Review!

Parts of Speech, roots, prefixes, and suffixes

Parts of Speech
Nouns

 You’ve likely learned that nouns can be people, places, things, or ideas.
 These definitions are semantic, meaning they are based on meaning.

 For example, the bolded words in the following sentence are all nouns:
 When the student’s pencil was stolen in the classroom he demanded justice!
Types of nouns

 Singular nouns: cake, robot, doctor, home, etc.

 Plural nouns: cakes, robots, doctors, homes, etc.
 Common nouns: doctor, student, cake, water, etc.
 Proper nouns: The Grand Canyon, Albert Einstein, Mardi Gras, etc.
 Concrete nouns: cake, robot, pencil, notebook, etc.
 Abstract nouns: freedom, friendship, happiness, education, etc.
 Collective nouns: family, herd, troupe, group, etc.
 Possessive nouns: Delilah’s, Arthur’s, dog’s, cats’, etc.
Nouns

 Linguists prefer to define nouns based on where they occur in sentences and phrases.
 This definition is syntactic, meaning it has to do with word order.
 This definition is also morphological, meaning it has to do with possible word forms.

 For example, creation is a word that refers to an action event (creating something).
 But creation is not a verb, it’s a noun. We can tell because it is described by an adjective that comes after an
article, it ends in -ion, and it can be pluralized in sentences like this:
 All of the beautiful creations in this studio are great!
Pronouns

 Pronouns are words that take the place of a noun or group of nouns.
 For example, the following two sentences describe the same scenario:
 Kendra convinced Kendra that Kendra saw Gregor brushing Gregor’s hair with Kendra’s hairbrush.
 She convinced herself that she saw him brushing his hair with her hairbrush.
Types of pronouns

 Personal pronouns: I, me, she, her, he, him, you, we, us, it, etc.
 Reflexive pronouns: myself, herself, himself, yourself, ourselves, etc.
 Demonstrative pronouns: that, this, those, these, etc.
 Interrogative pronouns: who, whose, what, where, which, etc.
 Relative pronouns: The card that she wrote was beautiful. The man whom I saw was tall.
 Indefinite pronouns: anybody, everyone, somebody, someone, etc.
 Possessive pronouns: my, her, his, your, our, its, etc.
Pronouns

 Because both nouns and pronouns can be used to make Noun Phrases, linguists consider pronouns to be a
special kind of noun.

 Many of the types of nouns are also types of pronouns. For example:
 There are both singular and plural pronouns.
 I (sg)  we (pl)
 There are possessive pronouns as well as possessive nouns.
 My, your, its, etc. Kara’s, the dog’s, children’s, etc.
Verbs

 You’ve likely learned that verbs express action or a state of being.

 This definition is semantic, meaning it is based on meaning.
 You’ve also likely learned that verbs are necessary to form statements.
 This definition is syntactic, meaning it is based on how words form phrases and sentences.

 For example, the following are all statements. The verbs are bolded:
 Go!
 Enrique washed his hands.
 Nobody knows who stole the pencil.
Types of verbs

 Active “action” verbs: go, eat, wag, walk, etc.

 Non-active “action” verbs: know, believe, think, like, love, etc.
 Transitive verbs: Chauncey ate the cake. The dog is wagging his tail. Etc.
 Intransitive verbs: Chauncey ate. The dog is walking. Etc.
 Linking verbs: The car is white. The lights appear out. The boys seemed lost. Etc.
 Auxiliary verbs: She had gone to the store. We were eating soup. They should try. Etc.
Verbs

 Linguists prefer to define verbs based on where they occur in sentences and phrases.
 This definition is syntactic, meaning it has to do with word order.
 This definition is also morphological, meaning it has to do with possible word forms.

 For example, both create and be are verbs. We can tell because they both can be put into the past tense, and
they can go in the same place in the following sentences:
 This created a new path. This was a new path.
Adjectives

 You’ve likely learned that adjectives modify nouns.

 This definition is partly semantic, meaning it is based on meaning.
 This definition is also partly syntactic, meaning it is based on word order.

 For example, the bolded words in the following sentence are all adjectives because of the nouns that come
after them:
 When the eloquent student gave her passionate speech, her wise teacher gave her a good grade.
Types of adjectives

 Basic adjectives: blue, cold, happy, cautious, sweet, etc.

 Proper adjectives: American, Haitian, Roman, Newtonian, Julian, etc.
 Comparative adjectives: bluer, colder, more cautious, less helpful, etc.
 Superlative adjectives: bluest, coldest, most cautious, least helpful, etc.
Adjectives

 Linguists prefer to define adjectives based on where they occur in sentences and phrases.
 This definition is syntactic, meaning it has to do with word order.
 This definition is also morphological, meaning it has to do with possible word forms.

