BSEE 21: INTRODUCTION TO 2.

Teeth
LINGUISTICS 3. Alveolar Ridge-(tongue and
upper back of upper teeth)
LESSON 1. LINGUISTICS: AN sounds made s, t, d
OVERVIEW 4. Velum-
5. Pallet
1. Linguistics as the Science of
Language
2. Definition of Language
Linguistics- the science of
according to Famous Linguist/
speech sounds
Theorists
- Includes the
Structuralism- A study of
units , nature,
speech sounds that are arbitrary
structure, and
or depending on what custom it is
modification of
used for communication.
language.
Characteristics of
Systems of Language Language
- It is used for
1. Phonetics- Sounds (phoneme- communication
smallest units of sounds) - It is mostly
2. Morphology- word formation primarily vocal
(morpheme-smallest units of utterance) - It is a system of
systems
3. Orthography- - It is arbitrary
Spelling(grapheme-Letter representation)
Transformationalism- It is a
4. Syntax- word arrangement system of knowledge manifested
(tagmeme- phrases, Clauses,sentences) in linguistics form but innate and
in most abstract form universal.
5. Lexicon-Vocabulary
Characteristics of Language
6.Semantics-meaning
- It is a mental
Etymology- Origin of the word phenomenon
Language- Derived from the - It is innate or in
Latin word “Lingua” that means born
tongue. - It is universal
- It is a system of - It is creative
speech produced
by the tongue and Functionalism- Language is by
adjacent sound. dynamic system through which
number of the community
Adjacent Parts of the Tongue information is also a vehicle for
expressing language
function( giving information,
giving instruction, persuading
and can move people to action)
Characteristics of Language
- It has
displacement-
1. doesn’t need a
speaker’s
Lips presence
 - It has - the system
specialization- can covers both objects and
do many things expressions used for objects.
with use of
language - Thirdly objects
and expressions are arbitrarily
Interactionalism- Language is a linked.
vehicle for interpersonal relation - expressions
and for performing social include sounds and graphemes
interactions through a dialogue. used by humans for generating
speech and writing, respectively,
Characteristics of Language for communication.

