Unit 2: Morphology

PART 2 Inflection and derivation

Two types of morphology

With

morphology we study the relationships that words have to one another, and to the morphemes that are assembled into complex structures We can distinguish two different types of processes (or different types of morphology):

Inflectional morphology Derivational morphology

Inflection
Inflection:

Creates new forms of the same word with the addition of grammatical properties; the basic meaning (and the category) of the word is the same Example:
Play and Played describe the same action, but situate it differently in time.

Some properties of inflection

Inflection does not change syntactic categories. E.g. kick-s is still a verb, even with its inflectional suffix Inflection expresses grammatically required features or relations (e.g. agreement, tense, etc.) Inflectional morphemes occur outside of derivational morphemes: ration-al-iz-ation-s

English inflectional morphology

Nominal

suffixes

Plural Possessive

Verbal

suffixes

Adjectival

suffixes

comparative superlative

Present (3rd person) Past tense Participle Progressive

Question for discussion

We

have talked about the allomorphs of the plural morpheme (an inflectional suffix) Do the other inflectional morphemes also have different allomorphs?

Find as many allomorphs of the other inflectional morphemes as you can

Derivation
Derivation:

Creates a new word with a different meaning that may belong to a different or to the same grammatical category Example: RE + WRITE = rewrite write again, verb WRITE + ER = writer one who writes, noun

Some properties of derivation

Derivation may not change the syntactic category of the root e.g. judge (V) judgement (N) Derivation changes the lexical meaning of the root Derivational morphemes occur inside of inflectional morphemes: ration-al-iz-ation-s

Derivation: Examples
Morpheme -ion -al al -ize -hood Function verb noun transmit, transmiss-ion noun adjective institution, institution-

noun verb color, color-ize noun noun child, child-hood

Derivation may cause a change of syntactic category

Noun to Adjective
boy (N) +- ish boyish (A) Elizabeth (N) + -an Elizabethan (A) affection (N) + -ate affectionate (A) friend (N) + -ly friendly (A)

Noun to Verb
moral (N) + -ize moralize (V)

Verb to Noun
sing (V) + -er singer (N) predict (V) + -ion prediction (N)

More examples of change of category

Verb

to Adjective to Adverb to Noun

predict (V) + -able predictable (A)

Adjective

exact (A) + -ly exactly (Adv)

Adjective

specific (A) + -ity specificity (N) happy (A) + -ness happiness (N)

But sometimes there is no change of category

friend

(N) + -ship friendship (N) pink (A) + -ish pinkish (A) re- + print (V) reprint (V)

Another look at unpredictability

In many cases, the same kind of derivational pattern shows differences in form; take e.g. verb noun:
1) -al refuse arrive 2) -ion confuse extend 3) -ation derive confirm 4) -ment confine treat refus-al arriv-al confus-ion extens-ion derivation confirm-ation confine-ment treat-ment

Inflection vs. Derivation

Inflectional morphemes signal grammatical information In English, they are only found in suffixes There is no change of meaning They never change the syntactic category of the words or morpheme to they which they are attached. In English, inflectional morphemes follow derivational morphemes

Derivational morphemes derive a new word by being attached to root morphemes or stems In English, they are either prefixes or suffixes There is always a change of meaning There may be a change of the syntactic category of the base to which they attach In English, derivational morphemes precede inflectional morphemes

Two types of morphology

With morphology we study the relationships that words have to one another, and to the morphemes that are assembled into complex structures We can distinguish two different types of processes (or different types of morphology):

Inflectional morphology Derivational morphology

Inflection
Inflection: Creates new forms of the same word with the addition of grammatical properties; the basic meaning (and the category) of the word is the same Example:
Play and Played describe the same action,
but situate it differently in time.

Some properties of inflection

Inflection does not change syntactic categories. E.g. kick-s is still a verb, even with its inflectional suffix Inflection expresses grammatically required features or relations (e.g. agreement, tense, etc.) Inflectional morphemes occur outside of derivational morphemes: ration-al-iz-ation-s

English inflectional morphology

Nominal suffixes

Plural Possessive comparative superlative

Verbal suffixes

Adjectival suffixes

Present (3rd person) Past tense Participle Progressive

Question for discussion

We have talked about the allomorphs of the plural morpheme (an inflectional suffix) Do the other inflectional morphemes also have different allomorphs?

Find as many allomorphs of the other inflectional morphemes as you can

Derivation
Derivation: Creates a new word with a different meaning that may belong to a different or to the same grammatical category Example:
RE + WRITE = rewrite write again, verb WRITE + ER = writer one who writes, noun

Some properties of derivation

Derivation may not change the syntactic category of the root e.g. judge (V) judgement (N) Derivation changes the lexical meaning of the root Derivational morphemes occur inside of inflectional morphemes: ration-al-iz-ation-s

Derivation: Examples
Morpheme -ion -al -ize Function verb noun transmit, transmiss-ion noun adjective institution, institution-al noun verb color, color-ize noun noun child, child-hood

