Morphemes

by Kirsten Mills
Student, University of North Carolina at Pembroke, 1998

Introduction
Morphemes are what make up words. Often, morphemes are thought of as words but that is
not always true. Some single morphemes are words while other words have two or more
morphemes within them. Morphemes are also thought of as syllables but this is incorrect.
Many words have two or more syllables but only one morpheme. Banana, apple, papaya,
and nanny are just a few examples. On the other hand, many words have two morphemes
and only one syllable; examples include cats, runs, and barked.

Definitions

morpheme: a combination of sounds that have a meaning. A morpheme does not

necessarily have to be a word. Example: the word cats has two morphemes. Cat is a
morpheme, and s is a morpheme. Every morpheme is either a base or an affix. An
affix can be either a prefix or a suffix. Cat is the base morpheme, and s is a suffix.
affix: a morpheme that comes at the beginning (prefix) or the ending (suffix) of a base
morpheme. Note: An affix usually is a morpheme that cannot stand alone. Examples:
-ful, -ly, -ity, -ness. A few exceptions are able, like, and less.
base: a morpheme that gives a word its meaning. The base morpheme cat gives the
word cats its meaning: a particular type of animal.
prefix: an affix that comes before a base morpheme. The in in the word inspect is a
prefix.
suffix: an affix that comes after a base morpheme. The s in cats is a suffix.
free morpheme: a morpheme that can stand alone as a word without another
morpheme. It does not need anything attached to it to make a word. Cat is a free
morpheme.
bound morpheme: a sound or a combination of sounds that cannot stand alone as a
word. The s in cats is a bound morpheme, and it does not have any meaning without
the free morpheme cat.
inflectional morpheme: this morpheme can only be a suffix. The s in cats is an
inflectional morpheme. An inflectional morpheme creates a change in the function of
the word. Example: the d in invited indicates past tense. English has only seven
inflectional morphemes: -s (plural) and -s (possessive) are noun inflections; -s ( 3rdperson singular), -ed ( past tense), -en (past participle), and -ing ( present participle)
are verb inflections; -er (comparative) and -est (superlative) are adjective and adverb
inflections.
derivational morpheme: this type of morpheme changes the meaning of the word or
the part of speech or both. Derivational morphemes often create new words.
Example: the prefix and derivational morpheme un added to invited changes the
meaning of the word.

allomorphs: different phonetic forms or variations of a morpheme. Example: The

final morphemes in the following words are pronounced differently, but they all
indicate plurality: dogs, cats, and horses.
homonyms: morphemes that are spelled the same but have different meanings.
Examples: bear (an animal) and bear (to carry), plain (simple) and plain ( a level
area of land).
homophones: morphemes that sound alike but have different meanings and spellings.
Examples: bear, bare; plain, plane; cite, sight, site.

Fifteen Common Prefixes

The following tables and tip are adopted from Grammar and Composition by Mary
Beth Bauer, et al.
Prefix
adcircumcomdedisexininintermispostresubtransun-

Meaning
to, toward
around, about
with, together
away from, off
away, apart
from, out
not
in, into
between
wrong
after
back, again
beneath, under
across
not

Ten Common Suffixes

Suffix
-able (-ible)
-ance (-ence)
-ate
-ful
-ity
-less
-ly
-ment
-ness
-tion (-ion, -sion)

Meaning
capable of being
the act of
making or applying
full of
the state of being
without
in a certain way
the result of being
the state of being
the act of or the state of being

Tip
Suffixes can also be used to tell the part of speech of a word. The following examples
show the parts of speech indicated by the suffixes in the chart.
Nouns: -ance, -ful, -ity, -ment, -ness, -tion
Verb: -ate
Adjectives: -able, -ful, -less, -ly
Adverb: -ly

Exercises
Identify and label the parts of the following words as: bound or free, derivational or
inflectional, and base or affix. Indicate the number of morphemes in each word.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

dogs
replay
carrot
inescapable
television
tenacity
captivate
unlikely

Identify at least 10 sets of homophones and give the different meanings.