- It has registers Edward Sapir- Expressions

include sounds and graphemes
Social registers - Proper usage of used by humans for generating
language speech and writing, respectively,
for communication.
1. Formal Standard
Language-use in formal Leonard Bloomfield- -The
occasions/ use with people with totality of the utterances that
higher rank.
can be made in a speech
2. Informal Language- community is the language of
informal occasions with same or that speech community.
equal rank Language focuses on the
utterances produced by all the
3. Colloquial- community’s people and hence
conversational language/language overlooks writing. Besides, he
use in daily communication stresses form, not meaning, as the
4. Slang- short leave basis of language.
language; words that dies. Bloch and Trager- A language is
5. Illiterate English/ a system of arbitrary vocal
Pidgin- use of Brands sounds through a social group
that cooperates. Their definition
6. Sign Language- use of of language points out that
semiotics language is an arbitrary system,
vocal sounds, way of
- It is fixed to a culture
communication, and collectivity.
Aristotle- Speech is the
Noam Chomsky (Father of
representation of a mind’s
Modern Linguistics) - says the
experience.
language is the inherent
- Language is a speech sound capability of native speakers to
produced by humans to express understand and form grammatical
ideas, emotions, thoughts, desires sentences. A language is a set of
and feelings. (finite or infinite) sentences, each
finite length constructed out of a
Ferdinand de Saussure- limited set of elements. This
Language is an arbitrary signs definition of language considers
constituted. sentences as the basis of a
language.
 Children shall be taught since LESSON 2. VIEWS AND OVERVIEW
they doesn’t have anything in ON THEORIES IN LANGUAGE
their mind. STUDY
There are inborn structure in Behaviorist- believes that infants learn
mind named as the Language oral language form other human role
Acquisition Device that allows us models through a process o involving
to speak accordingly and imitation, rewards, and practice. Human
grammatically appropriate. role models in an infant's environment
provide the stimuli and rewards,” (Cooter
Desmond Derbyshire- language & Reutzel, 2004).
is the best source of
communication, and it also Innatist/Nativist- states that learning is
portrays how human language is natural for human beings. They believe
formed and the fundamental that babies enter the world with a
principles of language. It consists biological propensity, an inborn device,
primarily of vocal sounds, to learn language (Cooter & Reutzel,
articulatory, systematic, 2004). This human built indevice for
symbolic, and arbitrary. learning language has been coined the –
LAD – language acquisition device.
John Lyons- Languages are the
best communications systems Cognitivist- uses the idea that children
used by particular groups of are born with very little cognitive
human being within a specific abilities. At birth, infants are limited to a
society. very small scope of mental processes that
Ronald Wardhaugh- A system must be developed over time.
of arbitrary vocal sounds used for Interactionist- language ability develops
human communication. This out a desire to communicate and depends
definition of language by on who we wants to with.
Wardhaugh mainly insists on
arbitrariness, vocal sounds, Language dealt with..
humans, and communication.
1. Cosmogony- origin of language
Patanjali (Indian Linguist)- base from the world view/
Language is a human expression question of religion
produced by speech organs Example: Tower of
converted to language. Babel, Hindu Tree, Death
of Waruri
3. Macro Skills of Language 2. Epistemology- Way of thinking
and understanding
RECEPTIVE SKILLS- The
information comes from the –draw relationship
outside, the receiver only receive between thought and
message. reality
- Listening and
-belief of the
Reading
philosophers -birth of
PRODUCTIVE SKILLS- The logic.
information comes from the
3. Pure Linguistic- dealt with the
communicator to receiver.
structure of language given by the
- Speaking and linguistic
Writing
Linguist- analyze language
 Polyglot- speaks different  Studied the notion of Logic
language  School- Lyceum very nature is
peripathetic- no
PLATO
 definite classroom; can teach
 Aristocles or broad shoulder, while walking
student of Socrates  Esoteric- books for lyceum
 Philosophical approach which students
refers to language is related to  Exoteric- books for all
thought and reality.
Contributions of Aristotle
 School- Academy is a formal set
up of school that consists of  Base vs. Derivational morpheme
classroom. (root word) (ex. Hour, N (base
word) + ly (derivative))
His Contributions:
derivational Morpheme-
 Etymology- origin of the
Syllable which when added to the
word (ex. Philo- love, Sofia-
base word change the class form of
wisdom = Philosophy- Love
the word.
of Wisdom)
 Onoma (singular noun)  Language is significant by
 Onomata (plural noun) convention- there are words
 The names are related to the handed down generation by
things they stand for. generation.
 Names should be definite.  Syntactic Terms
 Onomatopoeia- sound o Proposition- present sentence
symbolism (ex. ( there is Noun and verb) (ex.
Chiming=bell) Kid sings)
 Names were given by the o Single expression- phrase
original name giver. (TIDE- (article and Noun) (ex. A
tidy that means clean) Kid)
 Phrase- group of closely  Rhema (verbs) indicates notion of
related words; Onoma is the time. (sleeps)
first notion of phrase.  Present tense- is the true verb;
past and future tense are only
His beliefs:
tenses of verbs.
 Homer- the greatest blind  Sentence Constiuents- Parts of
poet of Greece who the sentences; Onoma (Subject)
represented mankind of the and Rhema ( Predicate)- Aristotle
youth. is not pertaining in the class
 Indo-European- Concepts of form. (ex. The child sings)
Linguist  General Grammar- Spoken words
 Hebrew- Mother of all are the symbols of the mental
languages experience and written words are
 Language is invented by the the symbol of spoken words.
philosophers.  Approach is Philosophical.

ARISTOTLE GRAMMARIANS (STOICS)

