IDB 225 Morphology I

Dr. Aygl UAR

22 December 2011 Asst. Prof.

Practice Exercises in Morphology

1) Morphemes
A single word may be composed of one or more morphemes. Say how many morphemes are there in the
following words.
1. boy 1

6. desirability

2. desire

7. gentlemanliness

3. boyish

8. undesirability

4. desirable

9. ungentlemanliness

5. boyishness

10. antidisestablishmentarianism

2) Free and Bound Morphemes

List the morphemes in each word below, and state whether each morpheme is free (F) or bound (B).
1. creating
2. seaward
3. wastage
4. incomplete
5. modernize

{create} (F) + {ing} (B)

6. unhealthy
{un} (B) + {health} (F) + {y} (B)
{sea} (F) + {ward} (F) 7. waiter
{wait} (F) + {er} (B)
{waste} (F) + {age} (B)
8. reconsider {re} (B) + {consider} (F)
{in} (B) + {complete} (F)
9. keys
{key} (F) + {s} (B)
{modern} (F) {ize} (B)
10. astronomer {astro} (B) + {nomy} (B) + {er} (B)

3) Derivational and Inflectional Affixes

For each word below, indicate whether the word is morphologically simple (S), includes an
inflectional affix (I), or includes a derivational affix (D).
1. rider
2. colder
3. silver
4. lens S
5. legs I

D
I
S

6. reader
7. redder
8. radish
9. redness
D
10. rotation
D

D
I
S

4) Stems and Affixes

Separate the affixes from the stems in the following words:
1. train/s

4. predetermine/ ed

2. succeed/ed

5. retroactive
1

7. instructional

3. light/er

6. confusion/s

5) Word Trees
For each word below, draw a word tree. Then state whether it has inflectional affixes, derivational
affixes, or both.
1. shipper
2. disobey
3. resettled
4. anticlimaxes
5. unemployment
6. bookworm

7. simply
8. jumping
9. digitizes
10. activated
11. confrontational
12. tax collector

6) Compound / Affixes
Study the following passage and then answer the questions below. Take your examples from the passage.
The dogs swam ahead, fatuously important; the foals, nodding solemnly, swayed along behind up to their
necks: sunlight sparkled on the calm water, which further downstream where the river narrowed broke into
furious little waves, swirling and eddying close inshore against black rocks, giving an effect of wildness,
almost of rapids; low over their heads an ecstatic lightning of strange birds manoeuvred, looping-the-loop and
immelmanning at unbelievable speed, aerobatic as new-born dragonflies. The opposite shore was thickly
wooded.
(Malcom Lowry, Under the Volcano)
(immelmanning (n) an aircraft manoeuvre used to gain height while reversing the direction of flight. It consists of a
halfloop followed by a half roll.)

(a) Identify 3 compound words. For each one, name the grammatical category of the compound, and the
grammatical category of the elements that compose it. (Example: watertight is an adjective, made up
of noun + adjective.)
sunlight (N+N); downstream (P+N); newborn (A+A); dragonfly (N+N)
(b) Divide the following words into their component morphemes, labeling each morpheme F (free), I
(inflectional), or D (derivational):
unbelievable
un (D) + believe (F) + able (D)

dragonflies
dragon (F) + fly (F) + es (I)

(c) What is the function of the suffix ly in the words fatuously, solemnly, and thickly?
To make adverb
(d) Identify two other words containing (different) derivational suffixes, name the grammatical category
of the stem to which the suffix is attached, and the grammatical category of the derived word.
(e) Describe the function of the suffix s in foals and waves, and that of the suffix-ed in swayed and
sparkled.
2

-s : plural marker
-ed: past tense marker (f)
Comment on the past tense forms swam and broke.
Internal change

7) Compounds
Compounds are often frequent in modern technical areas where new vocabulary is being created. Find the
compounds in the following passage:
Free Talker Nokia 610 Car Kit
The (cell phone)stays by your side -- instead of your ear -- with Nokia's ((hands-free)(Bluetooth system)).
An unobtrusive dash-mounted screenprovides the same information as your cell-phone display, and you can
effortlessly (download)(contact info)from your phone. A small ((console-mounted) (control unit))with three
intuitive buttons and a dial is but one way to manage calls and messages, which sound off through your car's
speakers: Choose to use Nokia's decent (voice-recognition (software)) and neither hand has to leave the
wheel. $300; www.nokia.com.
CNN Business (http://www.business2.com/b2/web/articles/0,17863,695018,00.html)

