Morphological structure of the english words

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… words are coined because an acute need is
felt…
Randolph Quirk

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1. The notion of the morpheme
2. Semantic classification of morphemes
3. Structural classification of morphemes
4. Morphemic, structural, derivational types of
analysis

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Morpheme is one of the fundamental units of a
language, a minimum sign that is an
association of a given meaning with a given
f.orm (sound and graphic)
Ex. cloud-y

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A MORPHEME versus a PHONEME(unlike a
word a phoneme has no meaning of its own)
A MORPHEME versus a WORD (a mprpheme
is not autonomous)

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Allomorph or morpheme variant is a
representation of the given morpheme that
manifests alteration. Therefore, morphemes
may have different phonemic shapes.
Ex. Please, pleasure, pleasant
Prefix in has several positional variants:
-il before –l- (illogical),
-ir- before –r- (irresponsible),
-im- before –b-m-pEx. –S- in the pl of nouns –s, -es

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Root (=radical) is the lexical nucleus of a word.
Prefix is the derivational affix standing before
the stem and modifying its meaning
Suffix is the derivational affix following the
stem and forming a new derivatiму шт a
different part of speech (actor, washable,
sharpen) or in a different word class within the
same part of speech (brotherhood, piglet,
youngster)

8.

Inflexion (=ending= grammatical suffix=
inflectional suffix) is a functional affix. They
have a form-changing function (play, plays,
played, playing), they carry ONLY the
grammatical meaning whereas suffixes
perform the word-building function. (play,
player, playful, playfulness)

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Lexicalised grammatical affix is a grammatical
suffix (inflexion) which developed into a
derivational suffix.
Ex. Customs
Colours

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Free morphemes
Bound morphemes
Semi-bound morphemes

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Free m. is a m. which coincides with a word-
form of an independently functioning word.
Can be found only among roots.
Bound m. is a m. which does not coincide with
a separate word form:
All affixes (ex. prefix anti-, suffix –ee)
Inflexions (ex. –ing in going)
Some root- morphemes (ex. docu- in document,
horr- in horror, busi- in business)

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Is a morpheme which stands midway between
a root and an affix. Can function as an
independent full-meaning word and at the
same time as an affix (a prefix or a suffix)
Ex. Speak ill of smb – ill-fed, ill-dressed, illbred
Ex. to be proof against water -?

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Is a part of a word which remains when a
derivational or a functional affix is striped from
the word. Expresses the lexical and the part-ofspeech meanings.
Is a part of a word that remains unchanged
throughout its paradigm.
Ex. Employ- in employer,
Hearty-heartier- the heartiest (the stem is
hearty-)

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A set of words that all share a common root.

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Stage 1. Divide the word into 2 constituent parts
(un-achievable)
Stage 2. Find a further indivisible morpheme (un-)
by correlating it with other words (unfair,
unforgettable, etc)
Stage 3. Divide the word into 2 constituent parts
again (achiev-able)
Stage 4. Find a further indivisible morpheme (able) by correlating it with other words
Stage 5. Find a further indivisible morpheme
(achiev-)
Stage 6. Conclusion.

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States the number and the types of morphemes
that make up a word. Does not reveal the
hierarchy of the morphemes (ex. uncheerful
>>cheer+ un+ ful.

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That was a pleasure to
interact with you!