 Most important founder in Greek  study the structure of language
Philosophy.
  Approach- Analyze the nature of  Sentence Type now a days is
language philosophically. considered as qualities.
Contributions of Grammarians (Stoics) ANALOGIST
 Parts of speech  determined language in terms of
o Sundesmos(conjunction) rules -stressed the regularity of
consequence language
choice/alternation, addition,  common forms which are the
contrast rules
o Arthron (adjective)- Articles  has normative stand
a an the  Authoritarian in rules to follow
 Term Case- Function of the noun
in the sentence Contributions of Analogists:
A. Nominative  Paradigms- archetype /typical
(onomastike) subject appossitive examples
pronoun.  Schema- previous knowledge
B. Possesive (Genitive-
 Paradigms + schema= Declention
genike)- ownership - 's or s'
of words (inflection)- there is no
C. Objective (dotike"- change in class form.
dative) Direct object indirect  Descriptive grammar- there are
object, object of the preposition always rule to follow.
object of complement
ANOMALIST
D. Cause and effect -
accusative (aitiatike)  determine language in terms of
custom.
 Moods of Verb
Contribution of Anomalists
A. Indicative- states a fact in the
sentence but not a verb or action  Usage-structure passed from
word. Clue: conjugation of BE generation to generation.
verb (indicative mood)- am, is,  Common expression interjection-
are, was, were express strongThis feeling
 Prescriptive grammar- Structure
B. Imperative- command ( when given by teacher, writer and etc.
the sentence starts of verb)and
request( use of euphemistic DIONYSIUS THRAX
terms)  Philological approach- scientific
Example of euphemistc study of language and its
terms; PLEASE structure.
 Literary Approach- Study of
C. Optative- wish or hope Homeric text rather than spoken
D. Subjunctive- contrary of Language.
fact ;gives condition Contributions of Dionysus Thrax:
 Voice  Metoche (participle)- verb forms
o Active Voice- subject is use as an adjective
the doer.  Antonymia (pronouns)
o Passive Voice- subject  Prothesis( preposition)
receive the action; action  Epirrhema (adverb)
is important
  Verb having tense, mood,  Modi Significandi- ways of
number, person and kind. signifying; Explains the function
 Traditional Grammar- what we of the parts of speech in the
call now "linguistic" defines sentence
grammar as having to do with  Truly General Grammar-
pronunciation, explanation of Grammatica Generalis or
textual difficulties and stylistic  speculative)
features and etymology.  Priscianus -redefined sub-causes
and the inflection
APOLLONIUS DYSCOLUS
 Modes were used for explaining
 Latin has no articles interjection- the syntax
express strong feeling
 introduction of syntax phonetic
theory. Communicative Competence by D.
 phonetic gives sounds; sounds Hymes
has voiced and unvoiced-
“Communicative competence” was
 they study the literary text- they
developed by Dell Hymes to describe,
write as they pronounced.
and account for, the knowledge that
 phonetic gives sounds; sounds
speakers and listeners have in order to
has voiced and unvoiced
communicate appropriately indifferent
 they study the literary text social contexts. It is a central notion in
 they write as they pronounced. sociolinguistics and other socially
MODISTAE oriented approaches to the study of
language.
 (the schoolmen during the Middle
Ages)
 Approach Pedagogy- science of Four Communicative Competence
teaching
 Pedagogically- the teaching of Linguistic/ Grammatical Competence
linguistics (Cook, 2008) defines grammatical
 DONATUS -Ars Grammatica- an competence as the knowledge of
elementary textbook about language stored in a person's mind. The
gramatical subjects ;book of term was first used by Chomsky in the
grammar 1960s and refers to the implicit
knowledge of structural regularities of
language in the mind and the ability to
Contributions of Modistae: recognize and produce these distinctive
grammatical structures.
 Clear explanation on the usage of
nouns and adjectives.
 Nouns substantive-names of
people, place, concept,
 ideas; play the most important
role in the sentence
 functions- subject, complement, Sociolinguistic Competence
object, appositive It refers to the mastery of the cultural
 Subject-Verb dichotomy- rules of use and rules of discourse that are
different sentence pattern (SIV at play in different languages. With
STV STDO STVIO SLVC) respect to cultural rules of use, the
emphasis is on appropriateness of Phonology- concerns the study of more
communicative acts and the naturalness complex and abstract sound patterns and
of speech within given socio-cultural structures (syllables, intonation, etc.).
contexts.
Morphology- the study of words, how
they are formed, and their relationship to
other words in the same language. It
Discourse Competence analyzes the structure of words and parts
is a plurilingual ability that implies being of words such as stems, root words,
able to handle sociocultural, pragmatic, prefixes, and suffixes.
and textual pieces of knowledge
(concepts and skills) effectively,
appropriately, and with a critical attitude
when producing and interpreting every
particular discourse genre, in relation to
the genre colony to Linguistics.

Strategic Competence
is the knowledge of how to use one's
language to communicate intended
meaning. Foreign language students may
develop competence in each of these Syntax- the arrangement of words and
three areas at different rates, but all are phrases to create well-formed sentences
important in developing communicative in a language.
competence.
Pragmatics- a specialized branch of
study, focusing on the relationship
between natural language and users of
LESSON 3. Components of Grammar: that language. Pragmatics focuses on
An Introduction conversational implicatures—or that which
a speaker implies and which a listener
infers.
Phonetics- is the study of the production
and perception of speech sounds.
Phoneme- smallest units of sounds Semantics- the study of the meaning of
words and sentences. It uses the relations
IPA – International Phonetic Alphabet of linguistic forms to non-linguistic
concepts and mental representations to
explain how sentences are understood by
native speakers.

