Morphology: It's Relation with Phonology, Syntax and Semantics.

Sobha L

AU-KBC Research Centre

MIT Campus of Anna University

Chennai-44

Word- Its Internal Structure What is a Word?

All right and Alright

The splody cat sat on a mat

What is a Lexeme?

An abstract vocabulary item is Lexeme

He went to the pub for a pint and then pockled off

Pockled, Pockling, Pockling and Pockle are different realisations of the lexeme POCKLE

Word –Form

Word is not just the abstract vocabulary item with a common core of meaning, the lexeme.

It has a particular physical realisation of that lexeme in speech and writing and this is word-form

Grammatical Word The word can also be seen as a

representative of a lexeme that is associated with certain morpho-syntactic properties such as noun, adjective, verb , gender, number etc.

Here we call a word as a grammatical word.

3. a Usually I cut the bread on the table b. Yesterday I cut the bread in the sink In 3a. Cut is [verb, present, non 3rd person] Realises the present CUT In 3b. Cut is cut [verb, past] Realises the past CUT 3c.John has a cut in his finger Here Cut is [Noun, singular]

Hence here cut is a separate Lexeme CUT [Noun] from CUT [Verb] because they

belong to different word-class The nature of grammatical word is important

in identifying the relationship between words and sentences and the boundary between morphology and syntax

Morphology

Morphology is the study of morphemes and their arrangements in forming words.

the, free, desk, eat--cannot be divided further Mosquito- cannot be divided into mos and quito Boys, girls –can be divided into boy, girl and -s

Morphemes, Allomorphs

Morphemes are the smallest linguistic elements capable of having a meaning or grammatical function.

They have no internal structure other than phonological structure. Naturally, the boundaries between words are also boundaries between morphemes.

Morphemes are minimal meaningful units which may constitute words or parts of words.

e.g. re-, de-, un-, -ish, -ly, -ceive, -mand, tie, boy, and like

in the combinations

receive, demand, untie, boyish, likely.

Examples of the division of words into morphemes.

His over-estim-at-ion of his friend-s' dis-pleas-ure at his effort-s led to a severe nerv-ous break-down which was only cure-d by an electr-ic shock therap-ist.

It is difficult to determine the boundaries between morphemes.

The element cran-, which only occurs in cranberry.

A second example is the element -sume in the words. consume, presume, subsume, resume, assume

In response to certain other morphemes, sume systematically changes its form. consumption, presumption, subsumption, resumption,

assumption; consumptive, presumptuous Notice that the alternation between sume and sump is not

predictable from the phonological laws of English

Thus, it is true that morphemes are the smallest elements capable of having a meaning or grammatical function

Not all morphemes have a meaning or function.

e.g. in- and im- of intolerable and impossible are allomorphs of the negative morpheme {im}.

/kam-, kan–,kan*-/ of comparable, context, congregate are allomorphs of a single morpheme.

As their distribution can be stated by phonological condition, they are called phonologically conditioned allomorph.

{kam-~ kan- ~kan*-}

MORPH AND ALLOMORPH

Principle 1

If a form ( containing one phoneme or a number of phonemes ) conveys the same meaning in all its occurrences, then it is treated as a morpheme.

e.g.-er of worker, dancer, and filler is a morpheme-er of wider, broader, smaller, deeper, cleaner is

a different morpheme.

Problem 1

1. nic^oka ‘I cry’2. nic^oka? ‘I cried’3. nimayana ‘I am hungry’4. nimayana? ‘I was hungry’5. nimayanaya ‘I was hungry (and may still be)’6. timayana ‘you (sg.) are hungry’7. nimayanas ‘I will be hungry’8. tic^oka ‘you (sg.) cry’9. nic^okaya ‘I was crying (and may still be)’10. nic^okas ‘I will cry’

Problem 1 (cont.)

11. an’kwake ‘you (pl.) ate’12. nitehkawi ‘I climb’13. titehkawi? ‘you (sg.) climbed’14. nitehkawiya ‘I was climbing (and may still be)’15. nitehkawis ‘I will climb’16. nikwake ‘we ate’

Problem 1 (cont.)