Example: board (a flat piece of wood) and bored (uninterested, weary).
Click here for answers.

Bibliography
Fromkin, Victoria, and Robert Rodman. An Introduction to Language. 5th ed.
Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace Joanovich College Publishers, 1993.
Kolln, Martha, and Robert Funk. Understanding English Grammar. 5th ed.
Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1998.
Hacker, Diana. The Bedford Handbook for Writers. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford
Books of St. Martin's Press, 1991.
Bauer, Mary Beth, et al., Grammar and Composition. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.,
1982.
Written by Kirsten Mills
Edited by Mark Canada, Ph.D.
\

words
dogs
replay
carrot
inescapable
television
tenacity
captivate
unlikely

base
dog
play
carrot
cap
vis
tenac
cap
likely

affix
-s
re-

inflectional derivational bound

+
-s
+
re-

in-,es-,-able
tele-,-ion
-ity
-tiv,-ate
un-

+
+
+
+
+

morphemes
2
2
1
in-,es-,cap
4
tele-,vis,-ion
3
tenac,-ity
2
cap,-tiv,-ate
3
unlikely 2

The answers for homophones will vary. Some examples are:

buy (to purchase)
by (near)
forth (forward)
fourth (referring to the number four)
heard (past tense for hear)
herd (a group of animals)

free
dog
play
carrot
-able

lessen (to make less)

lesson (something learned)
pair (set of two)
pare (to trim)
pear (a fruit)
right (proper or just; correct; opposite of left)
rite (a ritual)
write (to put words on paper)
to (toward)
too (also, excessively)
two (one more than one in number)
waist (midsection)
waste (to squander; something that is discarded)
week (seven days)
weak (feeble, not strong)
your (possessive of you)
you're (contraction of you are)

2. What is linguistics?
The scientific study of human language, including:
Phonetics (physical nature of speech)
Phonology (use of sounds in language)
Morphology (word formation)
Syntax (sentence structure)
Semantics (meaning of words & how they combine into sentences)
Pragmatics (effect of situation on language use)
Or, carving it up another way:
Theoretical linguistics (pure and simple: how languages work)
Historical linguistics (how languages got to be the way they are)
Sociolinguistics (language and the structure of society)
Psycholinguistics (how language is implemented in the brain)
Applied linguistics (teaching, translation, etc.)
Computational linguistics (computer processing of human language)
Some linguists also study sign languages, non-verbal communication,
animal communication, and other topics besides spoken language.
========================================================

================
4. What are some good books about linguistics?
(These are cited by title and author only. Full ordering information
can be obtained from BOOKS IN PRINT, available at most bookstores and
at even the smallest public libraries.)
CAMBRIDGE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF LANGUAGE, by David Crystal (1987) is a good place
to start if you are new to this field.
LANGUAGE, by Edward Sapir (1921), is a readable survey of linguistics
that is still worthwhile despite its age.
Some good surveys of linguistics:
An Introduction to Language - Fromkin and Rodman (1974)
The Social Art - Ronald Macaulay (1995)
The Language Web - Jean Aitchison
Language: The Basics - R.L. Trask (1996)
AN INTRODUCTION TO LANGUAGE, by Fromkin and Rodman (1974), is one of the
best intro linguistics survey texts. There are many others.
THE WORLD'S MAJOR LANGUAGES, edited by Bernard Comrie (1987) contains
meaty descriptions of fifty languages.
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE LANGUAGES OF THE WORLD by Anatole Lyovin (1997)
surveys everything and has good sketches of some languages Comrie skips.
CAMBRIDGE TEXTBOOKS IN LINGUISTICS (a series) consists of good,
modestly priced introductions to all the areas of linguistics. Any encyclopedia will give you
basic information about widely studied
languages, alphabets, etc.

