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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):
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
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:
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.
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!
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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