morphology Flashcards
The part of the grammar that is concerned with words and word formation.
morphology in linguistics
The smallest free form found in language.
a word
An element that does not have to occur in a fixed position with respect to neighboring elements and can appear in isolation.
free form
The smallest unit of language that carries information about meaning or function.
morpheme
What are the two morphemes in the word ‘builder’?
- build (meaning ‘construct’)
- -er (indicates it functions as a noun)
What is the difference between free and bound morphemes?
Free morphemes can stand alone as words, while bound morphemes must be attached to another element.
Give examples of free morphemes.
- house
- smile
- car
- peacock
- book
The variant pronunciations of a morpheme.
an allomorph
What are the allomorphs of the indefinite article in English?
- an (before a vowel sound)
- a (before a consonant sound)
True or False: Inflectional morphemes create new words.
False.
What do inflectional morphemes do?
They change what a word does in terms of grammar but do not create a new word.
An affix added to a word to create a new word or a new form of a word, potentially changing its meaning or grammatical category.
derivational morpheme
What change occured in these words?
* Leaf → Leaflet
* Pure → Impure
Change in meaning
A new word formed from the initial letters of a set of other words.
an acronym
Provide an example of blending.
- brunch (breakfast + lunch)
- motel (motor + hotel)
A process where a word of one type is reduced to form a word of another type.
backformation
Provide examples of backformation.
- Donate from ‘donation’
- Emote from ‘emotion’
- Opt from ‘option’
The invention of totally new terms.
coinage
The process of taking over words from other languages.
borrowing in linguistics
Provide examples of borrowing.
- Croissant (French)
- Tattoo (Tahitian)
- Tycoon (Japanese)
The process of joining two separate words to produce a single form.
compounding
Provide examples of compounding.
- bookcase (book + case)
- doorknob (door + knob)
A morphological process where the root or part of a word is repeated.
reduplication
Provide examples of reduplication.
- byebye (exact reduplication)
- super-duper (rhyming reduplication)
The reduction of a word of more than one syllable to a shorter form.
clipping
Provide examples of clipping.
- ad (advertisement)
- flu (influenza)
- gas (gasoline)
A change in the function of a word, such as when a noun is used as a verb.
conversion in linguistics
Provide examples of conversion.
- bottle (noun) → bottled (verb)
- vacation (noun) → vacationing (verb)
