59 Questions
Which prefix refers to hearing?
audi(o)-
Which prefix means 'heart'?
cardi(o)-
What does the prefix physio- refer to?
body
The prefix astro- is associated with which meaning?
star
Which prefix is used for terms related to 'blood'?
hemo-
Which of the following is a class-maintaining prefix?
amoral
Which of these is an example of a class-changing suffix?
-ness
What happens when a class-changing affix is added to a word?
The grammatical class of the word changes.
Which of the following is NOT a class-changing suffix?
amoral
What kind of affix is 'ex-president' an example of?
Class-maintaining prefix
What is the primary function of suffixation in English?
To attach an affix to the end of a word
What type of suffix changes the grammatical class of the base word?
Class-changing suffix
Which suffix is both class-changing and class-maintaining depending on context?
-ish
What is the process called when a part of the base word is dropped before adding a suffix?
Truncation
Which of the following is an example of a class-maintaining suffix?
-ness
What is the base of the word reliable?
rely
What type of suffix is '-able' in the word reliable?
derivational suffix
What is the function of the suffix '-ly' in the word helplessly?
forming an adverb
What is the base plus suffix combination in the word 'helpless'?
help + less
What type of suffix is '-less' in the word helpless?
denominal suffix
In linguistics, what does the term morpholoy refer to?
The study of the forms of words.
What is an example of postmodification in the phrase 'the artist who created it'?
who created it
Which type of modification replaces the medial vowel in the root with a different vowel?
Modification
Which of the following pairs is an example of final consonant modification?
bend - bent
Which type of affixation involves inserting an element in the middle of a word?
Infixation
How is the modified word 'laughed' derived from its root word?
Suffixation
The word 'went' as the past tense form of 'go' is an example of which phenomenon?
Suppletion
Which pair illustrates a medial vowel modification?
fight - fought
Which prefix refers to heat?
thermo
Which prefix indicates doing the opposite of an action?
dis
Which prefix refers to something false?
pseudo
Which prefix would be used for terms related to animals?
zoo
Which prefix suggests being excessively something?
ultra
What is the base of the word 'reliably'?
rely
What kind of suffix is '-able' in 'reliable'?
derivational suffix
What is the function of the suffix '-ly' in 'helplessly'?
de-adjectival
Which word can 'helpless' be further divided into?
help-less
What is the base of the word 'helpless'?
help
What is the base of the word 'ownership'?
Owner
Which suffix in the word 'economical' is a class-changing suffix?
-al
What is the root of the word 'economically'?
Economy
In which of the following words is the suffix '-en' class-maintaining?
Blacken
Which of the following prefixes is class-changing?
Fore-
What remains after removing all derivational affixes from a word?
Root
Which word has 'nationalist' as its base?
Nationalists
What type of affix is '-ish' in 'devilish'?
Class-maintaining
What is a morpheme?
An abstract unit of grammatical analysis
What are allomorphs?
Alternative realizations of a morpheme
How many morphemes does the word 'examiner's' consist of?
Two
Which statement is true about inflectional and derivational morphology?
Derivational morphology deals with affixes that create new words
Which of the following words consists of two morphemes?
Broker
Is a root the same thing as a base?
No, a root is not the same as a base.
Is a base the same thing as a stem?
Yes, they are interchangeable.
How many morphs does the word 'absentees' consist of?
Three
What is the primary difference between a root and a base?
A base may include derivational affixes, while a root does not.
Which word consists of two morphs?
Muleteer
What does the word 'inflexional' refer to in morphology?
Affixes that indicate grammatical relationships
Which of the following can be described as the core component that holds the basic meaning?
Root
Can the terms base and stem be used interchangeably?
Yes, they refer to the same concept.
Study Notes
Prefixes in English
- Prefixes are used to change the meaning of a base to which they are added
- Examples of prefixes related to parts of the human body or their functions:
- audi(o)-: related to hearing
- cardi(o)-: related to the heart
Morphology
- Morphology refers to how the meaning of a word is qualified by preceding or following words
- Modification refers to the process of change in the root or stem of a word
- There are four types of modification in English:
- Replacement of the medial vowel in the root with a different vowel (e.g. eat -> ate)
- Replacement of the final consonant in the root with another consonant (e.g. bend -> bent)
- Replacement of the consonant with another consonant (e.g. catch -> cach)
- Replacement of the consonant with a completely different kind of sound (e.g. sleep -> slept)
Suppletion
- Suppletion is a process where the past tense formation of a verb is irregular and cannot be explained by a generalized rule
- Examples: go -> went, be -> was
Suffixation in English
- Suffixation is a process of word formation where an affix is attached to the end of a word to form a new word
- Suffixes can be classified into two types: class-changing and class-maintaining
- Class-changing suffixes change the grammatical class of the word to which they are attached (e.g. noun to adjective)
- Class-maintaining suffixes retain the grammatical class of the word to which they are attached (e.g. noun to noun)
Class-maintaining and Class-changing Derivations
- Class-maintaining derivational affixes preserve the grammatical class (part of speech)
- Class-changing derivational affixes change a word to a different grammatical class
- Examples of class-maintaining and class-changing suffixes:
- -ing (class-changing: verb to noun)
- -ed (class-changing: verb to adjective)
- -er (class-changing: verb to noun)
- -ness (class-changing: adjective to noun)
- -al (class-changing: noun to adjective)
Morphology Simplified
- A base is the part of a word to which an affix has been added
- A root is the part of a word that remains after all derivational affixes have been removed
- A stem is the part of a word that remains after all derivational affixes have been removed
- Examples of class-maintaining and class-changing suffixes:
- -ish (class-changing: noun to adjective)
- -al (class-changing: noun to adjective)
- -en (class-changing: verb to noun)
- -er (class-changing: verb to noun)
Prefixes
- Examples of prefixes:
- geo-: earth
- hydro-: water
- photo-: light
- pneuma-: air
- thermo-: heat
- zoo-: animal
- Examples of evaluative prefixes:
- mal-: badly
- mis-: wrongly
- pseudo-: false
- super-: of a good variety
- ultra-: excessively
- Examples of reversative prefixes:
- de-: do the opposite of
- dis-: do the opposite of
- un-: do the opposite of
- Examples of locative prefixes:
- intra-: inside
- inter-: between
- pan-: all over
- super-: above
This quiz covers the differences between class-maintaining and class-changing derivational affixes, including their usage and examples.
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