STRUCTURE OF ENGLISH WORDS

MORPHEMES. MORPHEMIC ANALYSIS.

MORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
MORPH MORPHEME
MORPHEME
-smallest meaningful unit in a language
-a minimal unit of meaning or grammatical function
that can’t be further divided (Yule, 2010)

MORPH
-actual/concrete forms used to realize
morphemes
-phonetic representation of a morpheme
MORPHEMES

Brinton. Yule. Kolln. Kaplan

MORPHEME…
YULE (2010)
“a minimal unit of meaning in grammatical function”

KOLLN & FUNK (2012)

“the units that make up words”

KAPLAN (1985)
“ a minimal stretch of a language which has a
meaning ”
MORPHEME…
BRINTON (2010)
 Internally indivisible

 Externally transportable (positional

mobility)
 Represented within { } using CAPITAL

LETTERS for lexemes and DESCRIPTIVE

DESIGNATIONS for other morphemes
TYPES OF MORPHEME
BRINTON (2010)

FREE BOUND

Content Function Affix Bound Enclitic

word word root

Prefix Suffix Auxiliary

Derivational Negative

Derivational Inflectional
Which is the BOUND morpheme?

• Teacher
• Overgrown

• Disheartened

• Reclassify
TYPES OF MORPH:

A. Free
B. Bound

BRINTON (2010)
Free morphs
 can occur alone as single words
 Carries the principal lexical or

grammatical meaning (nouns, verbs etc)

 Always a root

Bound roots
• when roots are occasionally bound morphs
• often foreign borrowings
free bound (in English) (-vert, -mit, -ceive)
Bound morphs
 Cannot stand alone
 occur attached to other forms/morphemes

 Affixes are common examples of this type.

 Some exemptions:
 Full
 Like
 Less
Think of words that fit each formula:

 Free + bound
 Bound + free
 Free + bound + bound
TYPES OF MORPHEME
-Based on meaning
A. Lexical morphemes
B. Grammatical/Functional
morphemes
A. Lexical morphemes
 Lexical or dictionary meaning
 Carry the content of the message

 Word classes:

 Noun, verb, adjective or adverb

 Open categories/class of words
 Independent words or parts of words

Brinton (2010) & Yule (2010)

B. Grammatical/ Functional morphemes
 Closed category/class of words
 Occurrence is predictable by the

grammar of the sentence due to the

certain grammatical meanings
associated to the words
 Consists largely of functional words

Brinton (2010) & Yule (2010)

TYPES OF MORPHEME
-Based on form
A. Derivational
B. Inflectional

C. Enclitic
a. Derivational morpheme (affix)
 Use for CLASS CHANGING and CLASS MAINTAINING
 All prefixes and suffixes (except 8) are derivational.
(Kolln, 2012)
 Arbitrary and unsystematic (Kolln, 2012)

o Act (verb) + -ive (suffix)= Active (adjective)

o -ness (suffix) + good (adjective) = Goodness (noun)
o Care (noun) + -ful/ -less = Careful/less (adjective)
b. Inflectional morpheme (affix)
Brinton (2010) & Kolln (1986)
 Indicate aspects of the grammatical function of
words (tense or number)
 Only 8 suffixes are inflectional. (Kolln, 1986)
PRODUCTIVE INFLECTIONS (SUFFIXES)
1. -s (plural) NOUN INFLECTIONS
2. -s (possessive)
3. -s (3rd-person singular)
4. -ed (past tense) VERB INFLECTIONS
5. -en (past participle)
6. -ing (present participle)
7. -er (comparative) ADJECTIVE/ADVERB
8. -est (superlative) INFLECTIONS
c. Enclitic
 Kind of contraction which is derived from an
independent word and should be attached to
the preceding word
a. AUXILIARIES b. NEGATIVE
Will, shall > ‘ll Won’t, wouldn’t
Is, has > ‘s Can’t, couldn’t
Are > ‘re Isn’t, aren’t
Have > ‘ve Hasn’t, haven’t
 en-gage-ment-s
ROOT
BASE

STEM

Root + Derviational affix= BASE

Root + Derivational + Inflectional affix =STEMS
 Morphological analysis of words:
Examples
Simple word 1 free root Hand
Complex word 1 free root + 1 or Unhand, handy,
more bound handful
morphs or 2 or
more bound
morphs
Compound word 2 free roots Handbook, handrail
Compound- 2 free roots and Handwriting,
complex word associated bound handicraft
morphs
Brinton (2010) & Kolln (1986)
 MORPHEMIC AND
MORPHOLOGICAL
ANALYSIS

Brinton (2010)
MORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
 Words are analyzed into morphs
following formal divisions (/)