17. nimayanati ‘I go to be hungry’18. nimayanato ‘ I went to be hungry’19. nimayanaki ‘ I come to be hungry’20. nimayanako ‘I came to be hungry’21. nikmayanati ‘I cause him to be hungry’22. nikmayanati/ ‘I caused him to be hungry’23. nimicmayanatis ‘I shall cause you (sg.) to be

hungry’

AC:BC::AD:BDwalk-ed:talk-ed::walk-ing:talk-ing

nic^oka : tic^coka :: nimayana : timayanaA C B C A D B D

c^oka? : mayana? :: c^okas : mayanas The morphemes of the problem 1 can be listed as follows:1. ni- ‘I’ 4. mayana ‘to be hungry’2. ti- ‘you (sg.)’ 5. ? - past3. –c^oka ‘ to cry’ 6. s - future

7. ya – past incomplete

Problem 2paTittaan ‘he read’iTittan ‘he pounded’kaattaan ‘he protected’paTittaaL ‘she read’iTittaaL ‘she pounded’kaattaaL ‘she protected’paTikkiRaan ‘he is reading’iTikkiRaan ‘he is pounding’kaakkiRaan ‘he is protecting’paTikkiRaaL ‘she is reading’iTikkiRaaL ‘she is pounding’kaakkiRaaL ‘she is protecting’

Principle 2

Forms which have a common semantic distinctiveness but which differ in phonemic form (i.e. the phonemes or order of the phonemes) may constitute a morpheme provided the distribution of formal differences is phonologically definable.

e.g. in- and im- of intolerable, impossible, impracticable & impersonal bear a partial phonetic-semantic resemblance and the position in which they occur are determined by the type of consonant following.

maram ‘tree’

marattaTi ‘wood of a tree’

marakkiLai ‘branch of a tree’

maraŋkaL ‘trees’

{maram} / maram ~ maraŋ ~ mara/

Problem

1. hk’ab ‘my hand’ 1a. k’ab ‘hand

2. kakan ‘my leg’ 2a. akan ‘leg’

3. alumal ‘your land 3a. lumal ‘land’

4. awinam ‘your wife’ 4a. inam ‘wife’

5. sk’op ‘his language’ 5a. k’op ‘language’

6. yat’el ‘his work’ 6a. at’el ‘work’

problem 3

h- ~ k- ‘my’

h occurs before constant-initial stem and k before a vowel-initial stem

a- ~ aw- ‘your

s- ~ y- ‘his’

Principle 3

  Forms which have a common semantic distinctiveness but which differ in phonemic form in such a way that their distribution cannot be phonologically defined, constitute a single morpheme if the forms are in complementary distribution in accordance with the following restrictions.

“common semantic distinctiveness” (principle 1& 2)

“but which differ in phonemic form in such a way that their distribution cannot be phonologically definable” (principle 2)

“complementary distribution”

“restrictions”

1. Occurrence in the same structural series has precedence over occurrence in different structural series in the determination of morphemic status.

roses , boys, lips, oxen and sleep belong to the same structural series.

The genitive morpheme /-əz~ -z ~ -s/ is in a different structural series in that it occurs with both singular and plural nouns.

man’s, men’s

2. Complementary distribution in different structural series constitute a basis for combining possible allomorphs into one morpheme only if there also occurs in these different structural series a morpheme which belongs to the same distribution class as the allomorphemic series in question and which itself has only one allomorph or phonologically defined allomorphs.

Hypothetical Example

Subject Pronouns Object Pronouns

1st person -na fi-

2nd person -so ka-

3rd person -zo zo-

Problem

Subject form Agreement marker after Verb stem

naan^ ‘I’ -een

naam ‘we’ -oom

nii ‘you -aay

avan^ ‘he’ -aan

avaL ‘she’ -aaL

avar ‘he (hon.)’ -aar

atu ‘it’ -atu

3. Immediate tactical environment have precedence over nonimmediate tactical environments in determining morphemic status.

in the boys died the immediate tactical environment of –s is boy-. Any combination of boys such as the boys or the boys died is the nonimmediate tactical environment of –s.

4. Contrast in identical distributional environments may be treated as submorphemic if the difference in meaning of the allomorph reflect the distribution of these forms.

Show occurs with two “past participle” formation, shown, showed. The distribution of –n and –ed are not complementary at this point, i.e they contrast. According to restriction 4 this contrast is not sufficient to force us to regard –n and –ed as separate morphemes, since whatever difference of distribution.

PRINCIPLE 4

An overt formal difference in a structural series constitute a morpheme if in any member of such a series, the overt formal difference and a zero structural difference are the only significant features for distinguishing a minimal unit of phonetic-semantic distinctiveness.