8. Word

Formation

d. Word Compounding
A COMPOUND word is made up of two or more words that together express a
single idea. There are three types of compounds. An open compound
consists of two or more words written separately, such as salad dressing,
Boston terrier, or April Fools Day. A hyphenated compound has words
connected by a hyphen, such as age-old, mother-in-law, force-feed. A solid
compound consists of two words that are written as one word, such as
keyboard or typewriter. In addition, a compound may be classified as
permanent or temporary. A permanent compound is fixed by common usage
and can usually be found in the dictionary, whereas a temporary compound
consists of two or more words joined by a hyphen as needed, usually to
modify another word or to avoid ambiguity. In general, permanent
compounds begin as temporary compounds that become used so frequently
they become established as permanent compounds. Likewise many solid
compounds begin as separate words, evolve into hyphenated compounds,
and later become solid compounds. Although the dictionary is the first place
to look when you are trying to determine the status of a particular
compound, reference works do not always agree on the current evolutionary
form of a compound, nor do they include temporary compounds. The
following general rules apply to forming compounds. Keep in mind that
words that are made up of a word root plus a prefix or a suffix are not
normally considered compounds, strictly speaking. But for convenience we
discuss them here since they are also sometimes hyphenated.

Prefixes and Suffixes

Normally, prefixes and suffixes are joined with a second element without a
hyphen, unless doing so would double a vowel or triple a consonant:
antianxiety, anticrime, antiwar but anti-intellectual; childlike, taillike but
bell-like. Even so, many common prefixes, such as co-, de-, pre-, pro-, and
re-, are added without a hyphen although a double vowel is the result:
coordinate, preeminent, reenter.
A hyphen is also used when the element following a prefix is capitalized
or when the element preceding a suffix is a proper noun: anti-American,
America-like.
The hyphen is usually retained in words that begin with all-, ex- (meaning
former), half-, quasi- (in adjective constructions), and self-: all-around;
ex-governor; half-life but halfhearted, halfpenny, halftone, halfway; quasiscientific but a quasi success; self-defense but selfhood, selfish, selfless,
selfsame.
Certain homographs require a hyphen to prevent mistakes in pronunciation
and meaning: recreation (enjoyment), re-creation (new creation); release
(to let go), re-lease (to rent again).

When the Compound Is a Noun or Adjective

In order to avoid confusion, compound modifiers are generally hyphenated:
fine-wine tasting, high-school teacher, hot-water bottle, minimum-wage
worker, rare-book store, real-life experiences. If there is no possibility of
confusion, or if the hyphen would look clumsy, omit the hyphen: bubonic
plague outbreak, chemical engineering degree, temp agency employee.
When a noun that is an open compound is preceded by an adjective, the
compound is often hyphenated to avoid confusion: wine cellar, damp winecellar; broom closet, tiny broom-closet; house cat, old house-cat.
Compound adjectives formed with high- or low- are generally hyphenated:
high-quality programming, low-budget films.
Compound adjectives formed with an adverb plus an adjective or a
participle are often hyphenated when they occur before the noun they
modify: a well-known actor, an ill-advised move, best-loved poems, a
much-improved situation, the so-called cure. However, when these
compounds occur after the noun, or when they are modified, the hyphen is
usually omitted: the actor is well known; an extremely well known actor.
If the adverb ends in -ly in an adverb-adjective compound, the hyphen is
omitted: a finely tuned mechanism, a carefully worked canvas.
Compound adjectives formed with an adverb or a noun and a past
participle are always hyphenated when they precede the noun they modify:
well-kept secret, above-mentioned reason, helium-filled balloons, snowcapped mountains. Many compounds of this type have become permanent
and are therefore hyphenated whether they precede or follow the noun they
modify: a well-worn shirt, his shirt was well-worn; the tongue-tied winner,
she remained tongue-tied.

