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15/3/2017 Linguistics001Lecture7Morphology

Linguistics001Lecture7Morphology
Thisisthefirstofasequenceoflecturesdiscussingvariouslevelsoflinguistic home
analysis.

We'llstartwithmorphology,whichdealswithmorphemes(theminimalunitsof
linguisticformandmeaning),andhowtheymakeupwords. schedule
We'llthendiscussphonology,whichdealswithphonemes(themeaningless
elementsthat"spellout"thesoundofmorphemes),andphonetics,whichstudies
thewaylanguageisembodiedintheactivityofspeaking,theresultingphysical homework
sounds,andtheprocessofspeechperception..

Thenwe'lllookatsyntax,whichdealswiththewaythatwordsarecombinedinto
phrasesandsentences.Finally,we'lltakeuptwoaspectsofmeaning,namely
semantics,whichdealswithhowsentencesareconnectedwiththingsinthe
worldoutsideoflanguage,andpragmatics,whichdealswithhowpeopleuseall
thelevelsoflanguagetocommunicate.

Thepeculiarnatureofmorphology
Fromalogicalpointofview,morphologyistheoddestofthelevelsoflinguistic
analysis.WheneverIgivethislecturetoanintroductoryclass,I'malways
remindedofwhattheparticlephysicistIsidorRabisaidwhenhelearnedabout
thediscoveryofthemuon:"Whoorderedthat?"Byserendipity,thismorning's
NewYorkTImeshasareviewofanewbook,"TheHuntingoftheQuark",that
tellsthestory:

InthefifthcenturyB.C.,thatprescientGreekphilosopherstarted
humanityonitssearchfortheuniverse'sultimatebuildingblockswhen
hesuggestedthatallmatterwasmadeofinfinitesimallysmallparticles
calledatoms.In1897,theBritishphysicistJ.J.Thomsoncomplicated
theissuewhenhediscoveredthefirstsubatomicparticle,theelectron.
Later,othersrecognizedtheprotonandneutron.Asatomsmashers
grewinthenextfewdecades,myriadsofephemeralparticles
appearedinthedebris,averitableGreekalphabetsoupoflambdas,
sigmasandpions.''Whoorderedthat?''exclaimedthetheoristIsidorI.
Rabiwhenthemuonwasidentified.

Giventhebasicdesignofhumanspokenlanguage,thelevelsofphonology,
syntax,semanticsandpragmaticsarearguablyunavoidable.Theyneedn'tlook
exactlythewaythattheydo,perhaps,buttherehastobesomethingtodothe
workofeachoftheselevels.

Butmorphologyisbasicallygratuitous,aswellascomplexandirregular:anything
thatalanguagedoeswithmorphology,itusuallycanalsodomore
straightforwardlywithsyntaxandthereisalwayssomeotherlanguagethatdoes
thesamethingwithsyntax.

Forinstance,Englishmorphologyinflectsnounstospecifyplurality:thusdogs
means"morethanonedog".Thisinflectionletsusbespecific,inacompactway,
aboutthedistinctionbetweenoneandmorethanone.Ofcourse,wecould
alwayssaythesamethinginamoreelaboratedway,usingtheresourcesof
syntaxratherthanmorphology:morethanonedog.Ifwewanttobevague,we
havetobelongwinded:oneormoredogs.

ModernStandardChinese(alsoknownas"Mandarin"or"Putonghua")makes
exactlytheoppositechoice:thereisnomorphologicalmarkingforplurality,sowe
canbesuccinctlyvagueaboutwhetherwemeanoneormoreofsomething,while
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weneedtobemorelongwindedifwewanttobespecific.Thus(inPinyin
orthographywithtonenumbersaftereachsyllable):

1. na4er5 you3 gou3


there have dog
"there'sadogordogsthere."

2. na4er5 you3 ji3 zhi1 gou3
there have several CLASSIFIER dog
"there'sdogsthere"

Asanexampleofanotherkindofmorphologicalpackaging,Englishcanmake
iconifyfromiconandify,meaning"makeintoanicon."Perhapsit'snicetohave
asinglewordforit,butwecouldalwayshavesaid"makeintoanicon."Andmany
languageslackanygeneralwaytoturnanounXintoaverbmeaning"tomake
into(an)X",andsomustusethelongerwindedmodeofexpression.Indeed,the
processinEnglishisrathererratic:wesayvaporizenot*vaporify,andemulsify
not*emulsionify,andsoon.

Infact,oneofthewaysthatmorphologytypicallydiffersfromsyntaxisits
combinatoricirregularity.Wordsaremostlycombinedlogicallyandsystematically.
Sowhenyouexchangemoneyforsomethingyoucanbesaidto"buy"itorto
"purchase"itwe'dbesurprisedif(say)groceries,telephonesandtimepieces
couldonlybe"purchased,"whileclothing,automobilesandpencilscouldonlybe
"bought,"andthingsdenotedbywordsofonesyllablecouldonlybe"acquiredin
exchangeformoney."