“An overt formal difference” means a contrast which is indicated by difference in phonemes or in the order of phonemes.

e.g. The distinction between foot /fut/ and feet /fiyt/ is an overt difference.

The contrast between the singular sheep /Siyp/ and the plural sheep /Siyp/ consists of a zero and is covert.

A member of a structural series may occur with a zero structural difference and an overt formal difference

Problem

1. Walked 16. meant

2. Played 17. rang

3. Ran 18. swan

4. Hit 19. rode

5. Met 20. slept

6. Worked 21. bought

7. Fought

8. Jumped

9. Pounded

10. Cut

11. Split

12. Spit

13. Sang

14. Bled

15. Kept

Principle 5

Homophonous forms are identifiable as the same or different morphemes on the basis of the following conditions.

1. Homophonous forms with distinctly different meanings constitute different morphemes.

e.g. pair, pare and pear

2. Homophonous forms with related meanings constitute a single morpheme if the meaning classes are paralleled by distributional differences.

e.g.

run in the expressions they run and their run

PRINCIPLE 6

A morpheme is isolable if it occurs under the following conditions:

1. In isolation

2. In multiple combination in at least one of which the unit with which it is combined occurs in isolation or in other combinations.

3. In a single combination provided the element with which it is combined occurs in isolation or in other combinations with nonunique constituents.

PRINCIPLE 6

Condition 1

On the basis of the first condition of isolatability we may identify as morphemes such forms as boy, cow, run, jump, up, he this, and touch, since it is possible to utter all these forms in isolation.

Condition 2

Certain morphemes never occur in isolation.

e.g. the –er in such words as dancer, worker, jumper, and provider.

Nevertheless, we can identify –er as a morpheme, since the elements with which it occurs may be found in isolation.

e.g. dance, work, jump and provide

PRINCIPLE 6

The second condition of isolatability does not require that all combining elements have an independent occurrence, but only that at least one form in any such structural series have the capacity of occurrence in isolation or in other combinations.

The prefix con- occurs in combinations, e.g. conceive, consume, contain, condense, but the form dense occurs in isolation. This provides justification for considering con- a morpheme.

Added evidence is available in the fact that the stem form occur in other combinations.

e.g. perceive, resume, detain

PRINCIPLE 6

Condition 3

There are some morphemes which occur in only one combination.

e.g. cran- in cranberry

rasp- in raspberry

cray- in crayfish

Morphemes

Morphemes (Smallest meaningful unit)

Free Morphs Bound MorphsE.g.: girl, time E.g.: -s, -ive

Morphs which have different forms are called allomorphs.

Allomorph

Phonologically Conditioned

Plural forms in English

|s| hits

|iz| sneezes

|z| dogs

Lexically ConditionedPluralssheep, oxen(each one has a different form and cannot be predicted)

Morphologically Conditioned

The choice of allomorphs –ceive, -cept is systematically determined by the morpheme added to them) Receiver, deceiver

Suppletion is an extreme form of allomorph in which two completely different roots

realize the same morpheme.

Examples are go | went Be | is| was | were | am Good | better | best Bad | worse | worst One | first Two | second

Suppletion is an extreme form of allomorph in which two completely different roots realize the same morpheme.

Examples are go | wentBe | is| was | were | amGood | better | bestBad | worse | worstOne | firstTwo | second

Word Building Elements

Roots Root is the irreducable core of a word-walk

Function words Functional words signals the grammatical

information or logical relation in a sentence Articles-a, the; demonstratices: this ,that etc

Stems-Bases are called stem only in the context of inflectional morphology

Bases- All roots are bases

Morphology

Inflection Word-formation

Derivation Compounding (affixation) (more than one root)

Class-maintaining Class changing Compound Compound Compound

Nouns Verbs Adjectives

INFLECTION

Inflection is the outer layer of the morphology and derivation is the inner layer.

steward stewardesses *stewards-esses motorbike motorbikes *motorsbike painter painters *paintser

Root paint Affixes re-(paint)-ed Stem repaint(-ed) Morphemes AGAIN-PAINT-PAST

INFLECTION

• Inflectional categories such as tense, voice, and number play an important role in syntax and are called morphosyntactic categories.

For example case inflections show the relation between nouns and verbs.ex.avan naay-aik kamp-aal aTi-tt-aanhe dog_ACC stick_INS beat_PAST-3PS

 

INFLECTION

• Inflectional morphemes are generally productive.