World Englishes–An Introduction

Martin (2012) summarizes and expounds
the three world Englishes circles in his
research paper, English and Englishes in
the Philippines.
She quoted Graddol in 2006 by stating:
• There are approximately 375 million • Legitimized and institutionalized
English as a first language (L1) speakers, Englishes are, linguistically and
375 million L2 speakers, and 750 million sociolinguistically, all equal.
English as a Foreign Language (EFL)
speakers.
• This means that there are more non- Standard English- Standard English is a
native-speaker model which may be
native than native speakers of the English
unattainable for many second language
language.
learners. Therefore, it may be unrealistic
• There is a massive number of people to use a native-speaker model for
learning English today. This number may language learners who, by definition, can
peak at 2 billion within the decade. “never become native-speakers without
being reborn” (Cook, 1999)
• English learners are increasing in
number and decreasing in age. (Martin, Three Identifying Characteristics of
2012) Standard English
1. It is easiest to recognize in print
because written conventions are similar
worldwide.
2. Usually used by news presenters.
3. Its usage relates to the speaker’s social
class and education.
NESTs vs. Non-NESTS
The English language teaching industry
• The phenomenal spread of English, in East and Southeast Asia subscribes to
carried mainly through globalization, has an assumption that native English-
resulted in the diffusion of the language. speaking teachers (NESTs) are the gold
standard of spoken and written language,
• Such diffusion has produced different whereas non-native English-speaking
Englishes through sociolinguistic teachers (non- NESTs) are inferior
educators because they lack this innate
processes usually referred to as
linguistic.
nativization, hybridization, localization,
acculturation and/or indigenization. What is Nnest?
• Such processes are part of the whole NNEST (/ɛnˈnɛst/ en-NEST) or non-
project of decolonization among formerly native English-speaking teachers is an
colonized countries where ‘owning’ acronym that refers to the growing body
English may mean independence. of English language teachers who speak
English as a foreign or second language.
• Post-colonial Englishes have been a
legitimate medium through which various What is the difference between NESTs
significations of nationalism, resistance, and NNESTs?
and local histories and cultures have been
voiced. Thus, we relate the definition given to the
context of English language
teaching/teacher, NESTs are teachers
who learn and speak English as their first
language. In the contrary, NNESTs are The inner circle is comprised of those
those who learn and speak English as an countries who are considered the
additional/second language. 'traditional bases' of English, such as the
U.K., U.S.A, Australia, New Zealand,
What are the advantages of NESTs and Ireland and anglophone Canada. English
NNESTs? in these countries are classed as a 'first'
While native English-speaking teachers language. Kachru labels the inner circle
(NESTs) in ESL/EFL contexts have countries as 'norm-providing' - the norms
obvious linguistic and cultural strengths of the English language are produced
(accent, etc.), NNESTs also possess a there.
number of highly valuable strengths The Outer Circle
(language-learning experience, etc.) that
can make them excellent and respected The outer circle is comprised of countries
ESL/EFL teachers too. where English is not spoken natively but
is still maintained as an important
Who are more competent language language for communication (e.g. as an
teachers NESTs or NNESTs? official 'second' language or as the
NESTs were considered more effective in nation's official language for business and
teaching culture, speaking, and commerce) largely due to historical
pronunciation for the target language, but reasons.
they had some problems communicating These countries include: India, Nigeria,
with students. NNESTs were more the Phillippines, Bangladesh, Pakistan,
effective in imparting fundamental Malaysia, Tanzania, Kenya, non-
knowledge (especially grammatical anglophone South Africa and Canada.
structures), writing, and reading. Kachru labels these countries as 'norm-
Kachru’s Concentric Circles developing' - the norms prodcued by the
inner circle are further developed and
Kachru's Three Circles of English reproduced in the outer circle.
In this model the diffusion of English is The Expanding Circle
captured in terms of three concentric
circles of the language: the Inner Circle, The expanding circle includes much of
the Outer Circle, and the Expanding the rest of the world's population -
Circle. countries that do not hold historical or
governmental importance towards
Braj Kachru was a Professor of English, but class it as a foreign language
Linguistics who coined the term 'World or lingua franca. Main examples of such
English'. 'World English' refers to the fact countries include: most of Europe,
that the English language has been used China, Russia, Japan, Korea, Egypt and
as a global means of communication in Indonesia. These countries are 'norm-
numerous dialects worldwide. It also dependent' - they fully depend on the
refers to the movement towards an
'international standard of the English
language.