 For example, continental is an adjective. We can tell because it describes a following noun, it comes after an
article, and it ends in -al in sentences like this:
 The continental Europeans were not pleased with the trade deal with England.
Adverbs

 You’ve likely learned that adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.
 This definition is partly semantic, meaning it is based on meaning.
 This definition is also partly syntactic, meaning it is based on word order.

 For example, the bolded and underlined words in the following sentence are all adverbs:
 His suddenly red cheeks quickly gave away that he was actually very embarrassed.
Types of adverbs

 Basic adverbs: happily, quickly, courageously, very, fast, etc.

 Comparative adverbs: more happily, less quickly, faster, etc.
 Superlative adverbs: least happily, most courageously, fastest, etc.

 It is important to note that not all adverbs can modify verbs, adjectives, and adverbs!
Adverbs

 Linguists prefer to define adverbs based on where they occur in sentences and phrases.
 This definition is syntactic, meaning it has to do with word order.
 This definition is also morphological, meaning it has to do with possible word forms.

 For example, faster is a comparative that can be either an adjective or an adverb. We can tell which it is
based on whether it modifies a noun or a verb:

o The faster boy won the race. o He ran faster than his friend.
Prepositions

 You’ve likely learned that prepositions relate nouns to other words in a variety of ways.
 This definition is semantic, meaning it is based on meaning.
 This definition is also syntactic, meaning it is based on word order.

 For example, the bolded words in the following sentence are all prepositions, color coded with the Noun
Phrases they relate to:
 Even in December snow seldom falls on the ground near my home at any time of day.
Types of prepositions

 Prepositions relating to time: before, until, since, after, etc.

 Prepositions relating to space: near, by, beside, between, around, etc.
 Compound prepositions: in between, across from, out of, according to, etc.
 Other prepositions: of, with, about, etc.
Prepositions

 Linguists define prepositions based on where they occur in sentences and phrases.
 This definition is syntactic, meaning it has to do with word order.

 Prepositions are followed by a Noun Phrase and modify Noun or Verb Phrases.
 For example, with is a preposition. We can tell because it is followed by a noun phrase, and it is used to
modify both a noun phrase and a verb phrase in sentences like this:
 The girl with the new sneakers outran the competition with ease.
Articles

 You may have learned that articles are a kind of adjective, because they come before nouns in noun phrases.
 This definition is syntactic, meaning it is based on word order.

 For example, the bolded words in the following sentence are all articles, color coded with the noun phrases
they are part of:
 The tall man had a long coat that he wore to an opera house.
Articles

 However, linguists do not consider articles to be a type of adjective.

 This is because they don’t actually occur in the same places as adjectives!

 For example, even though a noun phrase can begin with either an article or an adjective, an adjective can
come in between an article and its noun, but an article cannot:
o The boys volunteered. o Daring boys will volunteer. o The daring boys volunteered.
o * The a boy(s) volunteered.
Roots and Affixes
What are roots?

 Roots are special parts of words.

 They tend to carry the “core” meaning of the word.
 Walks has two parts: walk + -s. Walk is the more meaningful part.
 They often can be words themselves.
 Walk is a word.
 When they are not words, they often come to us in English by way of Latin or Greek.
 -mit is a Latin root. It can be found in such words as admit, commit, and transmit.
 Roots cannot be broken down into smaller meaningful parts.
How can you identify a root?

 You can identify a root using the following tests:

Question Answer

Can it be broken down into smaller parts? NO

Can it be found in other words? YES

Does it share meaning across those words? YES

Is this meaning at the “core” of each word? YES

Affixes

 Linguists use the term affix to describe a part of a word that “affixes” onto a root or another affix.
 -ly is an affix, because it affixes onto roots like quick to form an adverb, like quickly.

 In English, affixes include both prefixes and suffixes.

 Prefixes are affixes that come before the root or another affix
 For example, un- in words like unimaginable.
 Suffixes are affixes that come after the root or another affix
 For example, -able in words like unimaginable.
Roots, affixes, and parts of speech

 Roots typically have a particular part of speech.

 For example, walk is a verbal root.

 Some affixes can change the part of speech of the root or word they affix onto.
 For example, -er is an affix in words like walker. Walker is a noun because of the -er.

 Other affixes do not change the part of speech.

 For example, un- is an affix that attaches to verbs to form another verb, like undo.