'shelf', 'leaf') and one final in /v/, which occurs only when the plural

suffix is added: 'live-', 'shelv-', 'leav-'. Notice that not all words that end in
/f/ undergo this change: the plural of the noun 'proof' is not 'prooves'.
Dialects differ in how they pluralize words such as 'roof', 'hoof'; some
people say 'roofs' while others say 'rooves'; some say 'hoofs' and others
'hooves'. The plural of 'loaf' is 'loaves', but the plural of 'oaf' is not 'oaves'
but 'oafs'. A learner of English has to memorize which words change
from /f/ to /v/ and which don't.

PRACTICE EXERCISES

Ex.1. Consider the following words and answer the questions below.
a) loneliness b) White House c) unreliable d) anti-aging pills
e) immobility f) sweeteners g) easiest h) hunger strikers
i) unhappiness j) lovelier k) optionality l) independently
Group the morphemes of these words into free morphemes and bound
morphemes and state whether the bound morphemes are derivational or
inflectional affixes.
The first two words (loneliness and White House) have been done for you
Bound morpheme
Word Free morpheme
Derivational affix Inflectional affix
lone ly, ness Ø
Loneliness
White House White, house Ø Ø

Ex.2.
Consider the following words and answer the questions below
a. honeymoon e. naked i. barriers m. optionality
b. impossibility f. unbearable j. fastest n. prettier
c. comfortable g. justice k. publicity o. communicate
d. examinees h. unexceptionally l. disobeys p. nationwide
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1) For each word, determine whether it is simple or complex
2) Circle all the bound morphemes. Underline all of the roots
3) Cross out all inflectional morphemes

Ex.3.
Consider the following words
a. postmodifiers d. identifiable g. malnutrition
b. delightful e. mistreated h. illogically
c. disobeys f. spiteful i. derivational
1) Draw a tree structure to each word
2) Establish the base and the root for each word

Ex.4.
Fill in the blanks with suitable words or phrases suggested below in order to
make the passages meaningful (some words can be used twice) (3ms)

affixes, bases, bound, bound, derivational, free, independent, infixes,

inflectional, meaningful, morphemes, prefixes, single, suffixes, syllables, verb,
morphology

-----0 ------ is the arrangement and relationships of the smallest ------1------ units
in a language. These minimum units of meaning are called -----2-------. Note that
morphemes are not identical to ----3------: the form don't has one syllable but
two -----4--------, do and not. Conversely, the word Wisconsin has three syllables
but is a ------5-------- morpheme.
It is often useful to distinguish between -----6-----and ------7-------morphemes. --
-------8-------- morphemes can be used alone as ------9------- words - for example,
take, for, each, the, panda. ----10------- morphemes form words only when
attached to at least one other morpheme; re-, dis-, un-, -ing, -ful, and –tion are all
bound morphemes. The most familiar bound morphemes are -----11-------(that is,
prefixes and suffixes), but even -----12-------- (forms to which affixes are

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attached) can be bound. An example of a bound base is the –cept of such words
as except, accept, deceptive, and reception.
Some languages also have ------13---------, which appear inside a word, but these
are not important for English. Another classification of affixes distinguishes -----
--14-----and -----15------affixes. For instance, the -s used to form plurals and the
–ed used to indicate past tense are -------16-------- affixes.
--------17--------- affixes may be either prefixes or suffixes. Most derivational ---
---18--------- simply change the meaning of the word to which they are attached
(uniform, transplant, microwave, unbelievable, desensitize). Derivational ------
19------ normally change the part-of-speech category and may also change the
meaning of the word to which they are attached. For example, -ify in codify
changes the noun code to a -----20-------.

Ex.5.
Represent the internal structure of the following words using tree structure
and bracket diagram
1. undifferentiated (Adj)
2. underdeveloped (Adj)

Ex.6.
Create a word for each of these definitions using the word formation process
suggested. Fill in the blanks with your new words.
1. Use derivation …. to mean having this property
Martin was very _________ of what he had done. SHAME
2. Use derivation …to mean the result or an act of X’ing
The museum does not charge for__________on Sundays. ADMIT
3. Use derivation …to mean the result or an act of X’ing
The secretary was very busy all day dealing with______________. ENQUIRE
4. Use derivation …to mean the result or an act of X’ing
The teacher stressed the need for regular_______________ . ATTEND
5. Use derivation …to mean member of an occupation
There were over fifty_____________in the orchestra. MUSIC
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6. Use derivation … to mean able to be X’ed
Jim always does what he says; he’s very______________. RELY
7. Use derivation … to mean make sth become X
They have agreed to __________ the road because of the heavy traffic WIDE
8. Use derivation …to mean one who X
We have decided to interview only the best six _________for the job. APPLY
9. Use derivation …to mean not having this property
That large dog is perfectly ___________and has never been known to attack
anyone. HARM
10.Use derivation …to mean make sth become X
They are going on to _______________ the bridge. STRONG
11. Use derivation …to mean give this property
My teacher_______________ me to take this examination. COURAGE
12. Use derivation …to mean the result or an act of X’ing
The crowd showed its ____________ by shouting insults. APPROVE
13. Use derivation ….to mean one who receive this action
The company will not take any new ____________ this year. EMPLOY
14. Use derivation …to mean one practises X
Carl is studying to become a ___________. LAW
15. Use derivation …. to mean one who X
Dozens of________ are injured on the city’s roads each year. CYCLE

Ex.7.
Use Inflection for marking the category of each of the following words:
1. lovely + [comp]
2. teach + [present]
3. cry + [past]
4. go + [past part]
5. write + [pres part]
6. happy + [sup]
7. boss + [poss]
8. watch + [plu]
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Ex.8.
Consider the following words in column 1 and column 2
Column 1 Column 2 Morphological process
State the morphological process that is responsible for the creation of the new
words in column 2
Back derivation
E.g. air-conditioner air-condition
1) cook cooker ....................................
2) breakfast and lunch brunch ....................................
3) house-keeping house-keep ....................................
4) water (N) water (V) ....................................
5) memorandum memo ....................................
6) 'subject sub’ject ....................................
7) scape, land landscape ....................................
8) Palestine Liberation Organization PLO ....................................
9) advertisement ad ....................................
10) lose loser ....................................

Ex.9. Consider the following words in column 1

From each of the words in column 1, create new words and write them in
column 2 as suggested in the morphological process.
Column 1 Column 2 Morphological process
re’cord
E.g. ‘record stress shift
1) refrigerator ......................... initial-medial clipping
2) editor ......................... back-formation
3) calm ......................... conversion
4) day, dream ......................... compounding
5) useful ......................... derivation
6) human immunodeficiency virus ......................... acronymy
7) binary, digit ......................... blending
8) intercommunication system ......................... clipping
9) compact disk, read-only-memory ......................... acronymy
10) courage ......................... derivation

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