EXERCISES

MORPHOLOGY
Part 1 Answer the following questions.
1. Give an example of a simplex or a mono-morphemic word.
2. Give an example of a complex or a poly-morphemic word which contains one free root and
one suffix.
3. There are _______________ morphemes in the word “supernatural.”
4. Give an example of an onomatopoeic word.
5. Give an example of a non-word with the unpredictable meaning.
6. Between common knowledge and regular knowledge, __________ deserves to be regarded
as a lexical item.
7. English content words can be extended by derivation. (True/False)
8. Give an example of a deverbal verb.
9. Write the word formation rule for the following set of words.
unlock, undo, unfasten, untighten, unfold
10. Odd one word out of the following set.
great greater greatest greatness
11. Give an example of a complex or a poly-morphemic word.
12. Give an example of a complex or a poly-morphemic word which contains one prefix and
one free root.
13. There are _______________ morphemes in the word “healthiness.”
14. Give an example of a word whose meaning is predictable.
15. Give an example of a non-word with the unpredictable meaning.

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16. Between cut the mustard and cut the jam, __________ deserves to be regarded as a
lexical item.
17. Derivational morphemes help create new lexemes. (True/False)
18. Give an example of a deadjectival noun.
19. Write the word formation rule for the following set of words.
careless, helpless, clueless, useless
20. Odd one word out of the following set.
ugly ugliness uglier ugliest
Part 2 Describe the morphemes in the following quotations:
1. ‘A day of worry is more exhausting than a week of work.’

2. ‘With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.’

3. "Before anything else, preparation is the key to success."

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4. "The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing."

Part 3 Classify each word as: S (simplex), C-BB (complex with 2 bound forms), C-FB
(complex with 1 free form) or Comp.
1. girlish 16. audience 31. responsibilities
2. long 17. calculus 32. surgeon
3. terminate 18. flagpole 33. tapestry
4. porter 19. half-true 34. xylophone
5. sweetheart 20. half-way
6. Connecticut 21. initialize
7. react 22. picture
8. lioness 23. project
9. highborn 24. superabundant
10. preclude 25. appeal
11. democracy 26. aquarium
12. spirit 27. biology
13. well-done 28. downpour
14. receive 29. organist
15. antifreeze 30. praiseworthy

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5. Word internal structure analysis
Analyze the following words using the table below.
play unconditionally excitingly womanly befriend
replay indecisive deactivates endear falsify
date impoliteness maltreated infamous unenlivened
strengthening honesty gentlemanly endangered pre-war
weaken cheaper friendliest unfriendliness lighten
homicide deforestation unemployment glorious incurably
pandemic discontinuation immaturity purify certifies
discouragement prettier striven internationally immortal

NO. WORDS ROOT AFFIXES

FREE BOUND DERIVATIONAL INFLECTIONAL
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
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 28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36

6. Word internal structure analysis

Task 1 Classify the underlined words according to its derivational morphology, e.g.
deverbal nouns or deadjectival verbs.
Task 2 Analyze the internal structures of the underlined words in the following sentences,
using either labeled bracketing or tree diagramming.
Task 3 Decide whether each of the morphemes in the analyzed words is free or bound,
inflectional or derivational.
Example: successful
Labeled bracketing Tree diagramming

Adj
[[success]N [-ful]Adj-suf]Adj

free bound
N Adj-suf
root derivational suffix

success -ful

1. The announcement was not entirely unexpected.

2. They are the nonbelievers in supernatural gods.
3. To say we were pleased is an understatement.
4. The blouse can be unfastened at the back.
5. Some people do not support the existence of a polygamous society.
6. Body Shop lotions keep you greasier than a North Sea fisherman.
7. The instructions are reasonably straightforward.

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8. Students are familiarized with the use of the Internet.
9. The reorganization of the school system has not gained sufficient attention from the public.
10. She tried her hardest not to show how disappointed she was.
11. She carefully folded the letter and put it in her pocket.
12. American universities try to attract different nationalities.
13. She idolized her father.
14. He didn’t seem interested in what I was saying.
15. There's an unacceptably high risk of another accident happening in this storm.
16. Several countries are trying to develop nuclear capabilities.
17. In her teens she felt frustrated and misunderstood.
18. I accepted an invitation to the opening-night party.
19. Where in the first half of the game there had been lifelessness, there was now energy and
commitment.
20. He is accused of making serious misjudgments and arriving at key decisions without
adequate consultation.
21. She was sitting behind her desk with a worried expression/look on her face.
22. The script has a refreshing spontaneity and sparkle.
23. Employees can apply for reimbursement of travel expenses.
7. Fill in the blanks with NO MORE THAN TWO words.
1. A(n)_________________________ affix does not change the meaning of the base but its
form.
2. Vietnamese is a(n) ______________________ language, the extreme case of analytic
language, in which each word contains a single morpheme.
3. Words are meaningful _______________________________ of a language.
4. A(n) ________________________ is a group of words that together makes up a single
meaning which is not entirely predictable from the meanings of the components.
5. A lexeme is ____________________ if it does not display all of the forms that belong to
its class.
6. __________________________ words are words whose sound seem to reflect their
meaning directly.

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 7. An idiom is a(an) ________________ item because it makes up a single meaning which
is unpredictable.
8. ‘Scissors’ is a(n) _______________________ noun because it does not have a singular
form.
8. In each of the following groups of word forms, identify those that are (or can be,
according to context) forms of the same lexeme:
(a) bad, badly, worse, worst, badness
(b) drive, driver, driving, drove, drives, driven
(c) man, man’s, men, manly. man
(d) this, that, these, there
9. Which of the following phrases (in italics) may deserve to be regarded as lexical items?
Give the meaning of the lexical items. There is one example.
0.a. They put the cat among the hamsters.
0.b. They put the cat among the pigeons.
Answer: 0.b. put the cat among the pigeons. Meaning: cause annoyance by doing something
unexpected.
1. a. When work gets frustrating, I like to go bowling to let off some steam.
b. When work gets frustrating, I like to go bowling to let off some fever.
2. a. Upon hearing about my promotion, Lisa suffered from sour lemons.
b. Upon hearing about my promotion, Lisa suffered from sour grapes.
3. a. May the best man win.
b. The best man unfortunately lost the rings on the way to the wedding.
10. What are the bound roots of the following words. Find another word that contains the
same root. There is one example. (10 pts)
0. revise
Root: -vise => vision
1. aquaman 6. malfunction 11. thermometer
2. technique 7. describe 12. conjunction
3. portable 8. spectator 13. homosexual
4. annual 9. toxic 14. empathy
5. perception 10. predict 15. proceed

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16. technique 19. negative 22. untimely
17. portable 20. unemployed 23. car-drivers
18. carnival 21. centralization 24. interesting