Yetirrationalcombinatoricnonsenseofthistypehappensallthetimein
morphology.Considertheadjectivalformsofthenamesofcountriesorregionsin
English.Thereareatleastahalfadozendifferentendings,andalsomany
variationsinhowmuchofthenameofthecountryisretainedbeforetheendingis
added:

Bhutanese,Chinese,Guyanese,
ese Japanese,Lebanese,Maltese,
Portuguese,Taiwanese
African,Alaskan,American,
an Angolan,Cuban,Jamaican,
Mexican,Nicaraguan
Argentinian,Armenian,
Australian,Brazilian,Canadian,
ian
Egyptian,Ethiopian,Iranian,
Jordanian,Palestinian,Serbian
Irish,British,Flemish,Polish,
ish
Scottish,Swedish
Afghani,Iraqi,Israeli,Kuwaiti,
i
Pakistani
? French,German,Greek

Andyoucan'tmix'nmatchstemsandendingshere:*Taiwanian,*Egyptese,and
soonjustdon'twork.

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Tomakeitworse,thewordforcitizenofXandthegeneraladjectivalform
meaningassociatedwithlocalityXareusuallybutnotalwaysthesame.
ExceptionsincludePole/Polish,Swede/Swedish,Scot/Scottish,
Greenlandic/Greenlander.Andtherearesomeodditiesaboutpluralization:we
talkabout"theFrench"and"theChinese"but"theGreeks"and"theCanadians".
Thepluralforms"theFrenches"and"theChineses"arenotevenpossible,and
thesingularforms"theGreek"and"theCanadian"meansomethingentirely
different.

Whatamess!

It'sworseinsomewaysthanhavingtomemorizeacompletelydifferentwordin
everycase(like"TheNetherlands"and"Dutch"),becausetherearejustenough
partialregularitiestobeconfusing.

ThisbringsupGeorgeW.Bush.Foryears,therehasbeenawebfeatureatSlate
magazinedevotedto"Bushisms",manyifnotmostofthemarisingfromhis
individualapproachtoEnglishmorphology.Someoftheearlyandfamous
examples,fromthe1999presidentialcampaign,focusontheparticularcase
underdiscussionhere:

"IftheEastTimoriansdecidetorevolt,I'msureI'llhaveastatement."
QuotedbyMaureenDowdintheNewYorkTimes,June16,1999

"KeepgoodrelationswiththeGrecians."QuotedintheEconomist,
June12,1999

"Kosovianscanmovebackin."CNNInsidePolitics,April9,1999

PresidentBush,ifthesequotesareaccurate,quitesensiblydecidedthatian
shouldbethedefaultending,afterdeletionofafinalvowelifpresent.Thisfollows
thecommonmodelofBrazil::BraziliansandCanada::Canadians,andgives
Bush'sEastTimor::EastTimorians,Greece::GreciansandKosovo::Kosovians,
insteadofthecorrect(butunpredictable)formsEastTimorese,Greeksand
Kosovars.Andwhynot?ThePresident'smethodismorelogicalthanthewaythe
Englishlanguagehandlesit.

Despitethesederivationalanfractuosities,Englishmorphologyissimpleand
regularcomparedtothemorphologicalsystemsofmanyotherlanguages.One
questionweneedtoaskourselvesis:whydolanguagesinflictmorphologyon
theirusersandtheirpoliticians?

Whatisaword?
We'vestartedtalkingblithelyaboutwordsandmorphemesasifitwereobvious
thatthesecategoriesexistandthatweknowthemwhenweseethem.This
assumptioncomesnaturallytoliteratespeakersofEnglish,becausewe've
learnedthroughreadingandwritingwherewhitespacegoes,whichdefinesword
boundariesforusandwesoonseemanycaseswhereEnglishwordshave
internalpartswithseparatemeaningsorgrammaticalfunctions,whichmustbe
morphemes.

Insomelanguages,theapplicationofthesetermsisevenclearer.Inlanguages
likeLatin,forexample,wordscanusuallybe"scrambled"intonearlyanyorderin
aphrase.AsAllenandGreenough'sNewLatinGrammarsays,"Inconnected
discoursethewordmostprominentinthespeaker'smindcomesfirst,andsoon
inorderofprominence."

Thusthesimpletwowordsentencefacisamice"youactkindly"alsooccursas
amicefaciswithessentiallythesamemeaning,butsomedifferenceinemphasis.
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However,themorphemesthatmakeupeachofthesetwowordsmustoccurina
fixedorderandwithoutanythinginsertedbetweenthem.Thewordamice
combinesthestem/amic/"loving,friendly,kind"andtheadverbialending/e/we
can'tchangetheorderofthese,orputanotherwordinbetweenthem.Likewise
theverbstem/fac/"do,make,act"andtheinflectionalending/is/(second
personsingularpresenttenseactive)arefixedintheirrelationshipintheword
facis,andcan'tbereorderedorseparated.

Amongmanyothers,themodernSlaviclanguagessuchasCzechandRussian
showasimilarcontrastbetweenwordsfreelycirculatingwithinphrases,and
morphemesrigidlyarrangedwithinwords.Insuchlanguages,thebasicconcepts
ofwordandmorphemearenaturalandinevitableanalyticcategories.

InalanguagelikeEnglish,wherewordorderismuchlessfree,wecanstillfind
evidenceofasimilarkindforthedistinctionbetweenmorphemesandwords.For
example,betweentwowordswecanusuallyinsertsomeotherwords(without
changingthebasicmeaningandrelationshipoftheoriginals),whilebetweentwo
morphemesweusuallycan't.

