Linguistics: Morphology and Word Formation

Study Notes

Morphology is the study of the internal structure of words and how they are formed.
It examines the composition of words, identifying their constituent parts, and how these parts relate to each other.

Morpheme: The smallest unit of language that carries meaning.
- Example: The word "unbreakable" contains three morphemes: "un-", "break-", and "-able".
Free morpheme: A morpheme that can stand alone as a word.
- Example: "run" is a free morpheme.
Bound morpheme: A morpheme that must be combined with another morpheme to form a word.
- Example: "-ed" is a bound morpheme, as it must be combined with a verb to form a word (e.g., "walked").

Root morpheme: The core of a word that carries the main meaning.
- Example: The root morpheme of "unbreakable" is "break".
Affix morpheme: A morpheme that is added to a root morpheme to modify its meaning.
- Example: The affix morphemes in "unbreakable" are "un-" and "-able".
Derivational morpheme: An affix morpheme that changes the grammatical category of a word.
- Example: The suffix "-ly" in "quickly" is a derivational morpheme, changing the adjective "quick" into an adverb.
Inflectional morpheme: An affix morpheme that indicates grammatical features such as tense, case, or number.
- Example: The suffix "-ed" in "walked" is an inflectional morpheme, indicating the past tense.

Compounding: The process of combining two or more words to form a new word.
- Example: "blackboard" is a compound word.
Derivation: The process of adding an affix morpheme to a root morpheme to form a new word.
- Example: "unbreakable" is a derived word.
Inflection: The process of adding an inflectional morpheme to a word to indicate grammatical features.
- Example: "walked" is an inflected form of the verb "walk".

Morphology is the study of the internal structure of words and how they are formed.
It examines the composition of words, identifying their constituent parts, and how these parts relate to each other.

A morpheme is the smallest unit of language that carries meaning.
Examples of morphemes include "un-", "break-", and "-able" in the word "unbreakable".

Free Morphemes: Can stand alone as a word, e.g., "run".
Bound Morphemes: Must be combined with another morpheme to form a word, e.g., "-ed".
Root Morphemes: The core of a word that carries the main meaning, e.g., "break" in "unbreakable".
Affix Morphemes: Added to a root morpheme to modify its meaning, e.g., "un-" and "-able" in "unbreakable".
Derivational Morphemes: Change the grammatical category of a word, e.g., "-ly" in "quickly".
Inflectional Morphemes: Indicate grammatical features such as tense, case, or number, e.g., "-ed" in "walked".

Compounding: Combining two or more words to form a new word, e.g., "blackboard".
Derivation: Adding an affix morpheme to a root morpheme to form a new word, e.g., "unbreakable".
Inflection: Adding an inflectional morpheme to a word to indicate grammatical features, e.g., "walked" is an inflected form of the verb "walk".

Formation of words that convey grammatical information, achieved by adding inflectional affixes to roots or stems
Inflectional affixes indicate:
- Tense (e.g., -ed for past tense)
- Number (e.g., -s for plural)
- Case (e.g., -'s for possessive)
- Person (e.g., -s for third person singular)
- Mood (e.g., -ing for progressive)
- Aspect (e.g., -ing for continuous)
Examples of inflectional morphology:
- Walk → walks (third person singular), walked (past tense), walking (present participle)
- Dog → dogs (plural), dog's (possessive)

Formation of new words by adding derivational affixes to roots or stems
Derivational affixes create new words with different meanings or grammatical categories
Examples of derivational morphology:
- Happy → unhappy (prefix un-), happiness (suffix -ness)
- Run → runner (suffix -er), running (suffix -ing)
- Teach → teacher (suffix -er), teaching (suffix -ing)

Phonology: the study of the sound system of a language
Intersections between phonology and morphology:
- Phonological conditioning: how phonological rules affect morphological processes
- Morphophonology: how morphological processes affect phonological rules
- Phonological alternations: changes in pronunciation that occur when morphemes are combined
- Allomorphy: variation in the form of a morpheme depending on the phonological context