Lexicology – Exercises

1. What is the class of the underlined word in each sentence?

a) He is unlikely to succeed.
b) For lunch, he eats the same thing every day: an open-faced turkey sandwich.
c) Tomorrow, which is the first day of the month, is when I get paid.
d) He might wonder where you've been.
e) Pop-culture is relentlessly eroding traditional American values, which undermines the U.S.'s
moral authority in international affairs.

2. Determine whether the words in each group (a) represent one or more lexemes, and (b) are
related through inflection or derivation:
e.g. have, has, had (a) one lexeme (b) inflection
1. break, broke, broken
2. intrude, intrusion, intruder
3. impress, impresses, impressed
4. interesting, interested, uninterested

3. Analyse the following words: unpredictability changeableness instability disproportional

4. Explain what blocks the derivation of the words in B. What types of constraint are involved?
A: servant assistant contestant A: unwell unloved unhappy
B: *writ(e)ant *buildant *shoutant B: *unill *unhated *unsad

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5. Determine the phonological, grammatical and semantic changes these affixes cause: (See: Plag
4.4. & 4.5.)

-ive (explosive, offensive, receptive, primitive)_______________________________________

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-en (blacken, broaden, quicken, strengthen, lengthen) _______________________________

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6. Look at the formations in A and B. State the word-formation rule for the prefix re- considering
a) what type of words it attaches to and what specification is required;
b) what meaning change is introduced in general;
c) whether it changes the word class of the base or not.
A: rewrite reexamine retake restate regain B: *rego *recry *resit *revenish
a) _____________________________________________________________________________
b) _____________________________________________________________________________
c) _____________________________________________________________________________

7. Provide derivatives with 2 different affixes for each of the relationships given below.

N > A ___________> ______________ A > N ___________> ______________

___________> ______________ ___________> ______________

V > A ___________> ______________ V > N ___________> ______________

___________> ______________ ___________> ______________

A > A ___________> ______________ N > N ___________> ______________

___________> ______________ ___________> ______________

A > V ___________> ______________ N > V ___________> ______________

___________> ______________ ___________> ______________

A > Adv. ___________> ______________ N > Adv. ___________> ______________

___________> ______________ ___________> ______________