Thusinthephrase"shehasarrived",wetreatsheandhasasseparatewords,
whilethe/ed/endingofarrivedistreatedaspartofalargerword.Inaccordance
withthis,wecanintroduceothermaterialintothewhitespacebetweenthewords:
"sheapparentlyhasalreadyarrived."Butthereisnowaytoputanythingatallin
between/arrive/and/ed/.Andthereareotherformsofthesentenceinwhichthe
wordorderisdifferent"hasshearrived?""arrived,hasshe?"butnoformin
whichthemorphemesinarrivedarereordered.

Testsofthiskinddon'tentirelyagreewiththeconventionsofEnglishwriting.For
example,wecan'treallystickotherwordsinthemiddleofcompoundwordslike
swimteamandpictureframe,atleastnotwhilemaintainingthemeaningsand
relationshipsofthewordswestartedwith.Inthissensetheyarenotverydifferent
fromthemorphemesincomplexwordslikere+calibrateorconsumer+ism,which
wewrite"solid",i.e.withoutspaces.Arecent(andcontroversial)officialspelling
reformofGermanmakechangesinbothdirectionssplittingsomecompounds
orthographicallywhilemergingothers:oldradfahrenbecamenewRadfahren,but
oldSamstagmorgenbecamenewSamstagmorgen..

Asthischangeemphasizes,thequestionofwhetheramorphemesequenceis
written"solid"islargelyamatteroforthographicconvention,andinanycasemay
bevariableeveninaparticularwritingsystem.Englishspeakersfeelthatmany
nounnouncompoundsarewords,eventhoughtheyclearlycontainotherwords,
andmayoftenbewrittenwithaspaceorahyphenbetweenthem:"sparkplug",
"shotglass".Thesearecommoncombinationswithameaningthatisnotentirely
predictablefromthemeaningsoftheirparts,andthereforetheycanbefoundas
entriesinmostEnglishdictionaries.Butwhereshouldwedrawtheline?areall
nouncompoundstobeconsideredwords,includingthosewherecompoundsare
compounded?Whatabout(say)governmenttobaccopricesupportprogram?In
ordinaryusage,we'dbemoreinclinedtocallthisaphrase,thoughitistechnically
correcttocallita"compoundnoun"andthusinsomesenseasinglethough
complexword.Ofcourse,inGerman,thecorrespondingcompoundwould
probablybewrittensolid,makingits"wordhood"plainer.

Thereareanumberofinterestingtheoriesoutthereaboutwhymorphology
exists,andwhyithasthepropertiesthatitdoes.Ifthesetheoriesturnouttobe
correct,thenmaybelinguisticswillbeasluckywiththecomplexitiesof
morphologyasphysicswaswith"Greekalphabetsoup"ofelementaryparticles
discoveredinthefiftiesandsixties,whichturnedouttobecomplexcompositesof
quarksandleptons,composedaccordingtotheelegantlawsofquantum
chromodynamics.

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Universalityoftheconcepts"word"and"morpheme"

Dotheconceptsofwordandmorphemethenapplyinalllanguages?The
answeris"(probably)yes".Certainlytheconceptofmorphemetheminimal
unitofformandmeaningarisesnaturallyintheanalysisofeverylanguage.

Theconceptofwordistrickier.Thereareatleasttwotroublesomeissues:
makingthedistinctionbetweenwordsandphrases,andthestatusofcertain
grammaticalformativesknownasclitics.

Wordsvs.phrases

Sincewordscanbemadeupofseveralmorphemes,andmayincludeseveral
otherwords,itiseasytofindcaseswhereaparticularsequenceofelements
mightarguablybeconsideredeitherawordoraphrase.We'vealreadylookedat
thecaseofcompoundsinEnglish.

Insomelanguages,thisboundaryisevenhardertodraw.InthecaseofChinese,
theeminentlinguistY.R.Chao(1968:136)says,'Noteverylanguagehasakind
ofunitwhichbehavesinmost(nottospeakall)respectsasdoestheunitcalled
"word"...Itisthereforeamatteroffiatandnotaquestionoffactwhetherto
applytheword"word"toatypeofsubunitintheChinesesentence.'Ontheother
hand,otherlinguistshavearguedthatthedistinctionbetweenwordsandphrases
isbothdefinableandusefulinChinesegrammar.TheChinesewritingsystemhas
notraditionofusingspacesorotherdelimiterstomarkwordboundariesandin
factthewholeissueofhow(andwhether)todefine"words"inChinesedoesnot
seemtohavearisenuntil1907,althoughtheChinesegrammaticaltraditiongoes
backacoupleofmillennia.

Statusofclitics

Inmostlanguages,thereisasetofelementswhosestatusasseparatewords
seemsambiguous.ExamplesinEnglishincludethe'd(reducedformof"would"),
theinfinitivalto,andthearticlea,inI'dliketobuyadog.Theseformscertainly
can't"standaloneasacompleteutterance",assomedefinitionsofwordwould
haveit.Thesoundpatternofthese"littlewords"isalsousuallyextremely
reduced,inawaythatmakesthemactlikepartofthewordsadjacenttothem.
Thereisn'tanydifferenceinpronunciationbetweenthenounphraseatackand
theverbattack.However,theseformsarelikeseparatewordsinsomeother
ways,especiallyintermsofhowtheycombinewithotherwords.

