MORPHOLOGY

Exercise 1

Say which given words are simple and which are complex.

1. Moody - complex

2. Glove - simple

3. Engagement - complex

4. Enough - simple

5. Office - simple

6. Off-duty - simple

7. Shoulder - simple

8. Teacher - complex

9. Critical - simple

10. Arabic - complex

11. Ambulance - simple

12. Discuss - simple

13. Disconnect - complex

14. Handbag - simple

15. Needful - complex

16. Seasoned - complex

Exercise 2

What parts of speech are formed with the following derivational affixes?

Give an example with each affix.

1. (-ful) - beautiful

2. (-able) - understandable

3. (-ize) - finalize

4. (-ly) - wholly

5. (-en) - soften

6. (in-) - inadequate

7. (re-) - reopen
8. (ex-) - exclaim

9. (im-) - impossible

10. (un-) - unbroken

Exercise 3

Indicate prefixes and suffixes in the given words.

1. Implant - im

2. Verbal - al

3. Thoughtful - ful

4. Slowly - ly

5. Co-star - co

6. Cookie -

7. Cooker - er

8. Cookery -

9. Controllable - able

10. Preschooler - er

11. Reschedule - re

12. Thirsty - y

13. Stuffing - ing

14. Disobey - dis

15. Underground - under

16. Uncontrollable - un

Exercise 4

Draw a tree structure for the given words

1. Deafen deaf - en

2. Reread re - read

3. Timeless time - less

4. Interplanetary inter - planet - ary

5. Stony-faced stone - y - face - d

6. Frightened fright - en - ed
7. Economically economic - ally

8. Bumper car bump - er car

9. Anybody any - body

10. Optionally option - ally

Exercise 5

The given words can be either nouns or verbs (i.e. the process of conversion can be applied). Find out
whether the change of stress can be used to make the distinction between some nouns and verbs.

1) Work - /wɜrk/

a. noun - exertion or effort directed to produce or accomplish something; labor; toil.

b. verb - to do work; labor.

2) Import

a. verb ɪmˈpɔrt, -ˈpoʊrt; to involve as a necessary circumstance; imply:

b. noun ˈɪm pɔrt, -poʊrt ; the act of importing or bringing in

3) Love - / lʌv /

a. noun - a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.

b. verb - to have a profoundly tender, passionate affection for (another person).

4) Retreat / rɪˈtrit /

a. noun

-the forced or strategic withdrawal of an army or an armed force before an enemy, or the
withdrawing of a naval force from action.

-the act of withdrawing, as into safety or privacy; retirement; seclusion.

-a place of refuge, seclusion, or privacy:

b. verb (used without object)

-to withdraw, retire, or draw back, especially for shelter or seclusion.

-to make a retreat:

-to slope backward; recede:

-to draw or lead back. Import

5) Dust / dʌst /
a. noun - earth or other matter in fine, dry particles.

b. verb (used without object) -to wipe dust from furniture, woodwork, etc.

6) Convict - / verb, adjective kənˈvɪkt; noun ˈkɒn vɪkt /

a. verb (used with object) -to prove or declare guilty of an offense, especially after a legal trial:

-to convict a prisoner of a felony.

-to impress with a sense of guilt.

b. noun - a person proved or declared guilty of an offense.

7) Nail /neyl/

a. noun - a slender, typically rod-shaped rigid piece of metal, usually in any of numerous standard
lengths from a fraction of an inch to several inches and having one end pointed and the other
enlarged and flattened, for hammering into or through wood, other building materials, etc., as used
in building, in fastening, or in holding separate pieces together.

b. verb - to make fast or keep firmly in one place or position:

8) Play / pleɪ /

a. noun - a dramatic composition or piece; drama.

b. verb - to take part or engage in a game.

9) Record / verb rɪˈkɔrd; noun, adjective ˈrɛk ərd /

a. verb (used without object) - to record something; make a record.

b. noun - an act of recording.

10) Knife / naɪf /

a. noun, plural knives /naɪvz/ - an instrument for cutting, consisting essentially of a thin,
sharp-edged, metal blade fitted with a handle.

b. verb - to attempt to defeat or undermine in a secret or underhanded way.

11) Outrage / ˈaʊt reɪdʒ /

a. noun - an act of wanton cruelty or violence; any gross violation of law or decency.

b. verb - to anger or offend; make resentful; shock:

Exercise 6
 The following words have all been formed by compounding. Draw a tree structure for each word.
The head of the compound determines the part of speech of the word, yet it is advisable to check the
given words in a dictionary.

1) Light bulb = light-bulb

2) Hard copy = hard-copy

3) Bitter-sweet = bitter-sweet

4) Barking mad = bark-ing-mad

5) Round-table = round-table

6) Round-up = round-up

7) Grass roots = grass-roots

8) Green card = green-card

9) Stuck up = stuck-up

10) Shipshape = ship-shape

Exercise 7

The words in Column B have been created from the corresponding word in Column A. Say what type
of word formation has been used in each case.

