Morphology Flashcards
Morphology
The study of the structure of words: how words are formed, classified, and grammatical purposes
Morpheme
The smallest meaningful constituent of a linguistic expression
In english, a morpheme is often a full word
Root word/morpheme
Morphemes
The semantic base or centre of a word; the smallest unit around which a new word is built
Can be free: ‘literal’ or bound: ‘bio’
Stem
Morphemes
Any morpheme or combination of morphemes to which an inflectional affix can be added
Free
Morphemes
A word that is a singular morpheme/unit
Morphemes
Bound
Morphemes that cannot stand alone
e.g. -s (indicating possession/a plural)
all affixes are bound
Affixation
Prefix
Morphemes
Morphemes that are added to the front of words
E.g. uncool
Affixation
Suffix
Morphemes
Morphemes that are added to the end of words
E.g. slyly
Aus English uses suffixation as colloquialism which indicates the register and more.
Affixation
Infix
Morphemes
Morphemes that can be added to the middle of words
Standard English does not do this, but is a part of casual language and word play. E.g. ‘abso/bloody/lutely’
Inflectional
Bound
Morphemes
Providers of additional grammatical information such as plurality or tense
e.g. elephants or played or her’s
Inflectional morphemes are always suffixes
Derivational Morphemes
Bound
Morphemes
Change the meaning of words, create new words, or change the word class
e.g. swim(m)er (suffix), unkind (prefix)
Often spelling changes: happy - happily (happi/ly)
Morphological over-generalisation
When familiar patterns are incorrectly applied to new words
E.g. proudfoots vs. proudfeet
Common in children and people learning English as a second language
Affixation
Word formation processes/morphological patterning
The process of adding affixes to words
Shortening
or Reductions, or Abbreviations
Word formation processes/morphological patterning
Dropping the endings (sometimes beginnings) of a word to create a shorter form
E.g. refridgerator - fridge, gymnasium - gym.
Compounding
Word formation processes/morphological patterning
The process of creating new words by putting two free morphemes together
E.g. Blueberry, or facebook
Etymology can help to explain older compounds such as nostril
Blends
Word formation processes/morphological patterning
Words produced by using parts of two words to create a new one
E.g. ‘bromance’: brother/romance
Backformation
Word formation processes/morphological patterning
The process or result of creating a new word via inflection
E.g. Laser - lase, Editor - edit
Initialisms
Word formation processes/morphological patterning
Made from the beginning letter(s) in a sequence of words, but still pronounced as a series of letters.
E.g. RSPCA
Typically capatalised, and sometimes have full stops between letters (R.A.C.V)
Contraction
Word formation processes/morphological patterning
Combining two words into one
E.g. I will - I’ll
Mostly informal, apostrophe indicates contraction
Acronym
Word formation processes/morphological patterning
The combination of the first letter(s) from a series of words, which is pronounced as its own word
E.g. Lol, Scuba
Usually not capitalised unless the name itself was a propernoun e.g. ANZAC
Conversion
Word formation processes/morphological patterning
Converting words from one word class to another without affixation
E.g. Email (noun) or email (verb)
Collocations
Word formation processes/morphological patterning
Words within phrases that are so closely associated that hearing one often automatically provides the other
Can occur in cliches (safe and sound), or word pairing (rancid butter and sour milk).
