Morphology & Word Formation Flashcards
(Definition) Morphology
The central branch of linguistics that focuses on how a word is formed/word structure
What is a morphem?
The basic building block of language
What is a morpheme?
Smallest unit in a language that carries meaning
According to which two criteria can morphemes be classified?
Free and bound
What is the difference between free and bound morphemes?
Free morphemes can stand alone, while bound morphemes can only appear together with other morphemes
How do we classify morphemes according to content?
Lexical and grammatical morphemes
What is the difference between lexical and grammatical morphemes?
Lexical morphemes carry an independent meaning, while grammatical morphemes express grammatical relations
Identify the morpheme {friend}. What type of word/morpheme is it?
Lexical, free
Content word
What is a derivational morpheme?
A bound, lexical morpheme that is used to form new words (prefix/suffix)
What is an inflectional morpheme?
A bound, grammatical morpheme that is used to form different forms of the same word (plural, comparative, superlative, past forms for example)
Identify the morpheme {-ly} in friendly. What type of word/morpheme is it?
Lexical, bound
Derivational morpheme
Identify the morpheme {the}. What type of word/morpheme is it?
Grammatical, free
Function Word
Identify the morpheme {-s} in friends. What type of word/morpheme is it?
Grammatical, bound
Inflectional morphemes
Identify the morpheme {-ing} in “the building”.
Is every {-ing} the same?
It’s a lexical bound morpheme.
{-ing} can be a grammatical bound morpheme if it’s part of a verb, building (from: to build) for example.
Identify the morpheme {ship} in “friendship” and “warship” and explain the difference between them.
Both are lexical morphemes, but the {ship} in friendship is bound because it’s used to form an entirely new word, while the {ship} in warship is free because it’s still a ship
What is an allomorph?
One of the different realisations of a morpheme
What is the rule for the allomorph /z/ as the plural-s
After vowels and voiced consonants, EXCEPT /z ʒ dʒ/
Examples: cows birds
What is the rule for the allomorph /s/ as the plural-s
After voiceless consonants, except for /s ʃ ʈʃ/
Example: lights
What is the rule for the allomorph /ɪz/ as the plural -s
After /s z ʃ ʒ dʒ ʈʃ/
Examples: roses, judges
What is the rule for the allomorph /d/ as the past-d
After vowels and voiced consonants, except for /d/
Examples: played, loved
What is the rule for the allomorph /t/ as the past-d
After voiceless consonants, except for /t/
example: talked
What is the rule for the allomorph /ɪd/ as the past-d
After /t d/
Example: stranded
Which grammatical functions can an inflectional morpheme have?
Plural, past tense, 3rd person singular s
What is phonological conditioning?
The sound environment establishes the occurrence of an allomorph, which follows the rules of complementary distributions
Examples: student - students, friend - friends
What is morphological conditioning?
The morphological environment establishes the occurrence of an allomorph
E.g. stimulus - stimuli, deer - deer,…
How can morphological conditioning plural formations be realised?
Alternative endings (ox - oxen), vowel change (foot - feet) and zero morpheme (fish - fish)
Give a definition for “zero-morpheme”
Morpheme that does not have a physical allomorph
What is a suppletion? Give an example.
The appearance of a completely different form in an inflectional paradigm
Go - went - gone
Good - better - best
What is a portmanteau morpheme?
A morpheme that incorporates two or more merged morphemes
New words can come up as… (name 4)
Neologisms (Banana-Republic, hoover)
Words borrowed from other languages (kindergarten)
Meaning-Changes (mouse, wallpaper)
Word-part Formation (arrive → arrival)
Name all 8 types of Word Formation
Affixation/Derivation
Zero-Derivation/Conversion
Compounding
Clipping
Back-formation
Blending
Reduplication
Initialism (acronym/alphabetism)
Prefixations and suffixations point towards which word formation?
Affixation/Derivation
Name the 4 exceptions for Affixations/derivations
Slave (N) + {en-} → to enslave (V)
Head (N) + {be-} → to behead (V)
Pig (N) + {-let} → piglet (N)
Child (N) + {-hood} → childhood (N)
Define Zero-Derivations/Conversion
Change in word class (and meaning) without formal change
Give an example for a Zero-Derivation/Conversion
To love (V) + {nothingsymbol} = love (N)
Bottle (N) + {nothingsymbol} = to bottle (V)
What is a compound? Give an example.