Membersofthisclassof"littlewords"areknownasclitics.Theirpeculiar
propertiescanbeexplainedbyassumingthattheyareindependentelementsat
thesyntacticlevelofanalysis,butnotatthephonologicallevel.Inotherwords,
theybothareandarenotwords.Somelanguageswritecliticsasseparatewords,
whileotherswritethemtogetherwiththeiradjacent"host"words.Englishwrites
mostcliticsseparate,butusesthespecial"apostrophe"separatorforsomeclitics,
suchasthereducedformsofis,haveandwould('s've'd),andpossessive's.

Thepossessive'sinEnglishisaninstructiveexample,becausewecancontrast
itsbehaviorwiththatoftheplurals.Thesetwomorphemesarepronouncedin
exactlythesamevariableway,dependentonthesoundsthatprecedethem:

Pronunciation
Noun Noun+s(plural) Noun+s(possessive)
(both)
thrush thrushes thrush's iz
toy toys toy's z
block blocks block's s

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Andneitherthepluralnorthepossessivecanbeusedbyitself.Sofromthispoint
ofview,thepossessiveactslikeapartofthenoun,justasthepluraldoes.
However,thepluralandpossessivebehaveverydifferentlyinsomeotherways:

1.Ifweaddafollowingmodifiertoanoun,thepossessivefollowsthemodifier,
butthepluralstickswiththeheadnoun:

Morphemestayswithhead
Morphemefollowsmodifier
noun
ThetoysIboughtyesterday *ThetoyIboughtyesterdays
Plural
wereonsale. wereonsale.
*Thetoy'sIboughtyesterday ThetoyIboughtyesterday's
Possessive
pricewasspecial. pricewasspecial.

Inotherwords,thepluralcontinueslikepartofthenoun,butthepossessive
actslikeaseparateword,whichfollowsthewholephrasecontainingthe
noun(eventhoughitismergedintermsofsoundwiththelastwordofthat
nounphrase).
2.Therearelotsofnounswithirregularplurals,butnonewithirregular
possessives:

Plural(irregularinthese Possessive(always
cases) regular)
oxen ox's
spectra spectrum's
mice mouse's

Actually,Englishdoeshavefewirregularpossessives:his,her,my,your,their.
Buttheseexceptionsprovetherule:thesepronominalpossessivesactlike
inflections,sothatthepossessorisalwaysthereferentofthepronounitself,not
ofsomelargerphrasethatithappenstobeattheendof.

Sothepossessive'sinEnglishislikeawordinsomeways,andlikean
inflectionalmorphemeinsomeothers.Thiskindofmixedstatusiscommonly
foundwithwordsthatexpressgrammaticalfunctions.Itisoneofthewaysthat
morphologydevelopshistorically.Asahistoricalmatter,acliticislikelytostartout
asafullyseparateword,andthen"weaken"soastomergephonologicallywith
itshosts.Inmanycases,inflectionalaffixesmayhavebeencliticsatanearlier
historicalstage,andthenlosttheirsyntacticindependence.

[AbookthatusedtobethecoursetextforLING001liststheEnglishpossessive'sasan
inflectionalaffix,andlastyear'sversionoftheselecturenotesfollowedthetextinthisregard.This
isaneasymistaketomake:inmostlanguageswithpossessivemorphemes,theybehavelike
inflections,andit'snaturaltothinkof'sasanalogousto(say)theLatingenitivecase.Nevertheless,
it'sclearthatEnglishpossessive'sisacliticandnotaninflectionalaffix.]

Wordsneverthelessuseful

Importantdistinctionsareoftendifficulttodefineforcasesneartheboundary.
Thisisamongthereasonsthatwehavelawyersandcourts.Therelativedifficulty
ofmakingadistinctionisnotastrongargument,onewayortheother,forthe
valueofthatdistinction:it'snotalwayseasy,forexample,todistinguishhomicide
fromother(andlessserious)kindsofinvolvementinsomeone'sdeath.Despite
thedifficultiesofdistinguishingwordfromphraseononesideandfrom
morphemeontheother,mostlinguistsfindtheconceptofwordusefulandeven
essentialinanalyzingmostlanguages.

Intheend,wewindupwithtwodefinitionsofword:theordinaryusage,where
thatexists(asitdoesforEnglishorSpanish,anddoesnotforChinese)anda
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technicaldefinition,emergingfromaparticulartheoryaboutlanguagestructureas
appliedtoaspecificlanguage.

Relationshipbetweenwordsandmorphemes
Whatistherelationshipbetweenwordsandmorphemes?It'sahierarchicalone:
awordismadeupofoneormoremorphemes.Mostcommonly,these
morphemesarestrungtogether,orconcatenated,inaline.However,itisnot
uncommontofindnonconcatenativemorphemes.ThustheArabicroot/ktb/
"write"has(amongmanyotherforms)

katab pefectiveactive
kutib perfectivepassive
aktub imperfectiveactive
uktab imperfectivepassive

Thethreeconsonantsoftherootarenotsimplyconcatenatedwithother
morphemesmeaningthingslike"imperfective"or"passive",butratherare
shuffledamongthevowelsandsyllablepositionsthatdefinethevariousforms.
Still,agivenwordisstillmadeupofasetofmorphemes,it'sjustthatthesetis
notcombinedbysimpleconcatenationinallcases.