Column A Column B Word

govern government Compounding

international, police Interpol Blending

babysitter babysit Derivation

foot, step footstep Compounding

laboratory lab Clipping

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome AIDS Acronym

Influenza flu Clipping

fruit, juice fruice Blending

drama dramatist Compounding

The National Health Service NHS Acronym

Exercise 8 (Advanced)
 The following compounds are fully or partially idiomatic, i.e. their meanings are not easily
understood from the meanings of the constituent parts. Try to guess their meanings and then check
them in a dictionary.

1) Bug-eyed

- having bulging eyes

2) Bluestocking

- an intellectual or literary woman

3) Chinese whispers

- another term for the game of telephone

4) Trigger-happy

- read to react violently, especially by shooting, on the slightest provocation

5) Mystery shopper

- someone hired to pose as a customer and report on the quality of service received and how
well a store or chain of stores us being run

6) Surface mail

- mail that is transported by land and sear rather than by air.

7) Tearjerker

- a sentimental story, movie, or song, calculated to evoke sadness or sympathy

8) Top dog

- idiom for the boss or the leader

9) Touchstone

- established standard or principle by which something is judged

10) Tourist trap

- a place set up to lure tourists in to spend money

- small structure which is designed for a baby or young child to play safely in.

12) Red-top

- a tabloid

13) Red-letter

- any day of special significance or opportunity

14) Red giant

-a giant star towards the end of its life

15) Pepper spray

- aerosol spray that temporarily irritates the eyes and mucous membranes, used to stun and
incapacitate a person or animal

16) Numbskull

- a foolish or stupid person

Exercise 9

Say which initialisms are abbreviations and which are acronyms. For what word does each letter stand
for? For example: the EEC (abbreviation) – the European Economic Community.

1) UFO - initialism; unidentified flying object

2) BA - initialism; bachelor of arts

3) CD-ROM - initialism; compact disc read-only-memory

4) CD-RW - initialism; compact disc rewritable

5) PDF - initialism; portable document format

6) SWOT - initialism; strength, weakness, opportunities, and threats

7) THX -abbreviation; thanks

8) IED - initialism; improvised explosive device

9) GPS - initialism; global positioning system

10) GPA - initialism; grade point average

12) WC - initialism; water closet

13) PDQ - initialism; pretty damn quick

14) H.E. - initialism; his/her excellency

15) N/A - initialism; not applicable

16) OAP - initialism; old age pensioner

17) DIY - initialism; do it yourself

18) R&R - initialism; rest and recreation

Exercise 10

Say whether the words in the given sets are related to one another by the process of inflection or
derivation.

1) girl, girls, girl’s, girls’ - process of inflection

2) play plays, played, playing - process of inflection

3) play, playful, player, playable - process of derivation

4) nice, nicer, nicest - process of derivation

5) friend, friendly, friendless, friendship - process of derivation

Questions and tasks:

1. Compare English and Lithuanian inflections. What can you say about their numbers? What kinds of
inflections exist in Lithuanian but are absent in English?

Modern Lithuanian is exactly described by two tendencies in using loanwords, i.e. the active use of
known and accepted loanwords and introduction of new loanwords from West European languages,
most of them coming from English. The analysis disclosed that Lithuanian has adopted many English
loanwords. The examples of loanwords indicate that when the loanword appears in the target
language, it starts to be used and usually adapts to the Lithuanian language‘s phonological and
morphological system. Non-typical inflections of foreign words are removed and certain Lithuanian
inflections are frequently added. Lithuanian language has incorporated many English feminine and
masculine noun loanwords. English masculine loanwords in Lithuanian possess the inflection -as, -is.
Loanwords of foreign masculine origin are declined according to the first declension. Besides,
masculine nouns are declinable words and could be declined in seven cases. Loanwords of foreign
feminine origin acquire endings such as -a, -ė and are declined according to the second declension.
Balčiūniene, Irena. Perskaičius Ritos Miliunaites Straipsi apie Skoline Leksiką Vertimuose. 22 April.
2010. http://www.llvs.lt/?recensions=30.
2. Conversion is very productive in present-day English but not in Lithuanian. Why?

Modern Lithuanian grammarians no longer consider the 3rd person as having an ending, instead it is
now called the "final stem vowel" to which a personal ending is attached in order to make the 1st and
the 2nd persons.In reality, however, the attachment of the respective ending to the 3rd person stem
is not straightforward and requires additional conversion, e. g. if the 3rd person stem ends in -a, the
attachment of the ending -u to make the 1st person form produces -u instead of the expected -au.
Moreover, certain notable forms have dropped the final vowel in the 3rd person (future tense,
conditional mood), however, the forms for other persons are still composed having the stem vowel in
mind (dirbti to work → dirbs he will work → dirbsime we will work).

3. Using a dictionary, find five examples of clipping and five examples of blending and present them to
the class.

Examples of clipping:

A. Advertisment - ad

B. Examination - exam

C. Gasoline - gas

D. Mathematics - math

E. Alligator - gator

Examples of blending:

A. Smog - smoke and fog

B. Brunch - breakfast and lunch

C. Frenemy - friend and enemy

D. Emoticon - emotion and icon

E. Sitcom - situation and comedy

4. Find five less known onomatopoeic words and ask your friends to guess their meanings.

Bloop, Gurgle, Blurt, Climp, Thud