EXERCISES

Name : ____________________________ Group: ________________

1. Consider the following words and answer the questions below.
WORD

SIMPLE /COMPLEX

Fly

WORD

SIMPLE/COMPLEX

Spiteful

Desks

Suite

Untie

Fastest

Tree

Deform

Dislike

Disobey

Reuse

Preplan

Triumphed

Optionality

Delight

Prettier

Justly

Mistreat

Payment

Premature

a) For each word, determine whether it is simple or complex.

b) Circle all the bound morphemes. Underline all the roots.
2. All of the following Persian words consist of two or more morphemes. (Note. Xar means "buy" and
id designates the past tense.)
PERSIAN

ENGLISH

PERSIAN

ENGLISH

Xaridam

"I bought"

Namixaridand

"they were not

buying"

Xaridi

" you (SG) bought"

Naxaridim

"we did not buy"

"(he) bought"

Mixarid

"(he) was buying"

"I did not buy"

Mixaridid

Xarid
Naxaridam

"you (PL) were

buying"

3. Considerthe followingdata from Turkish.

TURKISH

ENGLISH

TURKISH

ENGLISH

Lokanta

a restaurant

Lokantada

in/at a restaurant

Kapi

a door

Kapida

in/at a
door

Randevu

an appointment

andevuda

in/atan appointment

Ba

a head

Bata

in/at a head

Kitap

a book

Kitapta

in/at a
book

Koltuk

anarmchair

Koltukta

in/atan armchair

Taaf

aside

Taafta

in/at a
side

a) Doesthe Turkish morphememeaningin/athave more thanone allomorph

?

a) Try to match each of the following notions with the morpheme in the Persian data.
I

They

You (SG)

Not

We

Was / Were + -ing (continuous)

You (PL)
b) How would you say the following in Persian?
They were buying
You (SG) did not buy
You (SG) were buying

b) If so, what are the allomorphs? Describe their distribution as generally as possible.

4. Consider the following words.

Desk s

Un tie

Triumph ed

Pre plan
(V)

Age less

Justice

In valid (A)

Fast est

Re use

Dis like (V)

Pay ment
Dis obey
) Draw a tree structure for each word.
) For the word optionality. What is the base for the affix -ion?

Option al ity

Pretti er

Mis treat

Pre view (V)

What is the base for the suffix -ity?

) Are either of these bases also the root for the entire word? If so, which one?

5. The followingdata from Agta( spokenin the Philippines

) i1 lustratea specifictypeof affix.
AGTA

ENGLISH

AGTA

ENGLISH

Dakal

big

Dumakal

growbig, growup

Darg

red

Dumarg

redden

Furw

white

Fumurw

become
white

a) Whatis the affix in Agta meaning becomeX ?

b) What type of affix is it?

6. In this chapter, an argument was presented in favor of the following structure

for the word unhappiness.
N
A
Af

Af

un happy ness
a) Using the same type of argument. Justify tree structures for the words

In expres ive

re dispos al

dis invest ment.

(Hint: This will involve determining the type of syntactic category with which the affixes in these word
can combine)
7. In English, the suffix -er can be added to a place name. Examine the words in the two columns
below.
COLUM 1

COLUM 2

Long Islander

*Denverer

Vermonter

*Philadelphiaer

New Yorker

*San Franciscoer

Newfoundlander

*Torontoer

Londoner

*Miamier

) In general terms, what does the suffix -er means in these words?

) How is this -er different in meaning from the -er found in the words skater and walker?

As is shown in column 2, the distribution of -er in the above data is restricted in some way. State the
constraint on the distribution of -er illustrated in this data.

) Does this constraint also apply to the type of -er used in the word skater?
(Hint: What would you call one who discovers or one who rows?)

1.The following sentences contain both derivational and inflectional affixes. Underline all of the
derivational affixes and circle the inflectional affixes.

The farmers cows escaped

The strongest rower continued.

It was raining.

The pitbull has bitten the cyclist.

Those socks are inexpensive

She quickly closed the book.

Jim needs the newer copy.

The alphabetization went well.

2. Each of the following columns illustrates a different type of inflection.

COLUM 1

COLUM 2

COLUM 3

mouse/mice

go/went

record/recorded

dive/dove

is/was

arrive/arrived

take/took

good/better

start/started

man/men

she/her

discuss/discussed

eat/ate

am/are

try/tried

) How is inflectio expressed in column 1? column 2? column 3?

) Think of at least one more English example to add to each column.

13. The following data from Samoan illustrate one of the morphological processes discussed in this
chapter.
SAMOAN

ENGLISH

SAMOAN

ENGLISH

Mate

He dies

Mamate

They die

Nofo

He stays

Nonofo

They stay

Galue

He works

Galulue

They work

Tanu

He buries

Tatanu

They bury

Alofa

He loves

Alolofa

They love

Taoto

He lies

Taooto

They lie

Atama?i

He is intelligent

Atamama?i

They are
Intelligent

) What morphological process is used to express the inflectional contrast between singular and plural
here?

) Describe how it works in your own words.

