morphology Dr. Comfort Pratt

Definition

The branch of linguistics that studies the

structure of words.

What is a word?

The smallest unit of a language that can stand alone as a complete utterance, normally separated from other words by spaces in written language and potentially by pauses in speech.

A word may consist of one or more morphemes.

When it consists of only one morpheme, it is

known as a

Ex:

When it consists of two or more morphemes,

it is known as a

Ex:

What are morphemes?

The smallest meaningful elements into which

words can be analyzed.

The way morphemes operate in language

provides the subject matter of morphology.

Examples

• Kindness

• unforgettable

• Morphology

A morpheme can range from a single sound to

many syllables.

Ex:

Types of Morphemes

Free Morpheme

A morpheme which constitutes a word by itself.

Ex:

Bound Morpheme

A morpheme which is not a word by itself but is

always part of other words.

Ex:

Types of Morphemes

Examples of Bound Morphemes

• rewrite

• thankful

• pinkish

• unreal

• wondrous

• happily

Components of a Word

Root

The morpheme to which affixes are attached and which provides the main component of the meaning of the word.

• Lexical categories

• Non-lexical categories

• Content words

They denote concepts like objects, ideas, and actions.

• Function words

They have a grammatical function.

Ex: beautiful

dangerous

unwind

happily

Affix

A morpheme which is attached to a base and by so

doing modifies the meaning or syntactic category of

the base.

Base

The form to which an affix is added. Sometimes it

coincides with the root. Other times it is the root and

an affix.

Ex: comfort--able

un--comfortable

There are four types of affixes.

• Prefix

An affix which is attached to the beginning of the

base.

Ex:

• Infix

An affix which is inserted into another

morpheme.

• Suffix

An affix that is attached to the end of a base.

Ex:

• Circumfix

It is a morpheme which is attached both at the

beginning and at the end of a base.

MAIN FIELDS

Two main fields are traditionally recognized

within morphology:

Inflectional Morphology

Derivational Morphology

Inflectional morphology

The field of linguistics which studies the way

in which words vary (inflect) in order to

express grammatical contrasts in

sentences.

Ex: past/present

singular/plural

DERIVATIONAL MORPHOLOGY

• The way in which words vary in order to

form different classes of words.

Ex: verb/noun

adjective/adverb