The Inner Circle

The Inner Circle refers to English as it
originally took shape and was spread
across the world in the first diaspora.
norms originally produced by the native words a phoneme may be realized by more
speakers of the inner circle. They than one speech sound and the selection of
generally do not develop or reproduce each variant is usually conditioned by the
'Englishes'. phonetic environment of the phoneme.
Diphthong comes from the Greek and means
"two voices" or "two sounds."
LESSON 4. Vowels and Diphthongs
A vowel is a syllabic speech sound
pronounced without any structure in the vocal
tract. Vowels are one of the two principal
classes of speech sounds, the other being the
consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in
loudness and also in quantity (length). They
are usually voiced and are closely involved in
prosodic variation such as tone, intonation
and stress.
The word vowel comes from the Latin word
vocalis, meaning "vocal" (i.e. relating to the
voice). In English, the word vowel is
commonly used to refer both to vowel sounds
and to the written symbols that represent them
(a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y).
Minimal pairs are pairs of words which vary
only by the identity of the segment (another
word for a single speech sound) at a single
location in the word. If two segments contrast
in identical environment then they must
belong to different phonemes.

A paradigm of minimal phonological

contrasts is a set of words differing only by
one speech sound. In most languages it is rare
to find a paradigm that contrasts a complete
class of phonemes (eg. all vowels, all
consonants, all stops etc.)
Allophones are the linguistically non-
significant variants of each phoneme. In other
LESSON 5. Suprasegmentals
refers to a phonological property of more than
one sound segment. Also called
nonsegmental, the term suprasegmental,
which was coined by American structuralists
in the 1940s, is used to refer to functions that
are "over" vowels and consonants.
Suprasegmental information applies to
several different linguistic phenomena
(including pitch, duration, and loudness).
Suprasegmentals are often regarded as the
"musical" aspects of speech.
How We Use Suprasegmentals

• "The effect of suprasegmentals is easy to

illustrate. In talking to a cat, a dog or a baby,
you may adopt a particular set of
suprasegmentals.
Often, when doing this, people adopt a
different voice quality, with high pitch
register, and protrude their lips and adopt a
tongue posture where the tongue body is high
and front in the mouth, making the speech
sound 'softer.'"
• "Suprasegmentals are important for
marking allkinds of meanings, in particular
speakers' attitudes or stances to what they are
saying (or the person they are saying it to),
and in marking out how one utterance relates
to another (e.g. a continuation or a
disjunction). Both the forms and functions of
suprasegmentals are less tangible than those
of consonants and vowels, and they often do
not form discrete categories." (Richard
Ogden, An Introduction to English Phonetics.
Edinburgh University Press, 2009)
Common Suprasegmental Features
• "Vowels and consonants are considered as
small segments of the speech, which together
form a syllable and make the utterance.
Specific features that are superimposed on the
utterance of the speech are known as supra-
segmental features. Common supra-segmental
features are the stress, tone, and duration in
the syllable or word for a continuous speech
sequence. Sometimes even harmony and
nasalization are also included under this
category. ...
• Supra-segmental or prosodic features are Are you thirsty?
often used in the context of speech to make it
more meaningful and effective. Without I don’t support any football team at the
supra-segmental features superimposed on the moment. (but I may change my mind in
segmental features, a continuous speech can future).
also convey meaning but often loses the It rained every day in the first week. (but
effectiveness of the message being things improved after that).
conveyed.” (Manisha Kulshreshtha at al.,
"Speaker Profiling." Forensic Speaker Pitch
Recognition: Law Enforcement and Counter-
Terrorism, ed. by Amy Neustein and Hemant refers to how high or low a sound is. The
A. Patil. Springer, 2012) sound we're concerned with is the voice.