10

11

Also hyphenate compound adjectives formed with an adjective and a noun

to which -d or -ed has been added: yellow-eyed cat, fine-grained wood,
many-tiered cake, stout-limbed toddler. Many of these compounds have
become permanent hyphenated or solid compounds: middle-aged, oldfashioned, lightheaded, kindhearted.
Compound adjectives formed with a noun, adjective, or adverb and a
present participle are hyphenated when the compound precedes the noun it
modifies: a bone-chilling tale, two good-looking sons, long-lasting
friendship. Many of these compounds have become permanent solid
compounds: earsplitting, farseeing. Many other compounds have become
permanent and are hyphenated whether they precede or follow the noun
they modify: far-reaching consequences; the consequences are farreaching.
Compound nouns formed with a noun and a gerund are generally open:
crime solving, house hunting, trout fishing. Many of these compounds,
however, have become permanent solid compounds: faultfinding,
housekeeping.
Compound modifiers formed of capitalized words should not be
hyphenated: Old English poetry, Iron Age manufacture, New World plants.
Usage is divided with regard to compounds that are proper names used to
designate ethnic groups. Under normal circumstances such terms when used
as nouns or adjectives should appear without a hyphen: a group of African
Americans, many Native Americans, French Canadians in Boston, a Jewish
American organization, an Italian American neighborhood, Latin American
countries. However, many (but not all) compounds of this type are now
frequently hyphenated: African-Americans, Asian-American families,
French-Canadian music but Native American myths.
Nouns or adjectives consisting of a short verb combined with a preposition
are either hyphenated or written solid depending on current usage. The
same words used as a verb are written separately: a breakup but break up a
fight; a bang-up job but bang up the car.
Two nouns of equal value are hyphenated when the person or thing is
considered to have the characteristics of both nouns: secretary-treasurer,
city-state, time-motion study.
Compound forms must reflect meaning. Consequently, some compounds
may change in form depending on how they are used: Anyone may go but
Any one of these will do; Everyone is here but Every one of these is good.
Scientific compounds are usually not hyphenated: carbon monoxide
poisoning, dichromic acid solution.

Phrases
Phrases used as modifiers are normally hyphenated: a happy-go-lucky
person, a here-today-gone-tomorrow attitude.
A foreign phrase used as a modifier is not hyphenated: a bona fide offer, a
per diem allowance.

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

Numbers
Numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine and adjective compounds with a
numerical first element (whether spelled out or written in figures) are
hyphenated: twenty-one, thirty-first, second-rate movie, third-story window,
three-dimensional figure, six-sided polygon, ten-thousand-year-old bones,
13-piece band, 19th-century novel, decades-old newspapers.
Spelled-out numbers used with -fold are not hyphenated; figures and -fold
are hyphenated: tenfold, 20-fold.
Compounds of a number and -odd are hyphenated: four-odd, 60-odd.
A modifying compound consisting of a number and a possessive noun is
not hyphenated: one weeks pay, hours work.
Fractions used as modifiers are hyphenated unless the numerator or
denominator of the fraction contains a hyphen: three-eighths inch, twentyfour hundredths part; The pie was one-half eaten. Fractions used as nouns
are usually not hyphenated: He ate one half of the pie.

Color
Compound color adjectives are hyphenated: a red-gold sunset, a cherry-red
sweater.
Color compounds whose first element ends in -ish are hyphenated when
they precede the noun but should not be hyphenated when they follow the
noun: a darkish-blue color, a reddish-gold sunset; The sky is reddish gold.
MORPHOLOGY: DEFINITIONS
(Note: This file will be updated and corrected as needed)
James Santucci
California State University, Fullerton

Affix:
A bound morpheme that can be attached to a base.
There are three types:

Prefix: a form attached before a base

Suffix:

a form attached after a base

Infix:

a form attached inside a base

23

24

25
26

27

28

29

Allomorph:
A phonetically, lexically or grammatically conditioned
member of a set of morphs representing a particular morpheme. Or, a
variant morph of a morphemic class or a positional variant of a
morpheme.

Analogy:
The extension of a pattern or a rule to data not
previously covered by the pattern or rule. This rule is important
phonological, morphological, and syntactical situations. For instance,
fishes based on the analogy of all s plurals; similarly criterions rather
than criteria, brang rather than brought based on, respectively s plurals
such as champions and sing: sang (for bring: brang). Analogy brings
about greater regularity in language

Bound Morph: A morph which can only occur in a word-form in

conjunction with at least one other morph.