8) Morphological Analysis Esperanto

Esperanto is an artificial language that was invented by Ludwig Zamenhof in 1887. It
was designed to be easy to learn and is based largely on the languages of western Europe. It is now primarily
spoken in France, although it may also be found in eastern Asia, South America and eastern Europe. There are
now between 200-2,000 native speakers and about 2,000,000 people worldwide speak it as a second language.
Examine the following data from Esperanto and then answer the questions below:
1. bono goodness
2. instrua instructive
3. malfacila difficult
4. patrino mother
5. instruisto teacher
6. porti to carry
7. facila easy
8. patro father
9. portisto porter
10. instrui to instruct

11. portistino female porter

12. pura pure
13. malbone badly
14. facile easily
15. bona good
16. malgranda small
17. bone well
18. facilo easiness
19. granda big
20. instruo instruction

A. What are the morphemes that correspond to the following lexical categories and concepts?
i. Nouns
{-o}
iv. Adverbs
{-e}
ii.
Verbs {-i}(infinitive)
v. Feminine
{-ino}
iii.
Adjectives {-a}
vi. The opposite (not){mal}
B. Translate the following English words and phrases into Esperanto.
i. purity
puro
ii. bad

malbona
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iii. female teacher

intruistino

9) Word-formation processes
This task is all about reconstructing the word-formation 'stories' of the lexemes in bold print. Identify for each
of the stories in (1 a-g) the corresponding sequence of word-formation processes from the set in (1 A-G).
(1) A. conversion derivation
B. blend conversion
C. compounding clipping conversion derivation
D. derivation clipping conversion
E. blend back-formation
F. compounding back-formation clipping
G. compounding conversion

(1) a. rap music > rap > to rap >rapper

C
b. rehabilitation > rehab > to rehab
D
c. vacuum cleaner > to vacuum-clean > to vacuum F
d. campaign > to campaign >campaigner
A
e. tailor-fit > to tailor-fit
G
f. breathalyser> to breathalyse
E
g. brunch> to brunch
B

10) Word-formation processes

The words in column 2 have been created from the corresponding word in column 1. Indicate the word
formation process responsible for the creation of each word in column 2.
Column 1

Column 2

Word Formation
Process

automation

automate

backformation

humid

humidifier

affixation

stagnation, inflation

stagflation

blending

love, seat

loveseat

compounding

nvelope

envlope

conversion (with stress)

typographical error

typo

clipping

aerobics, marathon

aerobathion

blending

act

deactivate

affixation

curve, ball

curve ball

compounding

10

perambulator

pram

clipping

11

(a) comb

comb (your hair)

conversion (no stress)

12

beef, buffalo

beefalo

blending

13

random access memory

RAM

acronym

14

megabyte

meg

clipping

15

teleprinter, exchange

telex

blending

11. Minor Processes of Word Formation

1. Identify the process of word formation responsible for each of the following words. Try to determine the
process before you consult a dictionary, though it may be necessary for you to do so.
(a)

curio

clipping > curio(sity)

(b)

(to) laze

backformation > lazy

(c)

(to) network

conversionN > V

(d)

(to) cohere

backformation> coherence

(e)

(a) sitcom

clipping> situation comedy

(f)

(the) muppets

blending> marionette puppets

(g)

what-not

phrasalcompound

(h)

margarine

clipping> (oleo)margarine

(i)

dystopia

false morphological division : dis+utopia> u/topia

(j)

serendipity

literarycoinage

(k)

diesel

communization/ coinage >Rudolp Diesel

(l)

(a) ha-ha

reduplication

(m)

(to) make up

phrasalverb

(n)
(o)

(to) total
(the) hereafter

conversion
compounding, conversion >Prt + Prt> N

(p)

amphetamine

acronym

(q)

(a) construct

conversion V> N

(r)

(the) chunnel

blending ch(annel) + (t)unnell

(s).....guesstimate

blending >gu(ess) + estimate or guess + (es)timate

(t)

canary

communization / coinage > Canary Islands

(u)

brain-gain

reduplication

(v)

boojum

(w)

gaffe-slack

(x)

psycho

(y)

walkie-talkie

root creation (used by physicist N. David Mermin following creation by Lewis Carroll

reduplication
clipping>psycho(path)
reduplication, diminutive, conversion (z)

bonfire

compound

Boojum is a geometric pattern on the surface of one of the phases of superfluid helium-3.

