EXERCISES

Ex.1.
Consider the following words and answer the questions below.
a) loneliness b) White House c) undresses d) unthinkable e) immobility f)
decentralization g) easiest h) prefeasibility i) unhappiness j) lovelier k)
optionality l) independently m)sweeteners n)unreliable 0)unhappiness
Group the morphemes of these words into free morphemes and bound morphemes
and state whether the bound morphemes are inflectional affixes or derivational
affixes.
The first two words (loneliness and White House) have been done for you

Word Free morpheme Bound morpheme

Derivational Inflectional affix
affix
loneliness lone -ly, -ness Ø
White House White, house
undresses dress -un -es
unthinkable think -un, -able
immobility mobile -im, -ity
decentralization central -de, -lize, -tion
easiest easy -est
prefeasibility feasible -pre, -ity
lovelier love -ly -er
optionality opt -tion, -nal, -ity
independently depend -in, -ent, -ly
sweeteners sweet -ten, -er -s
unreliable rely -un, -able
unhappiness happy -un, -ness Ø

Ex.2.
Consider the following words and answer the questions below
a. examinees e. triumphed i. preplan m. optionality
b. untie f. ageless j. fastest n. prettier
c. invalid g. justice k. reuse o. mistreat
d. comfortable h. payment l. disobeys p. naked

Word Simple or Root Bound morpheme

complex
Derivational Inflectional
affix affix
examinees Complex exam -ine, -ee -s
untie Complex tie -un
invalid Complex valid -in
comfortabl Complex Comfort -able
e
triumphed Complex triumph -ed
ageless Complex age -less
justice Simple just (công bằng) -ice
payment Complex pay -ment
preplan Complex plan -pre
fastest Complex fast -est
reuse Complex use -re
disobeys Complex obey -dis -s
optionality Complex option -nal, -ity
prettier Complex pretty -er
mistreat Complex treat -mis
naked Simple naked

Ex.3.
Consider the following words
a. humidifier d. enlightened g. carelessness j.identifiable
b. delightful e. mistreated h. Illogically k.derivational
c. disobeys f. spiteful i. Premature

Analyze the internal structure of the above words using the bracket
diagram
for example: [[dis [agree]V] V ment]N
humidifier = [[humid]adj ify]v er]n
delightful = [[delight]V ful]adj
disobeys = [disaf[obey]v s]n
enlightened = [en[light]adjen]v ed]adj
mistreated = [misaf[treat]ved] adj
spiteful =
carelessness =
illogically =
premature =
identifiable = [[identifi]able]
derivational = [[deriv]ation]al]
Ex.4.
Fill in the blanks with suitable words or phrases suggested below in order
to make the passages meaningful (some words can be used twice) (3ms)
affixes, bases, bound, derivational, free, independent, infixes, inflectional
meaningful, morphemes, prefixes, single, suffixes, syllables, verb, morphology
MORPHOLOGY is the arrangement and relationships of the smallest meaningful
units in a language. These minimum units of meaning are called morphemes . Note
that morphemes are not identical to syllables : the form don't has one syllable but
two morphemes, do and not. Conversely, the word Wisconsin has three syllables
but is a single morpheme.
It is often useful to distinguish between free and bound morphemes. Free
morphemes can be used alone as independent words - for example, take, for, each,
the, panda. Bound morphemes form words only when attached to at least one other
morpheme; re-, dis-, un-, -ing, -ful, and -tion are all bound morphemes. The most
familiar bound morphemes are affixes (that is, prefixes and suffixes), but even
bases (forms to which affixes are attached) can be bound. An example of a bound
base is the -cept of such words as except, accept, deceptive, and reception.
Some languages also have infixes (phụ tố nằm ở giữa) , which appear inside a
word, but these are not important for English. Another classification of affixes
distinguishes derivational and inflectional affixes. For instance, the -s used to
form plurals and the -ed used to indicate past tense are inflectional affixes.
Derivational affixes may be either prefixes or suffixes. Most derivational affixes/
prefixes simply change the meaning of the word to which they are attached
(uniform, transplant, microwave, unbelievable, desensitize). Derivational suffixes
normally change the part-of-speech category and may also change the meaning of
the word to which they are attached. For example, -ify in codify changes the noun
code to a verb.