Inflectional Affixes Flashcards

What does an inflectional affix do to a word?

The meaning of the stem plus inflection is always unpredictable.

How many inflectional morphemes can occur at a time on a given word in English?

Where do inflections occur in relation to derivational affixes?

In English, all inflectional affixes are prefixes.

Which sentence best describes the productivity of inflections?

Inflectional Affixes Overview

Inflectional affixes modify a word's form without changing its core meaning or lexical category.
Example: "cat" becomes "cats" (adding the plural suffix).

Predictability of Inflections

The combination of a stem and inflection yields predictable meanings.
For instance, a noun combined with a plural inflection always indicates more than one object of that noun.

Productivity of Inflections

Inflectional forms are universally applicable within their category.
All English verbs can be inflected for past tense, although exceptions exist with irregular verbs.

Position of Inflectional Affixes

Inflections are positioned at the word's edges.
They are applied after any derivational affixes have been added, ensuring correct morphological structure.

Limitations on Number of Inflectional Morphemes

Only one inflectional morpheme can be present on any given word in English.

Nature of Inflectional Affixes

All inflectional affixes in English function as suffixes, meaning they are added to the end of words.
However, not every suffix qualifies as inflectional; some are derivational or serve other grammatical purposes.

Test your knowledge on inflectional affixes with these flashcards. Each card teaches essential concepts and examples related to inflections, demonstrating how they alter word forms without changing their meanings. Ideal for linguistics students or anyone interested in grammar.