2. The words in column A have been created from the corresponding words in column B. Indicate the word
formation process responsible for the creation of each word in column A.

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
(g)
(h)
(i)
(j)
(k)
(l)
(m)
(n)
(o)

Column A
Column B
stagflation
stagnation + inflation
blending
nostril
nosu + thyrl 'hole' (in Old English) compound
bookie
bookmaker
clipping, diminutive
van
caravan
clipping
Amerindian
American Indian
blending
CD
compact disc
initialism
RAM
random access memory
acronym
televise
television
backformation
xerox
xeroxography
clipping, coinage
telathon
television + marathon
blending, false morphological analysis
sci-fi
science fiction
clipping
elect
election
backformation
deli
delicatessen
clipping, false morphological analysis (delicat+essen)
scuba
self-contained underwater breathing apparatus
acronym
scavenge
scavenger
backformation (p)
hazardous material
clipping

hazmat

12. Inflectional Affixes

For each of the bold words in the passage from Wallace Stegner's "The Dump Ground" below, label the
inflectional suffix: pres = present tense compr = comparative degree
past = past tense
supl = superlative degree
prsprt = present participle poss = possessive case
pstprt = past participle
pl
= plural number
The place fascinated us, as it should (past) have. For this was the kitchen midden of all the civilization we knew.
It gave us the most (supl) tantalizing glimpses into our neighbors' (pl, poss) lives and our own; it provided an
aesthetic distance from which to know ourselves (pl).
The town dump was our poetry and our history. We took (past) it home with us by the wagonload, bringing
(prsprt) back into town the things the town had used (pstprt) and thrown away. Some little part of what we
gathered (past), mainly bottles, we managed to bring back to usefulness, but most of our gleanings we left
lying (prsprt) around barn or attic or cellar until in some renewed (pstprt) fury of spring cleanup ourfamilies
(pl) carted them off to the dump again, to be rescued and briefly treasured by some other boy. Occasionally
something we really valued with a passion was snatched from us in horror andreturned (pstprt) at once. That
happened to the mounted head of a white mountain goat, somebody's(poss) trophy from old times and the far
Rocky Mountains, that I brought (past) home one day. My mother took one look and discovered that his
beard was full of moths.
8

I remember (pres) that goat; I regret him yet. Poetry is seldom useful, but always memorable. If I were a
sociologist anxious to study in detail the life of any community I would (past) go very early to its (poss)
refuse piles. For a community may be as well judged (pstprt) by what it throws away - what it has to throw
away and what it chooses (pres) to - as by any other evidence. For whole civilizations we sometimes have
nomore (compr) of the poetry and little more of the history than this (from Wolf Willow 1955: 35-36).
13. Writing Morphemic Rules
1. Examine the following past tense forms in English:
hated

pulled

roared

walked

raided

opened

hugged

pushed

faded

groomed

robbed

missed

fitted

mowed

bruised

hoped

mated

cried

loaded

paid

loved
judged

fetched

laughed

(a)

Determine the allomorphs of this inflectional suffix.[d], [d], [t]

(b)

Determine the conditioning environments for each of the allomorphs.

The [d] allomorph follows roots ending in [t] or [d];
The [d] allomorph follows roots ending in voiceless obstruents;
The [t] allomorph follows roots ending in voiced stops and fricatives, liquids, nasals and vowels.

(c)

Decide on the underlying (or "elsewhere") form of this morpheme from which the other allomorphs are
derived. For what reasons did you choose this particular form as the base?
The underlying elsewhere form is likely to be [d] since it is found after the greatest variety of
sounds. In addition, it is easy to derive the other allomorphs from it by natural phonological
processes: schwa insertion to break up a cluster of two alveolar stops will yield [d] and voice
assimilation will yield [t].

(d)

Write a morphemic rule.

{past} [d] / after alveolar stops
[t]

/ after voiceless consonants

[d] / elsewhere
(e)
sang

Consider the following past tense forms. How are they conditioned? How are they realized?
bought
fought

cut
put

went

rang

were
9

They are grammatically conditioned. Some are realized by a vowel change (sing / sang; ring /
rang), some by a vowel change plus an inflectional ending (bring / brought; fight / fought), some by
a zero morph (cut / cut; put / put) and some by a different form (supletion gor / went; be / was,
were).
(f)

How do you account for the following variants: learned/learnt, dreamed/dreamt, burned/burnt? These
forms are in free variation.