If He is strong in Samoan is malosi, how would you say they are strong in Samoan?
14. The following words from Chamorro, spoken in Guam and the Mariana Islands, all involve
derivation. (Data are presented in the orthography of Chamorro, not in phonetic transcription).
I

ROOT

DERIVED WORD

Adda

Mimic

Aadda

Mimicker

Kanno

Eat

Kakanno

Eater

Tuge

Write

Tutuge

Writer

II
ROOT

DERIVED WORD

Atan

Look at

Atanon

Nice to look
at

Sangan

Tell

Sanganon

Tellable

Guaiya

Love

Guaiyayon

Lovable

Tulaika

Exchan
ge

Tulaikayon

Exchangeabl
e

Chalek

Laugh

Chalekon

Laughable

Ngangas

Chew

Ngangason

Chewable

III
ROOT

DERIVED
WORD

Nalang

Hungry

Nalalang

Very hungry

Dankolo

Big

Dankololo

Very big

Metgot

Strong

Metgogot

Very strong

Bunita

Pretty

Bunitata

Very pretty

Like inflection, derivation can be expressed in a variety of waysincluding by affixation of various

types (prefixation, suffixation, infixation) and by reduplication.

) How is derivation expressed in I? in Il? in III?

) What changes in lexical category take place in I? in Il? in Ill?

Formulate a general statement as to how the derived words in I are formed. Do the same for II and III?
e) One of these derivational processes consists of affitxation involving allomorphs. Which process
involves allomorphs, and what is the distribution of the allomorphs?

15. The following words can be either nouns or verbs.

Record

Outline

Report

Journey

Convict

Assault

Exchange

Imprint

Answer

Remark

Reply

Import

Surprise

Retreat

Cripple

) For each word, determine whether stress placement can be used to make the distinction between noun
and verb.

) Think of two more English examples illustrating the process of stress shift to mark a category
distinction.

17. Here are five instances where a new word is needed. Create a word for each of these definitions in
16. Indicatethe morphologicalphenomenonillustratedby the itemsin column2.
COLUM 1

COLUM2

COLUM 1

COLUM 2

Automation

Automate

Methamphetamifle

Meth

Humid

Humidifier

(the) comb

Comb(yourhair
)

Information
, entertainment

Infotainment

Beef
, buffalo

Beefalo

Love
, seat

Loveseat

Random
access
memory RAM

Progress

Progrss

Megabytes

Megs

Typographical
error

Typo

Federal Express

FedEx

Aerobics
, marathon

Aerobathon

Influenza

Flu

Act

Deactivate

Theyhavefinished

finished
Theyve

Curve
, ball

Curveball

the manner indicated. Fill in the blanks with your new words.
a) Use an acronym. . . for your uncles second oldest brother.
We visited my _________________ at Christmas.
b) Use onomatopoeia ... for the sound of a dishwasher in operation.
I cant concentrate because my dishwasher is _______________
c) Use conversion.. . for wrapping something breakable in bubble wrap.
Youd better _________________ that ornament or else it might break.
d) Use a compound.. . for the annoying string of cheese stretching from a slice of hot pizza to ones
mouth.

As the ____________________ hung precariously from my lips, our eyes met!

e) Use backformation . . . for the action of backformation.
We had to _____________________ words in Linguistics today.
18. Create new words for each of the following situations.
a) Use a product name.. . for the act of scrubbing with Ajax.
I ____________ed the tub after giving Fido a bath.
b) Use a proper name. . . for the act of breaking dishes, which Jonathan does regularly.
Hes going to _____________________ all of my best dishes.
c) Use clipping. . . for a course in ovinology (the study of sheep).
Have you done your ___________________ assignment yet?
d) Use derivation. . . for being able to be contacted.
The counselor is not very _____________________
e) Use a blend . . . for a hot drink made with chocolate and ginseng.
Ill have a ____________________ and two peanut butter cookies, please.

19. The following data provide the possible forms of the regular past tense morpheme of English.
walked

/wkt /

heaved

/hivd/

cracked

/kkt/

wheezed

/wizd/

flipped

/flIpt/

fined

/fajnd/

hissed

/hIst/

flitted

/flItd/

Huffed

/hft/

butted

/btd/

hushed

/ht/

padded

/pdd/

munched

/mntt /

loaded

/lodd/

drubbed

/dbd/

collided

/klajdd/

dragged

/dgd/

allowed

/lawd/

jogged

/d agd/

Sowed

/sod/

fudged

/fd d/

) List the alternate forms of the past tense morpheme.

) Which alternate makes the best underlying form? Why?

State in words the conditioning factors that account for the presence of the alternate forms of the past
tense morpheme.

For the Student Linguist

BAMBI FICATION
Well, of course, language is productive. You cant possibly read this hapterwithout
being completely convinced of how very easy it s to make up new words.
Morphological productivity is mildly interesting when youre creating transparent new
words, such as when you have a verb like fax and create a new verb like re fax (fax
again) or speed-flux (fax fast) or an adjective like flaxable (can be faxed), but its not
exactly earth-shattering. What amazes me, though, is running across a new word,
knowing its a perfectly good word in English, knowing exactly how to pronounce it,
and not having a clue about what it means. Im not talking about knowing frete could
be a word because it doesnt break any phonological rules of English. Im talking about
a word whose meaning remains mysterious even though that word can be broken
down into recognizable, meaningful parts. Take the word Brazilification, which appears
in Douglas Couplands novel Generation X. Brazilification.