Simplerexamplesofnonconcatenativemorphologyincludeinfixes,likethe
insertionofemphaticwordsinEnglishcaseslike"unfriggingbelievable",or
Tagalog

bili 'buy' binili 'bought'


basa 'read' binasa 'read'(past)
sulat 'write' sinulat 'wrote'

Categoriesandsubcategoriesofwordsandmorphemes
Thedifferenttypesofwordsarevariouslycalledpartsofspeech,wordclasses,
orlexicalcategories.TheCambridgeEncyclopediaofLanguagegivesthislistof
8forEnglish:

noun
pronoun
verb
adjective
adverb
conjunction
preposition
interjection

Thissetmightbefurthersubdivided:hereisalistof36partofspeechtagsused
inthePennTreeBankproject.Mostoftheincrease(from8to36)isby
subdivision(e.g."noun"dividedinto"singularcommonnoun,""pluralcommon
noun,""singularpropernoun,""pluralpropernoun,"etc.,butthereareafewextra
oddsandends,suchas"cardinalnumber."

OtherdescriptionsofEnglishhaveusedslightlydifferentwaysofdividingthepie,
butitisgenerallyeasytoseehowoneschemetranslatesintoanother.Looking
acrosslanguages,wecanseesomewhatgreaterdifferences.Forinstance,some
languagesdon'treallydistinguishbetweenverbsandadjectives.Insuch
languages,wecanthinkofadjectivesasakindofverb:"thegrassgreens,"rather
than"thegrassisgreen."Otherdifferencesreflectdifferentstructuralchoices.For
instance,Englishwordslikein,on,under,witharecalledprepositions,andthis
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namemakessensegiventhattheyprecedethenounphrasetheyintroduce:with
astick.Inmanylanguages,thewordsthatcorrespondtoEnglishprepositions
followtheirnounphraseratherthanprecedingit,andarethusmoreproperly
calledpostpositions,asinthefollowingHindiexample:

Ramcarisekuttekomara
Ramstickwithdoghit
"Ramhitthedogwithanstick."

Typesofmorphemes:
BoundMorphemes:cannotoccurontheirown,e.g.deindetoxify,tionin
creation,sindogs,cranincranberry.

FreeMorphemes:canoccurasseparatewords,e.g.car,yes.

Inamorphologicallycomplexwordawordcomposedofmorethanone
morphemeoneconstituentmaybeconsideredasthebasicone,thecoreofthe
form,withtheotherstreatedasbeingaddedon.Thebasicorcoremorphemein
suchcasesisreferredtoasthestem,root,orbase,whiletheaddonsare
affixes.Affixesthatprecedethestemareofcourseprefixes,whilethosethat
followthestemaresuffixes.Thusinrearranged,reisaprefix,arrangeisa
stem,anddisasuffix.Morphemescanalsobeinfixes,whichareinsertedwithin
anotherform.Englishdoesn'treallyhaveanyinfixes,exceptperhapsforcertain
expletivesinexpressionslikeuneffingbelievableorKalamaeffingzoo.

Prefixesandsuffixesarealmostalwaysbound,butwhataboutthestems?Are
theyalwaysfree?InEnglish,somestemsthatoccurwithnegativeprefixesare
notfree,suchaskemptandsheveled.Badjokesaboutsomeofthesemissing
boundmorphemeshavebecomesofrequentthattheymayreentercommon
usage.

Morphemescanalsobedividedintothetwocategoriesofcontentandfunction
morphemes,adistinctionthatisconceptuallydistinctfromthefreebound
distinctionbutthatpartiallyoverlapswithitinpractice.

Theideabehindthisdistinctionisthatsomemorphemesexpresssomegeneral
sortofreferentialorinformationalcontent,inawaythatisasindependentas
possibleofthegrammaticalsystemofaparticularlanguagewhileother
morphemesareheavilytiedtoagrammaticalfunction,expressingsyntactic
relationshipsbetweenunitsinasentence,orobligatorilymarkedcategoriessuch
asnumberortense.

Thus(thestemsof)nouns,verbs,adjectivesaretypicallycontentmorphemes:
"throw,""green,""Kim,"and"sand"areallEnglishcontentmorphemes.Content
morphemesarealsooftencalledopenclassmorphemes,becausetheybelong
tocategoriesthatareopentotheinventionofarbitrarynewitems.Peopleare
alwaysmakinguporborrowingnewmorphemesinthesecategories.:"smurf,"
"nuke,""byte,""grok."

Bycontrast,prepositions("to","by"),articles("the","a"),pronouns("she","his"),
andconjunctionsaretypicallyfunctionmorphemes,sincetheyeitherservetotie
elementstogethergrammatically("hitbyatruck,""KimandLeslie,""Leesawhis
dog"),orexpressobligatory(inagivenlanguage!)morphologicalfeatureslike
definiteness("shefoundatable"or"shefoundthetable"butnot"*shefound
table").Functionmorphemesarealsocalled"closedclass"morphemes,
becausetheybelongtocategoriesthatareessentiallyclosedtoinventionor
borrowingitisverydifficulttoaddanewpreposition,articleorpronoun.

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Foryears,somepeoplehavetriedtointroducenongenderedpronounsinto
English,forinstance"sie"(meaningeither"he"or"she",butnot"it").Thisismuch
hardertodothantogetpeopletoadoptanewnounorverb.