2. Consider the following words:

illegal

ineligible

irrelevant

intolerant

impossible

insecure

impatient

(a)

inactive

imbalance

indeterminate

immature

illogical

irregular immoral

infamous

imbalance

injury

ingrate

injudicious
incongruous

Determine the allomorphs of this derivational prefix.

The allomorphs appear to be il-, ir-, im- and in-. Note, however, that il- and ir- are both
pronounced [], im- is pronounced [m], in- is pronounced [n] (in intolerant, insecure,
infamous, etc.) but [] in ingrate and incongruous.

(b)

Determine the conditioning factors for each of the allomorphs.

The [] allomorph is conditioned by a following liquid (as initial sound of the root), the [m]
allomorph by a following bilabial, the [] by a following velar stop, and [n] by a following
vowel, or labiodental, alveolar, or alveopalatal consonants.

(c)

Decide on the underlying (or "elsewhere") form of this morpheme from which the other allomorphs are
derived. Justify the base form.
[n] appears to be the underlying form since it is found in the greatest variety of environments
and is the form from which the other forms can be derived most easily: [m] and [] by
assimilation in place of articulation to the place of the following sound (with no change in
manner of articulation), and [] by loss of the nasal.

(d)

Write a morphemic rule.

{IN} [] / before liquids

10

[m] / before labials

[] / before velars
[n] / elsewhere
(e)

State the meaning of the morpheme.

The meaning is not

(f)

Why are the forms ignoble and ignominious, which presumably contain the same prefix, a problem?
Try to account for this problem. (Hint: Look up the etymologies of these words.)
The word ignoble comes from Latin gnbilis noble (which later lost its initial consonants to
give nbilis, hence noble). When in- was combined with gnobilis, the first n dropped out, giving
English ignoble. The g is thus part of the root, not part of the prefix. The word ignominious
comes from Latin nmenname; it acquired a g by mistaken analogy withgnsco, a process
called contamination.

3. Consider the following words:

collect

cohabit

collide

correct

coalesce

corrode

connect

collate

confess
11

commute

commend

cohere

combat

contend

coexist

compute

consent

coincide

compare

(a)

condemn

Determine the allomorphs of this derivational prefix.

The orthography is a bit misleading. The allomorphs seem to be col-, cor-, con-, co- and com-.
However, the phonological forms are actually [k ], [k n], [ko ] and [k m] since the [l] in
col-, the [r] in cor-, the [n] in con- before alveolar nasal, and the [m] in com- before the bilabial
nasal is actually part of the root.

(b)

Write a morphemic rule, specifying the underlying form, allomorphs, and conditioning environments.
{CON} [k ] / before liquids and nasals
[k n] / before dentals (alveolars and labiodentals)
[k m] / before bilabial stops
[ko ] / before vowels and [h]
It is rather difficult to know which is the elsewhere form in this case.
Historically, the com- [kom] form is original. If it is considered the underlying form, the [k n]
form is derived by assimilation in place of articulation to the following stop with vowel
reduction, the [k ] form by reduction of the vowel and loss of the [m] before liquids and
nasals, and the [ko ] form by loss of the [m] and vowel shift.

(c)

State the meaning of the morpheme, if possible.

The meaning is either associative with, together as in compare, cohabit, coexist, collect etc. or
intensive completely as in correct, contend, corrode etc.

4. Consider the following pairs of words:

sign

signature

design

designation

resign

resignation
12

(a)

What is the root allomorphy exhibited by all of the forms?

In all of the words, the final syllable in the unsuffixed form is [an] and the same syllable in the
suffixed form [gn].

(b)

Write a morphemic rule for the first set of words.

{SIGN} [sgn] / - derivational suffix
[san] / elsewhere

14. Derivational Prefixes and Suffixes

1. Sort the prefixes in the words below into the following seven categories according to meaning:
a.

Time

b.

Number

c.

Place

d.

Degree

e.

Privative

f.

Negative, and

g.