Ex. The inflectional morphemes of PLURAL, PAST,

etc. are productive.

boy-s, toys, etc.walk-ed, talk-ed, cook-ed, etc.

Where as derivative morphemes are not productive (selective, *wantive;

construction, *talkion)  

INFLECTION• Inflectional morphemes are semantically

more regular than derivational ones.

Ex.Books, bags, girls – The inflectional suffix -s

denotes plurality regularly.

Construction, destruction, instruction, etc. –The meaning conveyed by the derivative

suffix –ion is not regular. The predictability of meaning is absent. 

INFLECTION

• Inflections create full conjugations and declensions for verbs and nouns. Derivation

usually produce gaps.

Inflection Derivation

arrive arrived arrival

Dispose disposed disposal

Improve improved *improval

TYPES OF INFLECTION

 

Suffixes

  walk-ed walk-s walk-ing

cook-ed cook-scook-ingva-nt-aan COME-PAST-THIRD PERSON MASCULEINE SINGULAR

Prefixes

un-fortunate

im-possible

Portmanteau

Latin noun ANNUS ‘year’

Singular Plural

Nominative ann-us ann-i:

Vocative ann-e ann-i:

Accusative ann-um ann-o:s

Genitive ann-i: ann-o:rum

Dati ann-o: ann-i:s

Ablative ann-o: ann-i:s

Circumfixes A prefix and a suffix act together to surround

a base

 German:

 film-en ‘to film’ ge-film-t ‘filmed

frag-en ‘ to ask ge-frag-t ‘asked’

lob-en ‘to praise’ ge-lob-t ‘parised’

zeig-en ‘to snow’ ge-zeig-t ‘shown’

*ge-film, etc. do not occur.

Infixes  Inflixes create discontinuous bases.

  Charau, a language of Vietnam

sulat ‘write’

s-um--ulat ‘wrote

s-in-ulat ‘was written’

Interfixes

Transfixes

A special kind of infix involves not only discontinuous affixes but also discontinuous bases.

Egyptian Arabic

k-t-b ‘write’ - base

‘katab ‘he wrote’

‘jiktib ‘he will write’

mak’tuub ‘written’

d-r-s ‘study’ -base

‘daras ‘ he studied’

‘jidris ‘ he will study’ ; mad’ruus ‘studied’

Reduplication Using some part of the base (which may be the entire

base) more than once in a word. If the entire base is reduplicated, reduplication

resembles compounding.Indonasian Languages (complete reduplication)

kursi ‘chair - kursikursi ‘chairs’

lalat ‘house-fly’ - lalatlalat ‘house-flies’

ibu ‘mother’ - ibuibu ‘mothers’

Tagalog language (partial reduplication)

bill ‘buy’ - bibill ‘he will buy’

inom ‘drink’ - ininom ‘he will drink’

sulut ‘write’ - susulat ‘he will write’

DERIVATION

Derivation is the reverse of the coin of inflection.

New Inflection occur only very slowly over time New derivational affixes seem to occur from

time to time.

  e.g.

sputnik, beatnik, refusenik

alcocholic, workacholic, radioholic

DERIVATION Derivational affixes produce new words There function is not to express

morphosyntactic categories but to make new words.

They are somewhat erratic in meaning and distribution.

  [arrive]+al > arrival

[dispose] +al > disposal

[brute]+al > brutal

[option]+al > optional

Derivational affixes vary in their productivity.

  hood : boyhood, childhood

ig-: ignoble (ig- is not productive)

-ose : jocose (-ose is not productive)

ist: communist, Marxist, linguist, atheist, rationalist, etc. (-ist is productive)

Derivational affixes are nearer to the root.

DERIVATION

Class changing Vs Class Maintaining Process 

[computer]N+ize > [computerize ]V

[child]N+hood > [childhood]N

DerivationClass-maintaining and Class changing derivation

A class-maintaining process of derivation produces lexemes which belong to the same form class as the base.

ex. king+dom> kingdom

un+friendly> unfriendly

lion+ness>lioness A class changing-process of derivation produces

lexemes which belong to a form class other than the form class of the base.

ex. king+ly>kingly,

friend+ly>friendly

DERIVATION

Word Building using affixes

Suffixes Suffixes are used for all purposes in morphology.