Compound:

A word made of two or more bases.

Free Morph:

A morph which can occur in isolation.

Lexeme:
An abstract unit that contains all the possible shapes of
the "word." A lexeme, therefore, contains all the possible word-forms:
shoot, shoots, shooting, shot.
Taken in this regard, a lexeme includes the base plus
inflectional affixes.

Lexicon:

The vocabulary of a language.

Morph:
A segment of a word-form that represents a particular
morpheme. Another way of defining a morph is the following: any
phoneme or sequence of phonemes that can be associated with an
identifiable meaning.

Morpheme:
The minimal unit of grammatical analysis. Another
definition: the minimal unit of meaning.

Morphophoneme: A phonological unit consisting of a set of phonemes

occurring in allomorphs: the distribution of the set of phonemes in the
morphophoneme is explained in terms of phonological environments.
Example: the s plural may be articulated as the sounds s, z or es
(cat-s, dog-z, church-es).

Morphotactics: The system and study of the characteristic

arrangement of morphemes in a sequence.

Morphology: That branch of grammar that deals with the internal

structure of words. The basic units of analysis are morphemes.

Suppletion:
The use of suppletives or different lexical forms to
replace part of a paradigm.

Suppletive:
A substitute for a missing form in a paradigm.
Example: be (am, was, were); go (went). The replacements have no
phonemic resemblance to the base form. Technically, they are
allomorphs bearing no resemblance to the base.

Zero allomorph: An allomorph without phonemic content.

Example, sheep (pl)

BASE, ROOT, STEM

Root or Base: That part of a word that remains when all affixes have
been removed. If there is a difference between root and base, it is the
following:

a. Root: A form that is not further analyzable, either in terms of

inflectional and derivational morphology. It is that part of a word-form
that remains when all inflectional and derivational affixes have been
removed.

b.

Base: Any form to which affixes of any kind can be added.

Stem:
In some books, a stem is the same as a root and base. If
there is a difference among the three, it is this:
a stem is that form that remains when all inflectional affixes
have been removed. Therefore, a stem may be complex rather than
simple (i.e., a root).
Examples: touched (the stem is touch)
government (= stem)
wheelchairs (the stem is
wheelchair)

For our purposes, we will assume the following definitions:

Root:

that part of a word that remains

when all affixes have been
removed.

Base:

Any form to which affixes of any

kind can be added.

Stem:

that form that remains when all

inflectional affixes have been
removed.

Derivation:
A morphological process by which new lexemes are
formed. To do so, non-inflectional affixes are added to the bases.

Inflection:
In English, an affix that changes the word-form without
changing its form class or basic meaning.
Neo-Classical Compounds (Combining Forms): These are Greek and
Latin forms that seem to function as affixes but are distinct from them.
They may be Final Combining Forms (FCF) or Initial Combining
Forms (ICF). Unlike affixes, combining forms do not always combine
with roots. In other words, it is possible that lexemes may be minus a
root:
bio-crat, galvanoscope, homophile.
Final Combining Forms combine only with Initial Combining Forms.
Combining forms, although Greek and Latin in origin, occur only in
English word-formation. As such, they are known as neo-classical
compounds.
1. ICF: ex. with FCF naut: astro-, cosmo-, luna[r]a. It is lexically listed
b. It is a lexeme ending in o
c. The o at the end of the ICF may be truncated when the FCF begins
with a vowel.
2. FCF: Combines only with ICFs (-phile; -phobe; -gamy, -ology, -crat).

Morphology: Outline and Lecture

James Santucci
CSU Fullerton
I.
II.

Definition of Morphology: That branch of grammar that deals with the internal
structure of words. The basic units of analysis are morphemes.
The Morpheme: The minimal unit of grammatical analysis. It is a distinctive
grammatical unit: Every morpheme consists of at least one phoneme. It is, therefore, a
minimal unit of meaning.
A more complete meaning is this: a phoneme (or series of phonemes) that has (have)
meaning and which cannot be subdivided; therefore, any combination of one or more
phonemes that is grammatically relevant.