MORPHEMIC ANALYSIS
 Words are analyzed into morphemes,
recognizing the abstract units of meaning
present
Lexemes for roots
Descriptive designations for inflections
 NOUNS MORPHOLOGICAL MORPHEMIC ANALYSIS
ANALYSIS
children 2 morphs 2 morphemes
child/ren {CHILD} + {pl}

teeth 1 morph 2 morphemes

teeth {TOOTH} + {pl}

man’s 2 morphs 2 morphemes

man/s {MAN} + {poss}

men’s 2 morphs 2 morphemes

men/s {MAN} + {pl} + {poss}
NOUNS MORPHOLOGICAL MORPHEMIC ANALYSIS
ANALYSIS
writers 3 morphs 3 morphemes
writ/er/s {WRITE} + {-ER} +
{pl}
authors 2 morphs 2 morphemes
author/s {AUTHOR} + {pl}
mice 1 morph 2 morphemes
mice {MOUSE} + {pl}
sheep 1 morph 2 morphemes
sheep {SHEEP} + {pl}
{SHEEP} + {sg}
 ADJ. MORPHOLOGICAL MORPHEMIC ANALYSIS
ANALYSIS
smaller 2 morphs 2 morphemes
small/er {SMALL} + {compr}
smallest 2 morph 2 morphemes
small/est {SMALL} + {supl}
better 1 morph 2 morphemes
better {GOOD} + {compr}
best 1 morphs 2 morphemes
best {GOOD} + {supl}
good 1 morph 2 morphemes
good {GOOD} + {pos}
 VERB MORPHOLOGICAL MORPHEMIC ANALYSIS
ANALYSIS
worked 2 morphs 2 morphemes
work/ed {WORK} + {past}

wrote 1 morph 2 morphemes

wrote {WRITE} + {past}
written 1 morph 2 morphemes
written {WRITE} + {pstprt}

working 2 morphs 2 morphemes

work/ing {WORK} + {prsprt}
{WORK} + {gerund} + {sg}
NOTE: {pres}  never realized
 PRONOUNS
PRONOUN MORPHOLOGICAL MORPHEMIC ANALYSIS
ANALYSIS
we 1 morph 3 morphemes
we {1st p} + {pl} + {nomn}

him 1 morph 4 morphemes

him {3rd p} + {sg} + {m} +
{obj}
its 2 morphs 4 morphemes
it/s {3rd p} + {sg} + {n} +
{poss}
MORPHOLOGICAL REALIZATION RULES:
1. Agglutinative rule

2. Fusional rule

3. Null realization rule

4. Zero rule
MORPHOLOGICAL REALIZATION RULES:
1. Agglutinative rule
- 2 morphemes are realized by morphs
which remain distinct and are simply
“glued” together.

• {WRITER} + {pl} > writers

• {ANSWER} + {past} > answered
MORPHOLOGICAL REALIZATION RULES:
2. Fusional rule
-2 morphemes are realized by morphs
which do not remain distinct but are “fused”
together

• {TOOTH} + {pl} > teeth

• {EAT} + {past} > ate
MORPHOLOGICAL REALIZATION RULES:
3. Null realization rule
-A morpheme is never realized as a morph
in any word of the relevant class.
-“Invisible” affix
• {STUDY} + {pres} > study
MORPHOLOGICAL REALIZATION RULES:
4. Zero rule

-A morpheme is realized as a zero morph

in particular members of a word class.

• {SHEEP} + {pl} > sheep

MORPHOLOGICAL REALIZATION RULES:
RULES: EXAMPLES:
1. Agglutinative rule {WORK} + {past} > worked

2. Fusional rule {WRITE} + {past} > wrote

3. Null realization rule {WORK} + {pres} > work

4. Zero rule {PUT} + {past} > put

{PUT} + {pstprt}> put
Allomorphs
-different forms or variations of morphemes
-phonetic realizations of the abstraction

3 conditions:
1. Phonologically conditioned
2. Grammatically conditioned
3. Free variation
3 conditions:
CONDITION:

1. Phonologically Appearance of a particular

allomorph is predictable from the
conditioned phonetic environment
-final sound of the root of the noun

2. Grammatically Appearance is unpredictable

phonologically but is determined
conditioned by the grammar of the language
-root allomorphy

3. Free variation Allomorphs may be used

interchangeably in a particular
environment
 Phonologically conditioned
 English plural morpheme has 3 allomorphs:
 /Schwa z/ or /əz/  sibilants
 /s/  voiceless consonants
 /z/  elsewhere

A /əz/ B /s/ C /z/

bushes maps rods
buses cats logs
mazes racks seals
judges ropes mirrors
matches laughs pans
tombs
Grammatically conditioned
Conditions Words
∅ fish, sheep, deer
vowel alteration Mice, lice, geese

-en Children, brethren, oxen

foreign plurals
-a Phenomena, data, criteria
-i Stimuli, alumni
-ae Alumnae, formulae
-ices Indices, appendices
-es Bases, axes
-im Kibbutzim, cherubim
References

 Brinton, L.J. (2010). The linguistic structure of modern

English. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing
Company.
 Kaplan, J. (1995). English grammar: Principles and
facts. New Jersey: Prentice Hall
 Kolln, M. & Funk, R. (2012). Understanding English
grammar. New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.
 Yule, G. (2010). The study of language. New York:
Cambridge University Press.