They are used derivationally as

constitut-ion-al-ity When both inflectional and derivational suffixes co-

occur in the same word-form, the general rule is that the derivational suffixes precede the inflectional ones.

construct-ion-s

paTu-kkai-il ‘lie-NOM-LOC’

DERIVATION

Prefixes They are rarer than suffixes. They are used derivationally as

dis-en-tangle

un-thank-ful

re-think-s

Tamil

a-naakariikam ‘not pertaining to culture’

a-niiti ‘not in accordance with justise’

DERIVATION

Infixes Infixes create discontinuous base. Relatively rare in use. Infixes can co-occur in the word-form with prefixes

and suffixes.

Charau a language of Vietnam

voh ‘know’ v-an-oh ‘wise

cah ‘remember’ c-an-ah ‘left over’

DERIVATION

Transfixes Another special kind of infix involves not only

discontinuous affixes but also discontinuous bases. These are affixes which occur throughout the base,

and they are thus termed transfixes.

Egyptian Arabic Datak-t-b ‘write’ d-r-s ‘study

mak’taba ‘book mad’rasa ‘school’

kaatib ‘clerk’ dars ‘lesson

mu’daris ‘teacher’

DERIVATION

Interfixes

Another special kind of infix can be found, for example, in may of the Germanic languages, where there is a linking element which appears between the two elements of a compound

Element1 Element2 Compound Gloss

auge arzt auge-n-arzt ‘eye doctor

tag Reise tag-e-reise ‘day’s journey’

uhr kasten uhr-en-hasten ‘clock case’

The linking element in the compound is an affix which only comes between two other forms. It is therefore sometimes termed as interfix.

DERIVATION

Reduplication Reduplication is using some part of the base more

than once in the word. It is far more common across languages than the

rarer type of affixation illustrated above. Reduplication can also form types of affix . The part of the word which is repeated may be

added to the end or the beginning of the base

DERIVATION: Reduplication

Affikaans Data

Motu, a language of Papua New Guinea

mero ‘boy’ mero.mero ‘little boys

memeromemero ‘little boys’

Maori

aahua ‘appearance’ aahua.hua ‘resemble

hiikei ‘step’ hiikei.kei ‘step’

TamilType1 Type2 Type3

kaTakaTa (enRu) veekaveekamaaka pulikili

‘very fast’ ‘very fast’ ‘tiger like’

paTapaTa (enRu)’ mellamella kaappikiippi

‘fast’ ‘very slowly’ ‘coffee like’

DERIVATION

Cases involving shortening base

Substractive morph?

French

Masculine Feminine Gloss

movE movEz ‘bad’

lõ lõg ‘long’

pəti pətit ‘little’

blã blãS ‘white’

fo fos ‘false’

DERIVATION: Cases involving shortening base

BACK FORMATION

The formation of new lexeme by the deletion of actual or

supposed affixes in longer words.

editor > edit

liaison > liaise

lecher > lech

CLIPPING

The process by which a lexeme is shortened, while still

retaining the same meaning and still being a member of

the same classes.

mimeograph > mimeo

aeroplane > plane

Laboratory > lab

DERIVATION

By modification of the base Where affixes are not used for creating new words, the most

common method is to make some kind of change to the base.

The change may be segmental or suprasegmental . The terminology surrounding the various types of change is

complex.

A change from a voiceless fricative to a voiced fricative.

Noun Verb

Mouth [mauθ] mouth [mauð]

Thief [θi:f] thieve [θi:v]

DERIVATION: By modification of the base

Change in superfixes

Noun Verb

‘discount dis’count

‘import im’port

‘insult in’sult

With no change of form (COVERSION)

Adjective Verb

Better empty

Round round

DERIVATION

Acronym formation

The formation of words by making used of initial letters of words.

radio, lazer, ram, aids

Tamil

timuka, pjeepi

DERIVATION

Blending

When a new word is formed by the meaning and also the sounds of two words, the process is know as blending.

1. First part blended with terminal part

Oxford + Cambridge > oxbridge

smoke + fog > smog

motorists + hotel > motel

2. Overlapping

slang + language > slanguage

guess + estimate > guesstimate

DERIVATION

Word manufacture

kodak, quark, Finnegans Wake

Multi formation

New word by two process of word-formation

(Clipping followed by derivation)

Handkerchief > hanky

Comfortable > comfy

Pinafore > pinny

Nightgown > nighty

Tamil

tanjaavuur > tanjai, koyamputtuur > koovai

Derivation vs Inflection Derivation changes the meaning of the word. Inflections does

not, if it, it changes its feature which is the grammar rather than the

vocabulary. Inflection is added at the edge of the word.

i.e., outside derivation Piglets

Derivation changes the syntactic category of the word [boyr] ish]

N Adj While inflection preserves the category. They are always attached to the root

[[boy] s] N pl

Inflection is nearly always semantically regular, while derivation is characterised by idiosyncrasies.