III.

How to determine a morpheme:

Two questions must be answered:
1.
2.

Does it recur in various utterances with approximately the same meaning?

Can it be broken into smaller pieces, each recurring with the same or
nearly the same meaning?

If the answer to (1) is YES (ex. length-, other-, like- wise; un-true, -believable, -like),
and the answer to (2) is NO, then it is a grammatical and linguistic form (ex. dogwood,
pocketful, filmdom, manliness, wholesome).
If the answer to (2) were YES, then the form is larger than a single form and as such is
a composite, and so must be reduced until the base or root form is reached.
Determine the morphemes: "The cow-s graz-ed quiet-ly in the field-s."
IV.

Free and Bound Morphemes

Free: A morph(eme) that can occur in isolation.
Bound: A morph(eme) that can only occur in a word-form in conjunction with at
least one other morph.
The bound morph(eme) has no separate existence except in relationship with another
morpheme.
In English, most words consist of a root/base/stem joined with a variety of bound
affixes. Roots are mainly free morphemes, but not always so. Ex.: capacity, capacious,
incapacitate (*capac).
Discontinuous Morphemes: morphemes in two separate parts (have-en, be-en, being)

V.

Base, Root, Stem

Base: Any form to which affixes of any kind can be added. This means that any root or
any stem can be termed a base, but the set of bases is not exhausted by the union of the
set of roots and the set of stems.
Root: A form that is not further analyzable, either in terms of inflectional and
derivational morphology. It is that part of a word-form that remains when all
inflectional and derivational affixes have been removed.
Stem: In some books, a stem is the same as a root and base. If there is a difference
among the three, it is this: a stem is that form that remains when all inflectional affixes
have been removed.
VI.

Combinations of morphemes
A. Bound morpheme to bound morpheme (per-cept-ive, in-com-prehens-ible,
con-ceive)
B. Free + Free: 2 or more free forms (compound: eye-sight, light-house)
C. Free + Free + Bound: (a compound which is affixed: face-lift-ed, featherbrain-ed, eye-sight-s)
D. Neo-Classical Compounds (Combining Forms)
Greek and Latin forms that seem to function as affixes but are distinct
from them. These are what are known as COMBINING FORMS.
Examples include astro-, electro-, hydro-, -crat, -naut, -phile, -phobe.
They may be treated as affixes because they are sometimes added to
lexemes just like any other affix.
Example: (affix): an-electric and (CF): photo-electric,
(affix) music-al and (CF) music-ology
Both sets act as affixes, including the CF, because they are added to
ROOTS.
However, it is possible that lexemes are made up of a prefix or suffix with
NO root:
bio-crat, electrophile, galvanoscope, homophile, protogen.
This goes against the definition that affixes co-occur with bases/roots.
There is evidence, however that Combining Forms (either Final CF or
Initial CF) are not normal affixes. The distinction between FCFs and
suffixes is this: only FCFs can combine with ICFs: electrolyte,
electrophile, electrophonic, electroscope all exist; electroness;
*electroization,* electroesque do not.

