have, e.g.black-board,
pen-holder, etc)
GROUP OF MORPHEMES
Free Morphemes:
girl, boy, mother, etc. These are words with a
complete meaning, so they can stand alone as
an independent word in a sentence.
Free morphemes fall into two subgroups:
 Lexical morphemes: boy, cat, car, etc.
 Functional morphemes: and, because, when,
near, etc
 Bound Morphemes: These are lexical
items incorporated into a word as a
dependent part. They cannot stand
alone, but must be connected to
another morpheme: re-,-ist, -ed, -s,
etc.
Bound morphemes are of three
categories:
Derivation
Inflection
and compounding.
 Derivation is concerned with the way
morphemes are connected to existing
lexical forms as affixes.
 We distinguish affixes in two principal
types:
 1. Prefixes - attached at the
beginning of a lexical item or base-
morpheme – ex: un-, pre-, post-, dis,
im-, etc.
 2. Suffixes – attached at the end of a
lexical item ex: -age, -ing, -ful, -able, -
ness, -hood, -ly, etc.
EXAMPLES OF MORPHOLOGICAL
DERIVATION

 a. Lexical item (free morpheme):


like (V)=___________
+ prefix (bound morpheme) dis-
= dislike (V) = ________;

b. Lexical item: like (V)= ______


+ suffix –able = likeable (Adj)= ________
+ prefix un- =unlikeable (Adj)= ____________
+ suffix –ness = unlikeableness (N)= _________
 c. Lexical item: like (Adj)= _______
+ prefix un- = unlike (Adj)= ________
+ suffix –ness = unlikeness (N) =
_________;
 d. Lexical item: like (adj)= _______

+ suffix –ly = likely (adj)= _______


(adv.) __________;
+ suffix –hood =likelihood (N)= _______
prefix un- =unlikelihood (N)=
___________.
DERIVATIONAL AFFIXES CAN CAUSE
SEMANTIC CHANGE:

Prefix pre- means before; post- means after; un- means


not, re- means again.
Prefix = fixed before; Unhappy = not happy = sad; Retell
= tell again.

Prefix de- added to a verb conveys a sense of


subtraction; dis- and un- have a sense of negativity.
To decompose; to defame; to uncover; to discover.
 Inflection is a morphological process
that adapts existing words so that they
function effectively in sentences
without changing the category of the
base morpheme.
These are not used to produce new
words, but rather to indicate aspects
of the grammatical function of a word.
English has the following inflectional
suffixes:
VERB INFLECTIONAL
SUFFIXES
 1. The suffix –s functions in the Present
Simple as the third person marking of the
verb : to work – he work-s
 2. The suffix –ed functions in the past simple
as the past tense marker in regular verbs: to
love – lov-ed
 3. The suffixes –ed (regular verbs) and –en
(for some regular verbs) function in the
marking of the past partciple and, in general,
in the marking of the perfect aspect:
To study studied studied / To eat ate eaten
 4. The suffix –ing functions in the marking of
the present participle, the gerund and in the
marking of the continuous aspect: To eat –
eating / To study - studying
NOUN INFLECTIONAL SUFFIXES
 e. The suffix –s functions in the marking of
the plural of nouns: dog – dogs
 f. The suffix –s functions as a possessive

marker (saxon genitive): Laura – Laura’s


book.
ADJECTIVE INFLECTIONAL
SUFFIXES
g. The suffix –er functions as comparative
marker: quick – quicker
h. The suffix –est functions as superlative
marker: quick - quickest
DERIVATIONAL AFFIXES CAN
MARK CATEGORY CHANGE
 The derivational suffix –able derives
an adjective from a verb, implying an
ability with a passive relation with its
stem:
Eatable means able to be eaten
not able to eat- inedible.(uneatable)
 Suffix –er derives a noun from a verb,

indicating a human agent or an


inanimate instrument:
Speaker (_______); Baker (_______);
 The suffixes –ful and –less derives an
adjective from a noun.
 -ful indicates addiction, abundance;

 -less indicates subtraction, reduction:

careful = full of care


careless = with no care
 The suffixes –ure and –age derive e noun
from a verb:
To fail – failure = fallire/fallimento
To marry – marriage = sposare/matrimonio
 The suffix –hood derives an abstract noun
from a concrete noun, the suffix –ness
derives an abstract nounfrom an adjective.
Child – childhood = bambino/infanzia
Good – goodness = buono/bontà
 The suffix –ly derives an adverb from an
adjective (but also adjs can end in –ly):
Quick – quickly
Easy – easily
but: lonely (adjective)
 The suffix –ing derives a noun from a verb:

To write – writing.
 Tasks for Seminar(in written form)
1) Fill in the proper word. Translate, pay attention to the suffix.
 1. true/truthful
This play is based on a ________ story.
I believe her: I think, she is a __________ person.
 2. childish/childlike
You can’t have everything you want: don’t be so __________.
She has a _____________ quality, a sort of innocence, which I like.
 3. young/youthful
Our teacher is full of ____________ enthusiasm for her subject.
Enjoy yourself while you are still ___________
 4. uneatable/inedible
This meat is so tough that I find it ______________.
Some of the ___________ varieties of fungus are poisonous.
 5. unreadable/illegible
The inscription was ____________, but I recognized it as Latin.
War and Peace may be a good novel, but I find it ______________.
 6. historic/historical
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is a ______________ monument.
The library contains a copy of Magna Carta and other __________documents.
2) Affixes
What is a prefix ? Find three examples of

prefixes from the text on non-standard English.


What is a suffix ? Find seven examples of

suffixes in the text.


What parts of speech do they indicate ?

Study the table. What are the prefixes used in

the words in the table ?


What meaning do they add to the root of the

word ?
Write your own examples.
 Prescriptivism is the view that one variety of language has an inherently higher value than
others, and that this ought to be imposed on the whole of the speech community. It is an
authoritarian view propounded especially in relation to grammar. The favoured variety is
usually a version of the standard written language, especially as encountered in literature, or
in the formal spoken language, which most closely reflects literary style and is presented in
dictionaries, grammars and other official manuals. Those who speak and write in this variety
are said to be using language “correctly”; those who do not are said to be using it
“incorrectly”. The alternative to prescriptive approach is the descriptive approach associated
mainly with modern linguistics. As the name suggests, its main aim is to describe and explain
the patterns of usage which are found in all varieties of the language, whether they are
socially prestigious or not.

The approach recognizes the fact that language is always changing and that there will
accordingly always be variations in usage. Linguists do not deny the importance of the
standard language, but they do not condemn as “ugly’, “incorrect” or “illogical” other
dialects which do not share the same rules.
 (From Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language)

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