Two free lexemes/morpheme are put together
Possible examples: {black}+{bird} for blackbird
{act}+{or}+{manage}+{er} = actor + manager for actormanager
How can you define a compound by word class?
Is the end result a noun? Then it‘s a noun compound. Is the result a verb, it‘s a verb compound (and so on)
What type of compound is „heart-breaking“?
It‘s an adjective compound
{heart}N + {breaking}V for heart-breaking
How can you define a compound by their semantic relationship?
- Possessive/Exocentric: A + B build an entirely new C
- Determinative/Endocentric: A is modified by B to build a special kind of B
- Copulative: Two things are true at the same time
How are Possessive Compounds formed? Give two examples.
A + B = C
„paperback“ (it‘s neither paper nor a back, it‘s a type of book)
„egghead“ (egg and head have their own meaning but it doesn‘t have anything to do with the end result)
How are Determinative Compounds formed? Give two examples.
A + B = aB
Washing machine (it‘s not just a machine, it‘s a washing machine)
Tea pot (it‘s a pot specifically for tea)
How are Copulative Compounds formed? Give two examples.
A + B = AB
Bitter-sweet (bitter and sweet at the same time)
Anglo-American
Define Clipping and give an example.
Parts of the word (beginning or end) are deleted („clipped“)
Telephone - phone; Refrigerator - fridge, influenza - flu
Define back-formation and give an example. How does it differ from a Zero-Derivation/Conversion?
A part of word is deleted to create a new word
Sightseeing minus ing = to sightsee
Babysitter(N) minus „-ter“ = to babysit(V)
This differs from a Zero-Derivation/Conversion because there, nothing is added to change the word at all.
Define Blend(ing) and give an example.
Parts of other words (mostly beginning and end) mix or „blend“ to form a new semantically independent word
Brunch (Breakfast + lunch)
Boatel (Boat + hotel)
Define Reduplication and give an example.
Repeating the same or very similar constituents
Wishy-washy
Define Initialism and their two types and give an example for each.
Iniatialism = Initial letters of the original expression
Alphabetism: Individual letters are read out - EN, BMI
Acronym: Letters are pronounced as a word: YOLO, NASA
Analyse the compound „time consuming“ as to word class and semantic relation between the constituens
Adjective compound (Determinative/Endocentric)
What is the definitional difference between the types of word-formation processes of derivation and compounding?
Compounds combine free stems while Derivation combines Base + an affix/other lexical bounds
(Fill in the blank) With regard of the days of the week, there are many _______ morphemes at the beginning of these words.
Blocked/unique/Cranberry
True or False: The root/stem is the most basic part of a word where no affixes are attached
True
What type of morphemes are {-s} and {-ed}?
Inflectional morphemes (grammatical bound)
What types of morphemes are {-hood} and {dis-}?
Derivational morphemes (Lexical bound)
Fill in the blank: A morpheme that only occurs in one single word is called _____
Blocked/Cranberry Morpheme
Fill in the Blank: An undividable morpheme that contains information of more than one morpheme is called ________
Portmanteau morpheme
Fill in the blank: A morpheme that is not realised phonologically is called _______
Zero morpheme
If the morpheme {-er} is used to change the word <happy> into <happier> it is (lexical/grammatical/free/bound)</happier></happy>
Grammatical bound
What type of word formation took place in the word paperback?
Compounding
What type of word formation took place in the words „disbelief“? What about „quickly“?
Disbelief: Prefixation
Quickly: Suffixation
Which word formation type can be demonstrated by bicycle - bike?
Clipping
Which allomorph of the morpheme {-S} is realized in the following verb?
(3rd person singular indicative present tense active)
wants
/s/ - rule for distribution: after voiceless consonants except /s, ʃ, tʃ
Fill in the blanks: The morpheme {er} in teacher must be classified as a _________ and _________ morpheme. In total, this is also referred to as a _____________ morpheme
Lexical, bound morpheme- derivational morpheme
Which type of word formation took place in the word „unbound“
Prefixation
Fill in the blank: The English language is an analytical language. This means that there are only a few ___________ morphemes.
Inflectional