Thus, -s nearly always indicates the plural of a noun, while the semantic effects of -ion on its base are unpredictable (profess/ profession).

Inflection is much more productive within a syntactic category than

derivation (i.e. inflection can apply to more members of the category, and does not show accidental gaps like *doglet.

COMPOUNDING (COMPOSITION) Two or more words combine into a

morphological unit.

marshland, Blackbird, Combination of two free forms, or words, or

words that have an otherwise independent existence.

bed room, bath room, wind mill They function to all intents and purposes like

single words.

  old bathroom - *bath old room

Compounding (Composition) Like single words they will be spoken with only

one stress. Any inflectional suffixes will occur at the end of

the whole unit. They occupy full, single grammatical slots in

sentences, unlike idioms, which can be whole clause.

Compounds may contain more than two free roots

  wastepaper basket

Composition (Compounding) In some languages may contain in excess

of half a dozen free roots.

 

student film society

student film society committee

student film society committee scandal

student film society committee scandal inquiry

Compounding (Composition)

Compounds can be studied at least from five points of view:

Based on the grammatical categoies of words which constitute compounds

Based on the semantic classes Based on the possible linking elements Based on the deep structure Based on the morphophonology 

Compounding (Composition)

Compounds are often divided into four semantic types:

1. Endocentric

2. Exocentric

3. Appositonal

4. Dvandva

Endocentric compound

Ex. Beehive, armchair, House boat, Boat house The compound is a hyponym of the

grammatical head The second element is the grammatical head

word and the first modifier. A beehive is a kind of hive, an arm chair is a kind of

chair. House boat, a type of boat Boat house, a type of house

Endocentric

[N N]N coffee table, book self [V N]N cry baby, scrub woman [A N]N black bird, dry dock [particle/preposition N]N out house, out

growth, off paint [N A]N pain free, blood thirsty

Exocentric

[N N]N pale face, red skin [V N]N pick pocket, spoil sport, kill joy [N particle]N hand out, put down

Composition (Compounding)Exocentric compound (Bahuvrihi compound)

Ex. redskin, highbrow, Pale face The compound is is a hyponym of some other

unexpressed semantic head. The compound is not a hyponymy of the

grammatical head. Redskin is not a type of skin, nor a highbrow is

not a type of brow. Person who has pale face

Compounding (Composition)

Appositional Compound

Ex. Maidservant The compound is a hyponym of both maid and

servant . A maid servant is a type of maid and also a

type of servant.

Composition (Compounding)

Dvandva or copulative compound

Ex.

Alsace-Lorraine, Rank-Hovis

ceeracoozhapaaNTiyar ‘Cheras, Cholas and Pandiyas’

ceTikoTikaL ‘plants and creepers’ Here it is not clear which element is the grammatical

head and the compound is not a hyponymy of either element, but the elements name separate entities which combine to form the entity denoted by compound.

WORD –FORMATION There are ten processes by which new words are formed in

English:

1. Compound formation

2. Duplication

3. Derivation

4. Back-formation

5. Conversion

6. Clipping

7. Acronymy

8. Blending

9.Word-manufacture

10. Multiple-function Most of these are applicable to Indian Languages. There a few

new types of formations too.

Productivity in word formation

What is productivity Constrains in productivity

Universal Grammar (UG)

It is modular in structure Consists of various sub-systems of Principles Many principles consists of Parameters The modules of UG which are inter-related

Lexicon and Morphology Syntax Phonetic Form Logical form

Place of Morphology in generative grammar

Morphology-Phonology

Morphology Syntax

Verb

Verb Suffix

Adj Suffix

Short {en} {Past}

Shortened

Noun

Noun Suffix

Verb Suffix

Teach {er} {Plural}

Teachers

Adj

Prefix Adj

Verb Suffix

{enjoy} {able}Un

Unenjoyable

Adj

Prefix Adj

Noun Suffix

{ethics} {al}{Un}

Unethical

Adj

Adj Suffix

Prefix Adj

{Un} {happy} {est}

Unhappiest

Adj

Prefix Adj

Verb Suffix

{read} {able}{Un}

Unreadable