-hood

Derivation may cause a change of syntactic category

Noun to Adjective
boy (N) +- ish boyish (A) Elizabeth (N) + -an Elizabethan (A) affection (N) + -ate affectionate (A) friend (N) + -ly friendly (A)

Noun to Verb
moral (N) + -ize moralize (V)

Verb to Noun
sing (V) + -er singer (N) predict (V) + -ion prediction (N)

More examples of change of category

Verb to Adjective
predict (V) + -able predictable (A)

Adjective to Adverb
exact (A) + -ly exactly (Adv)

Adjective to Noun
specific (A) + -ity specificity (N) happy (A) + -ness happiness (N)

But sometimes there is no change of category

friend (N) + -ship friendship (N) pink (A) + -ish pinkish (A) re- + print (V) reprint (V)

Another look at unpredictability

In many cases, the same kind of derivational pattern shows differences in form; take e.g. verb noun:
1) -al 2) -ion 3) -ation 4) -ment refuse arrive confuse extend derive confirm confine treat refus-al arriv-al confus-ion extens-ion derivation confirm-ation confine-ment treat-ment

Inflection vs. Derivation

Inflectional morphemes signal grammatical information In English, they are only found in suffixes There is no change of meaning They never change the syntactic category of the words or morpheme to they which they are attached. In English, inflectional morphemes follow derivational morphemes Derivational morphemes derive a new word by being attached to root morphemes or stems In English, they are either prefixes or suffixes There is always a change of meaning There may be a change of the syntactic category of the base to which they attach In English, derivational morphemes precede inflectional morphemes

Two types of morphology

With

morphology we study the relationships that words have to one another, and to the morphemes that are assembled into complex structures We can distinguish two different types of processes (or different types of morphology):

Inflectional morphology Derivational morphology

Inflection
Inflection:

Creates new forms of the same word with the addition of grammatical properties; the basic meaning (and the category) of the word is the same Example:
Play and Played describe the same action, but situate it differently in time.

Some properties of inflection

Inflection does not change syntactic categories. E.g. kick-s is still a verb, even with its inflectional suffix Inflection expresses grammatically required features or relations (e.g. agreement, tense, etc.) Inflectional morphemes occur outside of derivational morphemes: ration-al-iz-ation-s

English inflectional morphology

Nominal

suffixes

Plural Possessive

Verbal

suffixes

Adjectival

suffixes

comparative superlative

Present (3rd person) Past tense Participle Progressive

Question for discussion

We

have talked about the allomorphs of the plural morpheme (an inflectional suffix) Do the other inflectional morphemes also have different allomorphs?

Find as many allomorphs of the other inflectional morphemes as you can

Derivation
Derivation:

Creates a new word with a different meaning that may belong to a different or to the same grammatical category Example: RE + WRITE = rewrite write again, verb WRITE + ER = writer one who writes, noun

Some properties of derivation

Derivation may not change the syntactic category of the root e.g. judge (V) judgement (N) Derivation changes the lexical meaning of the root Derivational morphemes occur inside of inflectional morphemes: ration-al-iz-ation-s

Derivation: Examples
Morpheme -ion -al al -ize -hood Function verb noun transmit, transmiss-ion noun adjective institution, institution-

noun verb color, color-ize noun noun child, child-hood

Derivation may cause a change of syntactic category

Noun to Adjective
boy (N) +- ish boyish (A) Elizabeth (N) + -an Elizabethan (A) affection (N) + -ate affectionate (A) friend (N) + -ly friendly (A)

Noun to Verb
moral (N) + -ize moralize (V)

Verb to Noun
sing (V) + -er singer (N) predict (V) + -ion prediction (N)

More examples of change of category

Verb

to Adjective to Adverb to Noun

predict (V) + -able predictable (A)

Adjective

exact (A) + -ly exactly (Adv)

Adjective

specific (A) + -ity specificity (N) happy (A) + -ness happiness (N)

But sometimes there is no change of category

friend

(N) + -ship friendship (N) pink (A) + -ish pinkish (A) re- + print (V) reprint (V)

Another look at unpredictability

In many cases, the same kind of derivational pattern shows differences in form; take e.g. verb noun:
1) -al refuse arrive 2) -ion confuse extend 3) -ation derive confirm 4) -ment confine treat refus-al arriv-al confus-ion extens-ion derivation confirm-ation confine-ment treat-ment

Inflection vs. Derivation

Inflectional morphemes signal grammatical information In English, they are only found in suffixes There is no change of meaning They never change the syntactic category of the words or morpheme to they which they are attached. In English, inflectional morphemes follow derivational morphemes

Derivational morphemes derive a new word by being attached to root morphemes or stems In English, they are either prefixes or suffixes There is always a change of meaning There may be a change of the syntactic category of the base to which they attach In English, derivational morphemes precede inflectional morphemes

Task: Surf the internet and look for prefixes and suffixes. Select 20 prefixes and suffixes Attach these prefixes and suffixes to any free morphemes. Decide whether the new words formed are either inflectional or derivational morphology. Examples:

{s) cat cat{s} = inflectional morphology (does not change meaning just the grammatical function) {er} play play{er} player derivational morphology ( from verb to noun)