Trymakingupanewarticle.Forinstance,wecouldtrytoborrowfromthe
Mandinglanguagesanarticle(written"le")thatmeanssomethinglike"I'm
focusingonthisphraseasopposedtoanythingelseIcouldhavementioned."
We'lljustslipinthisnewarticleafterthedefiniteorindefinite"the"or"a"that's
whereitgoesinManding,thoughtherestoftheorderiscompletelydifferent.
Thuswewouldsay"Kimboughtanappleatthelefruitstand,"meaning"it'sthe
fruitstand(asopposedtoanyplaceelse)whereKimboughtanapple"or"Kim
boughtanleappleatthefruitstand,"meaning"it'sanapple(asopposedtoany
otherkindoffruit)thatKimboughtatthefruitstand."

Thisisaperfectlysensiblekindofmorphemetohave.MillionsofWestAfricans
useiteveryday.However,thechancesofpersuadingtherestoftheEnglish
speakingcommunitytoadoptitarenegligible.

Insomewaystheopen/closedterminologyisclearerthancontent/function,since
obviouslyfunctionmorphemesalsoalwayshavesomecontent!

Theconceptofthemorphemedoesnotdirectlymapontotheunitsofsoundthat
representmorphemesinspeech.Todothis,linguistsdevelopedtheconceptof
theallomorph.Hereisthedefinitiongiveninawellknownlinguisticworkbook:

Allomorphs:Nondistinctiverealizationsofaparticularmorphemethat
havethesamefunctionandarephoneticallysimilar.Forexample,the
Englishpluralmorphemecanappearas[s]asincats,[z]asindogs,
or['z]asinchurches.Eachofthesethreepronunciationsissaidtobe
anallomorphofthesamemorpheme.

Inflectionalvs.DerivationalMorphology
Anothercommondistinctionistheonebetweenderivationalandinflectional
affixes.

Derivationalmorphemesmakesnewwordsfromoldones.Thuscreationis
formedfromcreatebyaddingamorphemethatmakesnounsoutof(some)
verbs.

Derivationalmorphemesgenerally

1.changethepartofspeechorthebasicmeaningofaword.Thusment
addedtoaverbformsanoun(judgment).reactivatemeans"activate
again."
2.arenotrequiredbysyntacticrelationsoutsidetheword.Thusunkind
combinesunandkindintoasinglenewword,buthasnoparticular
syntacticconnectionsoutsidethewordwecansayheisunkindorheis
kindortheyareunkindortheyarekind,dependingonwhatwemean.
3.areoftennotproductiveorregularinformormeaningderivational
morphemescanbeselectiveaboutwhatthey'llcombinewith,andmayalso
haveerraticeffectsonmeaning.Thusthesuffixhoodoccurswithjustafew
nounssuchasbrother,neighbor,andknight,butnotwithmostothers.e.g.,
*friendhood,*daughterhood,or*candlehood.Furthermore"brotherhood"
canmean"thestateorrelationshipofbeingbrothers,"but"neighborhood"
cannotmean"thestateorrelationshipofbeingneighbors."Notehowever
thatsomederivationalaffixesarequiteregularinformandmeaning,e.g.
ism.
4.typicallyoccur"inside"anyinflectionalaffixes.Thusingovernments,ment,
aderivationalsuffix,precedess,aninflectionalsuffix.

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5.inEnglish,mayappeareitherasprefixesorsuffixes:prearrange,arrange
ment.

Inflectionalmorphemesvary(or"inflect")theformofwordsinordertoexpress
thegrammaticalfeaturesthatagivenlanguagechooses,suchassingular/plural
orpast/presenttense.ThusBoyandboys,forexample,aretwodifferentformsof
the"same"word.InEnglish,wemustchoosethesingularformorthepluralform
ifwechoosethebasicformwithnoaffix,wehavechosenthesingular.

InflectionalMorphemesgenerally:

1.donotchangebasicsyntacticcategory:thusbig,bigger,biggestareall
adjectives.
2.expressgrammaticallyrequiredfeaturesorindicaterelationsbetween
differentwordsinthesentence.ThusinLeelovesKim,smarksthe3rd
personsingularpresentformoftheverb,andalsorelatesittothe3rd
singularsubjectLee.
3.occuroutsideanyderivationalmorphemes.Thusinrationalizationsthe
finalsisinflectional,andappearsattheveryendoftheword,outsidethe
derivationalmorphemesal,iz,ation.
4.InEnglish,aresuffixesonly.

SomeexamplesofEnglishderivationalandinflectionalmorphemes:

derivational inflectional
ation sPlural
ize edPast
ic ingProgressive
y erComparative
ous estSuperlative

PropertiesofsomederivationalaffixesinEnglish:

ation isaddedtoaverb togiveanoun


finalize finalization

confirm confirmation
un isaddedtoaverb togiveaverb
tie untie

wind unwind
un isaddedtoanadjective togiveanadjective
happy unhappy

wise unwise
al isaddedtoanoun togiveanadjective
institution institutional

universe universal
ize isaddedtoanadjective togiveaverb
concrete concretize

solar solarize

Keepinmindthatmostmorphemesareneitherderivationalnorinflectional!For
instance,theEnglishmorphemesMelissa,twist,tele,andouch.
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Also,mostlinguistsfeelthattheinflectional/derivationaldistinctionisnota
fundamentalorfoundationalquestionatall,butjustasometimesusefulpieceof
terminologywhosedefinitionsinvolveasomewhatcomplexcombinationofmore
basicproperties.Thereforewewillnotbesurprisedtofindcasesforwhichthe
applicationofthedistinctionisunclear.

Forexample,theEnglishsuffixinghasseveralusesthatarearguablyonthe
borderlinebetweeninflectionandderivation(alongwithotherusesthatarenot).

