Morphology
Morphology
Morphology
0 MORPHOLOGY
Morphology is the study of word structure and word formation. Words are impossible
to define in absolute terms because they can be thought of as the units that are combined to
form sentences in a language such as English. This language derives a huge number of
words on a daily basis from all the languages of the world and morphology gives you an idea
about the source of the words with rules and regulations on how to form new words.
Many words are formed or created from combinations of other words, or from
combinations of words with prefixes or suffixes. Thus, there are many possible ways of
forming or creating new words in English.
Derivation
Acronyms Coinage
Clipping Conversion
PROCESS
OF WORD
FORMATION
Blending Borrowing
Back-
Compounding
formation
Coinage
Coinage is the invention of totally new terms of words. The most typical sources are
invented trade names for the company's product which become general terms (without initial
capital letters) for any version of that product. Older examples are aspirin, nylon and zipper.
The more recent examples of words are Kleenex, Teflon and Xerox.
Borrowing
Borrowing is the taking over of words from other languages. Based on the history, the
English language has adopted a vast number of loan-words from other languages. For
example:
(a) Leak, yacht (from Dutch) (b) Barbecue, cockroach (from Spanish)
(c) Piano, concerto (from Italian) (d) Coffee, safari (from Arabic)
Compounding
Compounding is combining two or more words together to form a new complex word.
It is very common in languages like German and English. Obviously, there are many
examples we can see in English language.
Blending
The combining of two words to form a new word is called blending. However,
blending is typically accomplished by taking only the beginning of one word and joining it to
the end of the other word. Blending process is different from compounding process of word
formation.
Clipping
Clipping is the shortening of a longer word. This occurs when a word of more than
one syllable is reduced to a shorter form, often in casual speech. Common examples are bra
(brassiere), condo (condominium), gym (gymnasium), lab (laboratory), math (mathematics)
and so on.
Back-formation
Conversion
Acronyms are words created from the initial letters of several words. Some acronyms
can remain essentially 'alphabetisms' such as CD (compact disk) or VCR (video cassette
recorder) where the pronunciation consists of the set of letters. More typically, acronyms are
pronounced as single words as in NATO, NASA or UNESCO. There are other examples that
have kept their capital letters, but many acronyms lose their capitals to become everyday
terms such as laser (light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation), radar (radio
detecting and ranging) and scuba (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus).
Derivation
Derivation is the word formation process in which a derivational affix attaches to the
base form of a word to create a new word. Affixes, which include prefixes and suffixes, are
bound morphemes. They cannot stand alone but must attach to another morpheme. Prefixes
have to be added to the beginning of a word. Meanwhile, suffixes are added to the end of
the word. All English words formed by this derivational process use either prefixes or
suffixes, or both. Thus, mislead has a prefix, disrespectful has both a prefix and a suffix, and
foolishness has two suffixes.
In context, morphological analysis can help the learners to infer the meaning of some
words and at the same time, they can learn new vocabulary easier than without it. We can
easily see the words in signs on the street, or read in a written text, or hear in spoken
messages. We usually do not realize the learning process that happens in our life. Knowing
the terminations of the words and its meanings can come in handy for English teachers and
students. This situation happens when we do not know exactly the meaning of some words
or when we do not have a dictionary at hand.
Discover the importance of being used to affixes and their roles in words
Hence, learners can discover the importance of being used to affixes and suffixes
and the role they play in words. It helps us to see the flexibility of language. Students can
take the notion of the meaning in the word “like” and transform it into a number of
possibilities (unlike, likely, unlikely, likable, unlikable, likeness, unlikeness) to express their
message more accurately and precisely. This shows that morphological knowledge is very
crucial among the teachers and the students.
Another utility of morphology is that it helps the learners of language to have better
writing skills. Being aware that there are certain morphological irregularities in English
language is important to speak the language properly and coherently. In addition, it may
even have any beneficial effect in auditory skills as the phonological aspect is related with
morphology in spoken language. The relation between morphology with syntax and
phonology is so strong that it led the renowned linguist Kenneth Lee Pike to reject the
division between them in his Tagmemic theory (Pike, 1949; Auroux & Koerner, 2001:1991).
This is because, in the words of Richard Saunders Pittman, they have “inescapable
interdependence” (Pittman, 1954:239, in Pike, 1967:189), which can be the point that
morphology can improve syntax.
Another aspect that often diminished by some people, but very interesting for
language students and linguists is that the study of morphology helps us to see the relation
that English has with other languages. When we talk about the roots, for example, we can
notice that some words have their origin in Latin, German and French language. We, as the
learners of the language can see and understand how this morphological knowledge
affected the pragmatic aspects of words, in regard to their degree of formality and
informality.
2.0 KNOWLEDGE OF MORPHOLOGY CAN CONTRIBUTE TO UNDERSTAND
ENGLISH VOCABULARY AND GRAMMAR AND HELP IN FUTURE ROLE AS AN
ENGLISH TEACHER
Introduction
Morphology is the field of linguistics that studies the internal structure of words. It is
also known as the branch of linguistics that studies patterns of word-formation within and
across languages. The knowledge of morphology can be applied among the teachers to
increase their vocabulary, improve the teachers’ knowledge in grammar, detect the changes
of word classes, know the word origins and enhances the teachers' mind to think creatively.
Morphology can help the future English teachers to increase their vocabulary in
English as morpheme can be combined to form a new word. As a trainee teacher, we are
newly exposed to the words in a variety of contexts in our studies. In our school before,
morphology is not being integrated into the curriculum. So now, we need to explore
morphology which will provide the most benefit for ourselves in order to create new words.
We can clearly share the knowledge of word formations with the students in schools
especially derivation. It is the basic thing they should learn in school – the uses of affixes to
form words. Informally, word formation rules form "new words".
English teachers who learn morphology can improve their skills in reading. Teachers
are able to recognize complex words, phrases and sentences. Furthermore, they are able to
get new information by reading. As teachers-to-be, we should have higher knowledge than
our students because we are the one who are going to teach them. It is a shame if a teacher
teaches the wrong thing to the students. If the students do not understand the new words,
they will ask us for sure. In learning process, it is a good thing for them to ask. Students will
not be able to increase their vocabulary if they do not understand what they learn. Teachers
must imply methods of morphology when teaching the students. Let them understand from
the basic of the words.
Apart from improving the teachers reading skills, knowledge of morphology also
helps an English teacher to understand and find the meaning of the English words. As
everyone knows that English is the second language to be taught in school. So, second
language learners could have some trouble in understanding or finding the meaning of
words as different languages have different ways of word formation. It is easier for the
teachers to identify the meaning of the words if they master in morphology. For example, the
word ‘brunch’ is from the word formation process called compounding. It is the combining of
two words to form a new word. It is important for teachers and also the students to know the
formation process of the word to get the meaning of the new word.
Conclusion
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Aronoff, M. & Fudeman, K. (2011). What is morphology?. West Sussex: Blackwell Publishing
Ltd.
word-back-formation-list/
Malmkjaer, K. (2004). The linguistics encyclopedia. London: Routledge Taylor & Francis
Group.
Ltd.