Introduction to English Linguistics Aschenbrenner / Becker / Fetzer / Kabak

Words and Morphology

All languages have words, and words are probably the most accessible linguistic units to the non-linguist. Against this background, words are the building blocks of sentences, while words are constructed of smaller components, viz. morphemes. Words are differentiated with regard to Lexical categories (or word classes) are distinguished with regard to C semantic criteria C morphological criteria C syntactic criteria N noun V verb A adjective ADV adverb P preposition (note: P is also classified as a function word)

Functional categories D determiner (definite/indefinite article - demonstratives - possessives) AUX auxiliary ( modal auxiliaries - have - be) PRN pronoun CONJ coordinating conjunction (and, or, but) C complementizer / subordinator (that, if, for)

Morphemes Morphemes are the minimal linguistic signs. That is to say, the morpheme is the smallest component of a word which contributes to its meaning. C free morphemes can stand on their own C bound morphemes cannot stand on their own (e.g. affixes) C allomorphs two morphs in variation, such as book-s, ox-en (Here plural is lexically conditioned) talk-ed, climb-ed, hand-ed - pot-s, song-s,house-s (Here past tense / plural are phonologically conditioned)

Word formation C derivational morphology derivation = combination of a base and one or more derivational affixes, such as boy + -ish, re- + write or re- + read + -able root + affix root = the smallest morphological form associated with a lexeme

compounding = combination of two free morphemes, such as book + shop or text + book head + modifier N + N: appletree A + N: bluebird V + N: swearword P + N: overcoat N + A: headstrong A + A: widespread P + A: overripe P + V: offset

conversion e.g., run (V, N) clipping e.g., university -> uni backformation e.g., burgle (V) <- burglar (N) reduplication e.g., bye-bye blending e.g., brunch <- breakfast + lunch acronyms e.g., NATO .....

inflectional morphology stem + inflectional affixes stem = the form to which inflections are added inflectional affixes: number (singular / plural) tense aspect adjectival comparison