Oneveryregularuseofingistoindicateprogressiveaspectinverbs,following
formsof"tobe":Sheisgoinghewillbeleavingtheyhadbeenasking.Thisuse
isgenerallyconsideredaninflectionalsuffix,partofthesystemformarkingtense
andaspectinEnglishverbs.

Another,closelyrelateduseistomakepresentparticiplesofverbs,whichare
usedlikeadjectives:Fallingwaterstinkingmessglowingembers.Accordingto
therulethatinflectiondoesn'tchangethelexicalcategory,thisshouldbeaform
ofmorphologicalderivation,sinceitchangesverbstoadjectives.Butinfactitis
probablythesameprocess,atleasthistoricallyasisinvolvedinmarking
progressiveaspectonverbs,since"beingintheprocessofdoingX"isoneofthe
naturalmeaningsoftheadjectivalformXing.

Thereisanother,regularuseofingtomakeverbalnouns:Flyingcanbe
dangerouslosingispainful.Theingformsinthesecasesareoftencalled
gerunds.Bythe"changeslexicalcategories"rule,thisshouldalsobea
derivationalaffix,sinceitturnsaverbintoanoun.However,manypeoplefeel
thatsuchcasesaredeterminedbygrammaticalcontext,sothataphraselikeKim
peekingaroundthecornersurprisedmeactuallyisrelatedto,orderivedfrom,a
tenselessformofthesentenceKimpeekedaroundthecorner.Onthisview,the
affixingisakindofinflection,sinceitcreatesaformoftheverbappropriatefora
particulargrammaticalsituation,ratherthanmakinganew,independentword.
Thusthedecisionaboutwhetheringisaninflectioninthiscasedependsonyour
analysisofthesyntacticrelationshipsinvolved.

It'sforreasonslikethisthatthedistinctionbetweeninflectionalandderivational
affixesisjustasometimesconvenientdescriptiveone,andnotabasicdistinction
intheory.

Whatisthemeaningofanaffix?

Themeaningsofderivationalaffixesaresometimesclear,butoftenareobscured
bychangesthatoccurovertime.Thefollowingtwosetsofexamplesshowthat
theprefixuniseasilyinterpretedas"not"whenappliedtoadjectives,andasa
reversingactionwhenappliedtoverbs,buttheprefixconismoreopaque.

un untie
unshackle
unharness
unhappy
untimely
unthinkable
unmentionable

con constitution
confess

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connect
contract
contend
conspire
complete

Arederivationalaffixessensitivetothehistoricalsourceofthe
rootstheyattachto?

AlthoughEnglishisaGermaniclanguage,andmostofitsbasicvocabulary
derivesfromOldEnglish,thereisalsoasizeablevocabularythatderivesfrom
Romance(LatinandFrench).SomeEnglishaffixes,suchasre,attachfreelyto
vocabularyfrombothsources.Otheraffixes,suchas"ation",aremorelimited.

ROOT tie consider


freeform freeform
Germanicroot Latinateroot
SOURCE OldEnglishtygan,"totie" Latinconsiderare,"toexamine"
PREFIX retie reconsider
SUFFIX reties reconsiders
retying reconsideration
retyings reconsiderations

Thesuffixize,whichsomeprescriptivistsobjecttoinwordslikehospitalize,has
alongandvenerablehistory.

AccordingtoHansMarchand,inTheCategoriesandTypesofPresentDay
EnglishWordFormation(UniversityofAlabamaPress,1969),thesuffixize
comesoriginallyfromtheGreekizo.Manywordsendingwiththissuffixpassed
fromEcclesiasticalGreekintoLatin,where,bythefourthcentury,theyhad
becomeestablishedasverbswiththeendingizare,suchasbarbarizare,
catechizare,christianizare.InOldFrenchwefindmanysuchverbs,belonging
primarilytotheecclesisticalsphere:baptiser(11thc.),canoniser(13thc.),
exorciser(14thc.).

ThefirstizewordstobefoundinEnglishareloanswithbothaFrenchandLatin
patternsuchasbaptize(1297),catechize,andorganize(both15thc.)Towards
theendofthe16thcentury,however,wecomeacrossmanynewformationsin
English,suchasbastardize,equalize,popularize,andwomanize.Theformaland
semanticpatternswerethesameasthosefromtheborrowedFrenchandLatin
forms,butowingtotherenewedstudyofGreek,theeducatedhadbecomemore
familiarwithitsvocabularyandusedthepatternsofOldGreekwordformation
freely.

Between1580and1700,thedisciplinesofliterature,medicine,naturalscience
andtheologyintroducedagreatdealofnewterminologyintothelanguage.Some
ofthetermsstillinusetodayincludecriticize,fertilize,humanize,naturalize,
satirize,sterilize,andsymbolize.Thegrowthofsciencecontributedvastnumbers
ofizeformationsthroughthe19thcenturyandintothe20th.

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Theizewordscollectedbystudentsininthisclassnineyearsagoshowthatize
isalmostentirelyrestrictedtoRomancevocabulary,theonlyexceptionswefound
beingwomanizeandwinterize.EventhoughmostcontemporaryEnglish
speakersarenotconsciouslyawareofwhichwordsintheirvocabularyarefrom
whichsource,theyhaverespectedthisdistinctionincoiningnewwords.