Size

Each category has two prefixes. After you have classified the prefixes, use a dictionary to identify whether the
prefix is native English, Latin, or Greek in origin.
postdate
bifocal

maladjusted
outdoor

macrocosm
hyperactivity

forewarn
demilitarize

megawatt

defrost

polyglot

nonentity

disclose

foreshadow

macroeconomics malpractice

polygon

bisexual

postelection

nonsmoker

subway
disarm
megalosaur
ultraconservative hyperthyroidism subfloor

a) Time
foreshadow

outhouse
ultraviolet

post- postdate, postelection

13

fore- forewarn,

b) Number

bipoly-

bifocal, bisexual
polyglot, polygon

c) Place

outsub-

outdoor, outhouse
subway, subfloor

d) Degree

hyperultra-

hyperactivity, hyperthyroidism
ultraviolet, ultraconservative

e) Privative -

dedis-

demilitarize, defrost
disclose, disarm

f) Negative

nonmal-

nonentity, nonsmoker
maladjusted, malpractice

g) Size

megamacro-

megawatt, megalosour
macrocosm, macroeconomics

English: fore-, outLatin: post-, bi-, sub-, ultra-, de-, dis-, non-, malGreek: poly-, hyper-, mega-, macro-

14

2. Sort the suffixes in the words below according to their class-changing function. The categories include the
following:
a) N > N
-dom
kingdom, stardom
-ster
gangster, mobster
-(ic)ian politician, rhetorician
b) V > N
-al
-ant
-ure

refusal, trial
inhabitant, participant
seizure, closure

c) A > N
-th
-ism
-hood

warmth, width
conservatism, idealism
falsehood, likelihood

d) N/A > V
-en
-ate

broaden, straighten
facilitate, vaccinate

e) N > A
-ic
-less
-ish

historic, syntactic
friendless, penniless
selfish, boyish

f) V > A
-ory
-less

advisory, contradictory
tireless, thankless

g) N/A >Adv
-wise
stepwise, clockwise
-fold
twofold, manifold
(There are two examples of each suffix.)
broaden
participant
rhetorician
gangster
twofold
advisory
conservatism
inhabitant
manifold
historic

syntactic
falsehood
clockwise
stardom
trial
likelihood
mobster
contradictory
stepwise
penniless

width
closure
refusal
warmth
accidental
friendless
kingdom
boyish
thankless

idealism
straighten
vaccinate
tireless
selfish
politician
facilitate
seizure
global

15

3. (a) Can you think of a reason why -en may attach to some adjectives, but not to others, as shown below?
blacken
broaden
stiffen
ripen
deafen
tighten
soften
loosen
*thinen

*longen

*slimen

*nearen

*slowen

*narrowen

*highen

*holyen

*noblen

The reason here is phonological: -en may attach only to monosyllabic adjectives ending in obstruents
(stops & fricatives) not to those ending in vowels, nasals or liquids.
(b) Can you think of a reason why -ed may attach to some nouns, but not to others, as shown below?
brown-haired
left-handed

kind-hearted
narrow-minded

low-spirited
strong-headed

*brown-coated

*heavy-pursed

*long-skirted

*one-childed

*two-catted

*silly-hatted

The reason here is semantic: -en may attach only to adjectives denoting inalienable possession (things
that are possessed intrinsically) and not to those denoting alienable possession (things that may

be separated from the possesor).

4. Which is the proper derivation of unknowledgeable? Explain.

(a)

(b)

16

(c)

(a)
is incorrect. Un- does not attach to
nouns; it produces the nonword of English
*unknowledge.

(b)
is correct. Every stage in the derivation
produces a word of English.

(c)
is incorrect. Because while un- does
attach to verbs, this also produces the nonword of English *unknowledge.

15. Compounding
1. Identify the syntactic pattern in each of the following compounds and express it in a lexical
rule.
Example: gravedigger N + V + -er> N

17

(a)

hovercraft

V+N > N

(b)

dairyman

N+N > N

(c)

bath-towel

N+N >N

(d)

goldfish

N+N >N

(e)

inroads

Prt + N + -s > N

(f)

bystander

Prt + V + er > N

(g)

setback

V + Prt > N (conversion)

(h)

meltdown

V + Prt > N (conversion)

(i)

blackout

V + Prt > N (conversion)

(j)

stand-in

V + Prt > N (conversion)

(k)

turnout

V + Prt > N (conversion)

(l)

money-hungry

N+A>A

(m) dugout

V + en + Prt > N (conversion)

(n)

hardhearted

A + N + ed > A

(o)

homesick

N+A>A

(p)

proofread

N+V>V

(q)

overqualified

Prt + V + en > V / A

(r)

overachieve

Prt + V + > V

(s)

badmouth

A + N > V (conversion)

