Morphology

Question 1

Define morpheme

Answer 1

The smallest meaningful unit in a language
e.g. under = 1 morpheme
unwell = 2 morphemes ‘un’ ‘well’

Question 2

Define morpheme boundary

Answer 2

The point at which the word can be divided.

Some words are morphologically complex & have several morpheme boundaries.

Question 3

Give an example of a word with several morpheme boundaries

Answer 3

un/friend/li/ness

Question 4

Define bound morphemes

Answer 4

Morphemes that are parts of words, rather than a whole word in their own right,

Question 5

Give an example of a bound morpheme

Answer 5

unwell - ‘un’
windows - ‘s’
worked - ‘ed’

Question 6

Define free morphemes

Answer 6

Morphemes that are whole words/words in their own right.

Question 7

Give an example of free morphemes in compound words

Answer 7

window/pane

house/wife

Question 8

Define allomorphs

Answer 8

Variants of morphemes i.e. share the same meaning

Question 9

Give an example of allomorphs

Answer 9

Plant-s, bush-es, child-ren.

-s, -es, -ren are all allomorphs of the plural morpheme.

Question 10

Do we find allomorphs in free variation or complementary distribution?

Answer 10

Complementary distribution i.e. each allomorph is used in a different phonological context.

Question 11

Give an example of allomorphs in complementary distribution

Answer 11

bush-es, buss-es, peach-es = after /s/, /ʃ/, /tʃ/.

hand-s, leg-s, knee-s = elsewhere.