MORPHOLOGY

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MORPHOLOGY

• Word Classes and Affixes

Deny A. Kwary www.kwary.net
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Main Divisions of Word Classes (Parts of Speech)

• Nouns
• Verbs
• Adjectives
• Adverbs

• Content Words
• Function Words

• Conjunctions
• Prepositions
• Articles
• Pronouns

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Exercise Determine the word class of each of the
following words

1. canine
2. the
3. him
4. elegant
5. inconvenience
6. eloquently
7. comply
8. inasmuch as
9. over

1. Noun
2. Article
3. Pronoun
4. Adjective
5. Noun
6. Adverb
7. Verb
8. Conjunction
9. Preposition

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Morpheme The minimal unit of meaning

• Free morpheme a single morpheme that constitutes
  a word and can stand alone.
• Bound morpheme a morpheme that must be attached
  to another morpheme.

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Question 2a, b, i, j, k, l, m

• Example
• Retroactive retro act ive
• Free morpheme act
• Bound morphemes retro-, -ive

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English Affixes(based on the position)

• Prefix An affix that occurs before a morpheme

Suffix An affix that occurs after a morpheme
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English Prefixes

• Examples of Negative Prefixes
• un- non- dis- a-
• Examples of size and degree prefixes
• mini- sub- over- super-

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English Suffixes

• Class preserving suffixation
• -er ? lecturer
• -ian? librarian
• -ist ? scientist
• -let ? piglet

Class changing suffixation Verb ? Noun
perform? performance Adjective ? Adverb nice ?
nicely Adjective ? Noun active ? activity
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Affixes(based on the function)

• Inflections vs. Derivations

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Definition

• Derivational morpheme deriving (creating) a new
  word with a new meaning.
• Inflectional morpheme changing the form of a
  word because of the rules of syntax.

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English Inflectional Morphemes

• Nouns
• s plural
• s possessive
• Verbs
• s third person singular present
• ed past tense
• en past participle
• ing progressive
• Adjectives
• er comparative
• est superlative

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Some examples of English Derivational Morpheme

• -ic Noun ? Adj alcohol ? alcoholic
• -ance Verb ? Noun clear ? clearance
• -ly Adj ? Adv exact ? exactly
• -ity Adj ? Noun active ? activity
• -able Verb ? Adj read ? readable
• -ship Noun ? Noun friend ? friendship
• re- Verb ? Verb cover ? recover
• in- Adj ? Adj definite ? indefinite

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Describe the italic affixes

1. impossible
2. terrorized
3. terrorize
4. desks
5. dislike
6. humanity
7. fastest

1. Derivational prefix
2. Inflectional suffix
3. Derivational suffix
4. Inflectional suffix
5. Derivational prefix
6. Derivational suffix
7. Inflectional suffix

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Describe the italic affixes

1. premature
2. untie
3. darken
4. fallen
5. oxen
6. faster
7. lecturer

1. Derivational prefix
2. Derivational prefix
3. Derivational suffix
4. Inflectional suffix
5. Inflectional suffix
6. Inflectional suffix
7. Derivational suffix

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Thats All For Today

• See You Next Week

Deny A. Kwary www.kwary.net