ConstituentStructureofWords
Theconstituentmorphemesofawordcanbeorganizedintoabranchingor
hierarchicalstructure,sometimescalledatreestructure.Considertheword
unusable.Itcontainsthreemorphemes:

1.prefix"un"
2.verbstem"use"
3.suffix"able"

Whatisthestructure?Isitfirst"use"+"able"tomake"usable",thencombined
with"un"tomake"unusable"?orisitfirst"un"+"use"tomake"unuse",then
combinedwith"able"tomake"unusable"?Since"unuse"doesn'texistin
English,while"usable"does,wepreferthefirststructure,whichcorrespondsto
thetreeshownbelow.

Thisanalysisissupportedbythegeneralbehavioroftheseaffixes.Thereisa
prefix"un"thatattachestoadjectivestomakeadjectiveswithanegative
meaning("unhurt","untrue","unhandy",etc.).Andthereisasuffix"able"that
attachestoverbsandformsadjectives("believable","fixable","readable").This
givesustheanalysispicturedabove.Thereisnowaytocombineaprefix"un"
directlywiththeverb"use",sotheotherlogicallypossiblestructurewon'twork.

Nowlet'sconsidertheword"unlockable".Thisalsoconsistsofthreemorphemes:

1.prefix"un"
2.verbstem"lock"
3.suffix"able"

Thistime,though,alittlethoughtshowsusthattherearetwodifferentmeanings
forthisword:onecorrespondingtothelefthandfigure,meaning"notlockable,"
andasecondonecorrespondingtotherighthandfigure,meaning"abletobe
unlocked."


Infact,uncanindeedattachto(some)verbs:untie,unbutton,uncover,uncage,
unwrap...LarryHorn(1988)pointsoutthattheverbsthatpermitprefixationwith
unarethosethateffectachangeinstateinsomeobject,theformwithun
denotingtheundoing(!)ofthatchange.

Thisletsusaccountforthetwosensesof"unlockable"..Wecancombinethe
suffixablewiththeverblocktoformanadjectivelockable,andthencombinethe
prefixunwithlockabletomakeanewadjectiveunlockable,meaning"notableto
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belocked".Orwecancombinetheprefixunwiththeverblocktoformanew
verbunlock,andthecombinethesuffixablewithunlocktoformanadjective
unlockable,meaning"abletobeunlocked".

Bymakingexplicitthedifferentpossiblehierarchiesforasingleword,wecan
betterunderstandwhyitsmeaningmightbeambiguous.

MorphologyFAQ
Thesequestionsandanswersarebasedonsomepatternsoferrorobservedin
homeworksandexamsinpreviousyears.

Canaword=amorpheme?
Yes,atleastinthesensethatawordmaycontainexactlyonemorpheme:

Word(=Morpheme) WordClass
car noun
thank verb
true adjective
succotash noun
gosh interjection
under preposition
she pronoun
so conjunction
often adverb

Aretheremorphemesthatarenotwords?
Yes,noneofthefollowingmorphemesisaword:

Morpheme Category
un prefix
dis prefix
ness suffix
s suffix
kempt
boundmorpheme
(asinunkempt)

Canaword=asyllable?
Yes,atleastinthesensethatawordmayconsistofexactlyonesyllable:

Word WordClass
car noun
work verb
in preposition
whoops interjection

Aretheremorphemesthatarenotsyllables?
Yes,someofthefollowingmorphemesconsistofmorethanonesyllablesomeof
themarelessthanasyllable:
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Morpheme WordClass
under preposition(>syll.)
spider noun(>syll.)
s 'plural'(<syll.)

Aretheresyllablesthatarenotmorphemes?
Yes,manysyllablesare"less"thanmorphemes.Justbecauseyoucanbreaka
wordintotwoormoresyllablesdoesnotmeanitmustconsistofmorethanone
morpheme!

Word Syllables Comments


kayak (ka.yak) neitherkanoryakisamorpheme
broccoli (bro.ko.li)or(brok.li) neitherbronorbroknorkonorliisamorpheme
angle (ang.gle) neitherangnorgleisamorpheme
jungle (jung.gle) neitherjungnorgleisamorpheme

So(ifyouwerewonderingandyes,somepeoplehavetroublewiththis)thereis
nonecessaryrelationshipbetweensyllables,morphemes,andwords.Eachis
anindependentunitofstructure.

Whatarethemajordifferencesbetweenderivationalandinflectional
affixes?
First,it'sworthsayingthatmostlinguiststodayconsiderthisdistinctionasapiece
ofconvenientdescriptiveterminology,withoutanyfundamentaltheoreticalstatus.
Thenwecanpointtothebasicmeaningsoftheterms:derivationalaffixes
"derive"newwordsfromoldones,whileinflectionalaffixes"inflect"wordsfor
certaingrammaticalorsemanticproperties.

derivational inflectional
position closertostem furtherfromstem
addableonto? yes notinEnglish
meaning? (often)unpredictable predictable
changeswordclass? maybe no

Arecliticsinflectionalorderivationalmorphemes?
Theanswerwoulddependonyourdefinitionsandasweexplainedearlier,the
categoriesof"inflection"and"derivation"aredescriptivetermsthatreallydon't
haveastrongtheoreticalbasis.However,basedoncomparisontotypical
examplesofinflectionalandderivationalaffixes,theanswerseemstobe
"neither",inthatcliticsarenotreallylexicalaffixesatall.

[coursehomepage][lectureschedule][homework]

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