FCFs combine only with ICFs. ICFs usually end in o and usually end in
a vowel unless they combine with a formative that starts with a vowel.
Forms that combine with FCFs usually end in o, unless they are lexemes
that end in a vowel;
if a lexeme ends in a vowel it can be added before an FCF directly;
if it ends in a consonant, then an o is added to turn it into an ICF before
it combines with the FCF: audiophile, jazzophile, negrophile,
spermophile, autocrat.
ICFs are a separate group because of the way in which they can collocate
with FCFs. (1) there are many prefixes that do not end in vowels, and
these are prevented from combining with FCFs by the phonological
restrictions already mentioned. Prefixes such as arch-, circum-, dis-, en-,
ex-, in-, mis- non-, sub-, un-, vice-, etc. There are no ICFs that do not have
a variant ending in a vowel.
1. True prefixes that end in a vowel cannot combine with FCFs, so that the
following words are impossible: acrat, bephile, co-ology, de-logical,
prephobe.
2. super- and hyper- are synonymous terms that act differently from one
another. hyper- acts as an ICF in words such as hyperbaric, hyperemia,
hypergamy, hypertrophy. Super- does not appear to be prefixed to FCFs at
all.
3. There are also semantic differences between a prefix and an ICF. ICFs
contain a higher density of lexical information than prefixes do: compare
socio- or eco- with the prefixes pre- or un-. Prefixes can be expressed in
terms of function words; ICFs in terms of more complex ideas found in
the field that they refer to:
society, ecology.
4. A further tendency is that ICFs in general produce more hyponyms than
prefixes.
One final point is the relationship between CFs and bound roots. Bound roots are not very
productive. Where they do occur are in roots that are classical in origin. (ebulism, ludic,
phillumenist, viridian).
This should not be overstated. There is merely a tendency of semantic density applying to
ICFs. Prefixes can sometimes take on the same characteristic (mini-).
Combining forms are elements of the classical languages that are used in English wordformation and only in English word-formation (not Greek or Latin: thus telephone, television
as a mixture of Greek and Latin). Since they do not occur in Greek and Latin, they are known
as neo-classical compounds.

A. Initial Combining Form (ICF)

1. naut (Latin nauta sailor): astro-, cosmo-, luna(r)-, strato-naut
General Rules:
1. FCFs combine only with ICFs
2. The semantic interpretation of neo-classical compounds follows the same rules
as the interpretation of compounds;
3. The form of an ICF is either:
a. lexically listed
b. lexeme + -o; (condition: the final phoneme of the lexeme is not a vowel)
c. lexeme (condition: the lexeme must normally end in a vowel)
d. the o at the end of the ICF may be truncated when the FCF begins with a
vowel.

VII. Affixes: bound morphemes attached to the base/root/stem

A. By position
1. prefix: an affix placed in front of the root/base/stem
2. suffix: an affix placed after the root/base/stem
3. infix: an affix placed within the root/base/stem (ktb: katab: he wrote;
slm: salam, Islam)
B. By function

1. inflectional: In English, an affix that changes the word-form without changing

its form class or basic meaning.
2. derivational: A morphological process by which new lexemes are formed. To
do so, non-inflectional affixes are added to the bases.

VIII. Content and Function Words

A. Content Words: A word that has a full lexical meaning of its own.
B. Function Words: have no independent lexical meaning but just contributes
to the grammatical meaning of a construction (the, by of).
IX. Morphophonemics: The study of the distribution and classification of
morphemes. [ or the study of phonemic variations within a given morpheme.]
A. Allomorphs and morphs
1. Allomorph: A phonetically, lexically or grammatically conditioned member
of a set of morphs representing a particular morpheme. [also: a variant form of a
morphemic class. It is chiely a phonetic variation within the morphemic class.]

2. Morph: A segment of a word-form that represents a particular morpheme.

Another way of defining a morph is the following: any phoneme or sequence of
phonemes that can be associated with an identifiable meaning.

C. Conditioning of allomorphs
1. Phonological conditioning: Distribution of various allomorphs can be
stated in terms of thieir phonemic environments. That is, the allomorphs
vary because of the phones in immediate proximity to it.
Ex. the [s, z, \z] plural (cats, dogs, churches): \z after
sibilants, s after vl non-sibilants (p, t, k, f, ) and z
after vd. non- sibilants [b, d, g, v, , m, n, , vowels, j,
w, h, l, ).
The past \d after t, d; t after vl
phonemes other than t; d after vd
phonemes other than d.
3. morphological conditioning: the variation cannot be stated in
terms of the phonemic environment. They
are irregular morphemes.
man-men, child-children; dear-darling, mouse-mice,
datum-data, goose-geese
a. zero morpheme: sheep, aircraft, deer, dish, buffalo,
antelope, folk, hair
b. mutated forms from OE (orig. dat. sg. and n/pl):
man-men; foot-feet, mouse-mice, goosegeese, tooth-teeth
c. the [in] and [n] plural: oxen, children, kine, brethren