English Lexical Categories and Morphological Processes Quiz

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Questions and Answers

What are the two main functions of morphology in English?

Morphology fulfils two main functions in English. Morphemes can be used to form new words or to inflect verbs, nouns and pronouns.

What is derivational morphology?

Derivational morphology is the process of forming a new word by adding a derivational affix, such as a prefix or suffix, to a base word.

What is the difference between derivational and inflectional morphology?

Derivational morphology involves adding a derivational affix to create a new word, while inflectional morphology involves adding an inflectional morpheme to change the grammatical function of a word without creating a new word.

What are the inflectional morphemes in English?

The inflectional morphemes in English include plural -s (cats), possessive -’s (brother’s), comparative -er (taller), superlative -est (tallest), third person singular Present Simple -s (he walks), Past Simple -ed (walked), progressive -ing (walking). Signup and view all the answers

What does an inflectional morpheme do?

Inflectional morphemes change what a word does in terms of grammar, but do not create a new word. They do not change one word into another and never change their syntactic category, they just create another form of the same word. Signup and view all the answers

What is the difference between derivational affixes and inflectional suffixes?

Derivational affixes can change the class of a word, while inflectional suffixes cannot change the class of a word. Signup and view all the answers

What is an example of derivational affixation?

An example of derivational affixation is adding the suffix -ness to the adjective 'happy' to create the noun 'happiness'. Signup and view all the answers

What is an example of inflectional suffixation?

An example of inflectional suffixation is adding the suffix -ed to the verb 'walk' to create the past tense form 'walked'. Signup and view all the answers

What is the origin of inflectional morphemes in English?

Inflectional morphemes in English originate from Anglo-Saxon. Signup and view all the answers

What is the function of inflectional morphemes in English?

The function of inflectional morphemes in English is to change the grammatical function of a word without creating a new word. Signup and view all the answers

What are some examples of Anglo-Saxon derivational morphemes and their meanings?

Examples include un- (meaning not), dis- (meaning not), a- (meaning not), in- (meaning not), re- (meaning again), mis- (meaning wrong), fore- (meaning before), and many others like de-, pre-, inter-, trans-, super-, semi-, anti-, mid-. Signup and view all the answers

What are some common suffixes in English and their meanings?

Common suffixes include -er (meaning person who does), -y (meaning characterised by), -ful (meaning full of), -ness (meaning state or quality of), -less (meaning without) among others like -ment, -hood, -able/-ible, and -en. Signup and view all the answers

What are some examples of Latin prefixes and their meanings?

Examples include non- (meaning non-existent), ex- (meaning former), con- (meaning with), per-, mal-, bi- (meaning twice), co- (meaning together), and many others like super-, circum-, intra-, contra-, counter-, extra-, intro-, multi-, and ultra-. Signup and view all the answers

What are some examples of Greek morphemes and their meanings?

Examples include micro-, photo-, -graph, and -ology. Signup and view all the answers

What is the difference between inflectional and derivational morphology?

Inflectional morphology involves adding morphemes to a word to change its grammatical function, while derivational morphology involves adding morphemes to a word to create a new word with a different meaning. Signup and view all the answers

What is the function of derivational morphology in English?

Derivational morphology helps us to create new words out of root words, which get their own entry in the dictionary. Signup and view all the answers

What is the origin of English's rich history and spelling system?

English has a rich history, including influences from Anglo-Saxon, as well as Latin (French) and Greek. Signup and view all the answers

What is an example of a noun suffix in English?

Examples of noun suffixes include -acy (democracy), -ation (adoration), -er/-or (painter), -ess (mistress), -ity (solemnity), -ment (bewilderment), -ness (weakness), and -ship (friendship). Signup and view all the answers

What is an example of a verb suffix in English?

Examples of verb suffixes include -ise/ize (hospitalise), -ify (signify), -ate (populate), and -en (widen). Signup and view all the answers

What is an example of an adjective suffix in English?

Examples of adjective suffixes include -able (capable), -ed (bored), -ful (careful), -less (careless), -ish (childish), and -y (happy). Signup and view all the answers

Morphemes can be used to form new words or to ______ verbs, nouns and pronouns.

inflect Signup and view all the answers

Derivational affixes often involve a change of ______.

class Signup and view all the answers

Inflectional suffixes never involve a change of ______.

class Signup and view all the answers

Inflectional morphology occurs with ______, pronouns and verbs.

nouns Signup and view all the answers

The inflectional morphemes in English are always ______.

suffixes Signup and view all the answers

Inflectional morphemes change what a word does in terms of ______.

grammar Signup and view all the answers

The plural -s and the possessive -’s are examples of ______ morphemes.

inflectional Signup and view all the answers

The comparative -er and superlative -est are examples of ______ morphemes.

inflectional Signup and view all the answers

The progressive -ing and the past tense -ed are examples of ______ morphemes.

inflectional Signup and view all the answers

Inflectional morphemes are useful to highlight to students, as they are usually ______ the same way, and have a consistent meaning.

spelt Signup and view all the answers

Derivational morphemes help us to create new words out of ______ words.

root Signup and view all the answers

English has a rich history, including influences from Anglo-Saxon, as well as Latin (French) and Greek. Each of these influences have had an effect on the vocabulary and spelling of English, and these are reflected in the ______ morphemes (prefixes and suffixes), which can be grouped into different phases of English's evolution.

derivational Signup and view all the answers

Anglo-Saxon derivational morphemes include high frequency prefixes such as: un-, dis-, a- and in- (meaning not as is unfair, dislike, amoral and inexpensive,) re- (meaning again as in reuse), mis- (meaning wrong as in misbehave) or fore- (meaning before as in forecast) and many others (de-, pre-, inter-, trans-, super-, semi-, anti-, mid-) and common suffixes such as: -er (meaning person who does verb as in teacher), -y (meaning characterized by as in smelly), -ful (meaning full of as in joyful), -ness (meaning state or quality of as in kindness), -less (meaning without as in tasteless) among others (-ment, -hood, -able/-ible, -en).

prefixes and suffixes Signup and view all the answers

Latin prefixes include non- (non-existent), ex- (ex-wife), con- (meaning with as in connect), per-, mal-, bi- (meaning twice as in binary), co- (meaning together as in coproduce) (super-, circum-, intra-, contra-, counter-, extra-, intro- multi- ultra-) and suffixes include -ion (population), -ous (populous), -or (scholar), -ify (signify) or -ity (reality).

prefixes and suffixes Signup and view all the answers

Greek ______ include micro-, photo-, -graph or -ology.

morphemes Signup and view all the answers

Words ending in the morphemes -acy (democracy), -ation (adoration), -er/-or (painter), -ess (mistress), -ity (solemnity), -ment (bewilderment), -ness (weakness ) and -ship (friendship), -hood (brotherhood), -ist (artist), -ism (socialism) tend to be ______.

nouns Signup and view all the answers

Words ending in morphemes -ise/ize (hospitalise), -ify (signify), -ate (populate) or -en (widen) tend to be ______.

verbs Signup and view all the answers

Words ending in morphemes -able (capable), -ed (bored), -ful (careful), -less (careless), -ish (childish) or -y (happy) tend to be ______.

adjectives Signup and view all the answers

Finally, words which end in -ly tend to be ______.

adverbs Signup and view all the answers