(t)

redhead

A+N> N

(u)

birth control

N+N/V>N/V

(v)

breakfast

V+N>N

(w) thoroughgoing

A + V + ing > A

(x)

quick-change

A + V > A (conversion)

(y)

lukewarm

A+A>A

(z)

law-abiding

N + V + ing > A

(aa) far-reaching

A + V + ing > A

(bb) homemade

N + V + en > A

(cc) clean-cut

A + V + en > A

(dd) fighter-bomber

V + er + V + er > N

(ee) earthenware

N + en + N > N

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(ff) driver's seat

V + er + s + N > N

(gg) baking powder

V + ing + N > N

(hh) drip-coffee

V+N>N

(ii) wisecrack

A+V>V+N

(jj) snowplow

N+V/N>V/N

2. The following words are compounds which also include derivational affixes. Analyze the words,
identifying the roots and their parts of speech, as well all the affixes and their function as
nominalizer, verbalizer, adjectivalizer, or adverbializer.
Example: housekeeper
- verb) + -er (nominalizer)
(a)

house (root - noun) + keep (root

flightworthiness
flight (root-noun) + worth (root-noun) + -y (adjectivalizer) + -ness (nominalizer)

(b)

chatterbox
chat (root-verb) + -er (nominalizer) + box (root-noun)

(c)

owner-occupied own (root-verb) + -er (nominalizer) + occupy (root-verb) + -en

(past participle /
adjectivalizer

(d)

freedom-loving free (root-adjective) + -dom (nominalizer) + love (root-verb) + -ing

(present participle /
adjectivalizer

(e)

handicraft
hand (root-noun) + -y (adjectivalizer) + craft (root+noun)

(f)

broken-hearted
break (root-verb) + -en (past participle / adjectivalizer) + heart (root-noun) + -ed
( adjectivalizer)

(g)

safety-tested safe (root-adjective) + ty (nominalizer) + test (root-verb) +-ed

(past participle /
adjectivalizer)

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(h)

worldly-wise
world (root-noun) + -ly (adjectivalizer) + wise (root-adjective)

(i)
(j)

antiaircraft
anti (prefix) + air (root-noun) + craft (root-noun)
machine-readable machine (root-noun) + read (root-verb) able
(suffix- adjectivalizer)

(k)

chartered accountant charter (root-noun) + -ed (suffixadjectivalizer) + account (root-verb + -ant) + suffic+ noinalizer)

3.

(a)

Look at the following set of words naming berries. The second half of each is the
recognizable root berry. Can you analyze these as compounds?

blueberry
strawberry

blackberry
raspberry

cranberry

marianberry

loganberry

Does a more recent formation such as cranapple provide evidence for or against these forms as
compounds?
Blueberry, blackberry: the first parts of these compounds are clearly the morphemes {BLUE}
and {BLACK}.
Strawberry: the first part of this compound is straw, but it is uncertain whether this is the
morpheme {STRAW}; the form apparently does not have its usual meaning here.
Raspberry: the first part of this compound is rasp, which is not a recognizable morpheme of
English (it is not the verb rasp to scrap, which is pronounced [rsp], not [rz]).
Cranberry: the first part of this compound is cran, which is also not a clearly recognizable
morpheme of English.
Loganberry, marianberry: the first parts of these compounds appear to be brand names.
(There are various theories to account for the meaning of straw in strawberry, that it, for
example, refers to the yellow flecks on strawberries, or to the use of straw in strawberry
fields. Also, cran is sometimes related to crane; either the birds are thought to eat
cranberries or the blossoms resemble the heads of cranes.)
If we treat forms such as raspberry and cranberry as true compounds analogous to blueberry
and blackberry, then rasp and cran exist in only one word and are semantically rather
opaque.

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Recent formations such as cranapple suggest that cran is becoming a recognizable

morpheme, though it might be better to analyze such forms as blends since it still lacks an
identifiable meaning.

(b) A problem of morphological analysis arises for forms such as the following:
fish-monger
broadcaster
gossip-monger
sportscaster
scandal-monger

newscaster

ironmonger
war-monger
Are these forms compounds?
Although historically monger is an independent form (deriving from Latin mang to peddle,
deal), it rarely occurs independently today. Therefore, would we be better to consider it a
bound form, a suffix?
The form caster never occurs independently. It appears that sportscaster and newscaster are
blends based on broadcaster.

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