MORPHOLOGICAL PROCESSES

• Affixation
• Root Modification (Replacive Morphemes)
• Suppletion
• Compounding
• Reduplication
• Abbreviation
 AFFIXATION

Affixation is a process of adding affix to root. An affix is a bound

morpheme which must always be attached to a root morpheme.
Depending on the way in which affixes are attached to root, affixes can
be classified into segmentable and non- segmentable affixes.
A segmentable affix is one in which there is a clearly delineated
boundary between an affix and a root or between one affix and
another affix. The types of segmentable affix are: prefix, suffix,
simulfix (discontinuous affix/circumfix), and infix.
Prefix is an affix which comes before a root. For Example: dislike,
unhappy, enlarge, illegal, etc.
Suffix is an affix that is added after a root. For Example: agreement,
happily, dangerous, natural, etc.
 AFFIXATION (Cont…..)

Simulfixes are affixes which have two parts, which are separated from
each other by some other affix, or more commonly by the root
morpheme. The meaning in the case of a discontinuous affix is
carried out equally by both parts of the affix, and neither can occur
without the other. The two parts must be both present or absent. For
Example: merah → kemerahan
sakit → kesakitan, etc.
Infixes are affixes which are inserted within a root, rather than before
or after the root. Tolai has a productive pattern of infixation. For
Example: mat ‘die’ → minat ‘death, corpse’
mait ‘be sick’ → minait ‘sickness’, etc.
Javanese also has this kind of infixation. For Example:
santen → semanten
jari → jemari, etc.
 AFFIXATION (CONT……)

Non- Segmentable affixes are those that cannot be neatly separated

from a root, or from each other. The types of non- segmentable affix
are zero morpheme, portmanteau morpheme and suprafix.
Zero morpheme is a morpheme which does not have phonological
shape whatsoever. It is symbolized as Ǿ. For example : in Gitua,
there are two roots, they are tama (father) and tazi (younger
brother).
tamangu ‘ my father’ tazingu ‘my younger brother’
tamam ‘ your father’ tazim ‘your younger brother’
tama ‘ his/her father’ tazi ‘his/her younger brother’
tamazi ‘ their father’ tazizi ‘their younger brother’
Suprafixes are affixes that are expressed by suprasegmental features
such as vowel length, tone, or stress.
tama ‘father’ → tama: ‘my father’ kasi ‘brother’ → kasi: ‘my
brother’
 AFFIXATION (Cont….)

Affixes can also be divided into two major functional categories. They
are derivational morphemes (affixes) and inflectional morphemes
(affixes). The word building processes of this are derivation and
inflection.
Derivational morphemes (derivation) form new words either by
changing the meaning of the base to which they are attached, for
example: kind into unkind , or by changing the word class that a
base belong to, for example: happy becomes happiness. The
function of derivational morphemes are: noun forming, verb forming,
adjective forming, and adverb forming.
Inflectional morphemes (inflection) don’t change referential or
cognitive meaning, and don’t alter the word class to which it is
attached. The affixes that belong to this are: -s (plural marker), -s
(third person singular marker), -ed (past tense marker), -ing
(progressive marker), -er (comparative degree), -est (superlative
degree), -‘s (possesive)
 DERIVATIONAL PREFIXES

• Negative forming prefixes: un- , dis-, in- (im-, il-, ir-), non-.
• Reversive prefixes: un- (untie), dis- (discontinue), de- (decentralize)
• Wrongly or incorrectly : mis-
• Verb forming prefixes: en-, em-.
• Other prefixes: ante- (before), anti- (against), co- (together), contra-
(against), ex- (former), inter- (between), intra- (within), mal-
(bad, wrong), multi- (many), poly- (many), post- (after), pre-
(before), pro- (in favor of), re- (again), sub- (below), super-
(above, over), micro- (small), auto- (by oneself), over- (too
much).
 DERIVATIONAL SUFFIXES

• Noun forming suffixes: -ment, -al, -ance/-ence, -ture/-ure,- sion, -

ission, -tion, -ation, -ition, -ification, -ity, -ness, -ce, -hood,
-ship.
• Agent noun forming suffixes: -er, -or, -ant/ -ent, -ist, -ar.
• Verb forming suffixes: -ize, -ate, -ify, -en.
• Adjective forming suffixes: -al/-ial/-ual, -ic,-ical, -y, -ary, -ery, -ly, -ar,
-ful, -less, -ous/-ious, -ish, -ive, -able, -ant/- ent, -ed, - ing.
• Adverb forming suffixes: - ly