Varieties of Suprasegmentals We are able to make our voices get higher or

deeper (change the pitch of our voices) by
Intonation altering the shape of our vocal cords (or vocal
folds). When our vocal cords are stretched out
pattern by definition extends over a whole more, they vibrate more slowly as air passes
utterance or a sizable piece of an utterance. through them. This slower vibration causes a
Refersto how the voice can change pitch to lower or deeper sound. When our vocal cords
convey meaning. In essence, intonation are shorter and thinner, the vibration is faster,
replaces punctuation in spoken language. creating a higher-pitched sound.
Emphasis Tone
serves a function in conveying the meaning of Some languages use pitch information to
a sentence, by suggesting a contrast, giving signal changes in word meaning. If a
weight to a certain word, or representing the language uses pitch this way, the pitch
expressive rhythms of speech information is called tone.
The three main patterns of intonation Example:
• Falling intonation- describes how the Are you mad?
voice falls on the final stressed syllable of a
phrase or a group of words. A falling Are you mad!?
intonation is very common in wh-questions,
giving information Resonance

• Rising intonation-Rising intonation occurs dynamically when interlocutors

creatively construct utterances that are
describes how the voice rises at the end of a
formally and phonetically similar to the
sentence. Rising intonation is common in yes-
utterance of a prior speaker. In this, we argue
no questions, command, general question,
that such similarity can inform the machine
introductive phrase, alternative question
learning prediction of linguistic and cross-
( before “or”), tag questions, direct address
cultural diversity.
and enumerating a list.
Rate
• Fall-rise intonation-describes how the
voice falls and then rises. We use fall-rise how fast or slow a person speaks. Rate is part
intonation at the end of statements when we of the paralanguage of speech along with
want to say that we are not sure, or when we loudness and pitch. It is not language but it
may have more to add. accompanies all of your spoken use of
language and can convey attitude and
Examples:
emotion.
Where’s the nearest post-office?
Juncture
What time does the film finish?
the manner of moving (transition) between
I hear the Health Centre is expanding. So, is two successive syllables in speech. An
that the new doctor? important type of juncture is the
suprasegmental phonemic cue by means of • the building blocks of morphology Words
which a listener can distinguish between two have internal structure: built of even smaller
otherwise identical sequences of sounds that pieces
have different meanings.
• SIMPLE WORDS: Don’t have internal
Enunciation structure (only consist of one morpheme)
related to the language constitution process, Example: work, build, run. They can’t be split
and not only of its study. Enunciation is the into smaller parts which carry meaning or
specific form of meaning, of producing function.
language since we use language to
communicate in concrete situations, with • COMPLEX WORDS: Have internal
specific objectives and with particular structure (consist of two or more morphemes)
interlocutors.
Example: worker: affix -er added to the root
Effective Voice and Paralanguage work to form a noun.

• Accent Word Formation

• Pitch •Prefixes, Suffixes, and Root Words

• Volume •Decodable and Sight Words

• Speech Rate What is Prefix?

• Modulation •A Prefix is a word that is added at the

beginning of the root word to form a new
• Fluency. word.
•Non-vocal phenomena under the heading of •Un (Prefix) + Happy (Root Word) =
paralanguage: facial expressions, eye
movements, hand gestures (Semiotics) Unhappy (new word)

LESSON 6. Morphology •Dis (Prefix) + Organised (Root word) =

the internal structure of words; the study Disorganised (new word)

of the internal structure of words and
What is Suffix?
forms a core part of linguistic study today.
 Are words that are added to the root
Greek word “morph-” which means
word to form a new word but suffixes
‘shape, form’ “-logy” which means ‘the
are added at the end of the root word.
study of something’
Suffix examples:
•Forget (root word) + Ful (Suffix) =
What is a word?
Forgetful (New word)
• Smallest independent units of
•Happy (root word) + Ness (Suffix) =
language Happiness (New word)

Independent: Rules to Add Prefixes & Suffixes

• do not depend on other words. • Use a hyphen (-) when adding a prefix to a
common noun. For example Pro-
• can be separated from other units
American, Anti-religion, etc.
• can change position.
• Hyphen is must to be used after prefixes
Morphemes Self and Ex, example, Self- dependant, self-
esteem, Ex-husband, Ex-employee, etc.
• When adding a Prefix, do not change the Words that can be decoded, on the other hand,
spelling of the original word or root word; do follow conventional phonics rules. These
Examples: Undo, disappear, irrelevant, words contain spelling patterns that
cooperation, irrational, etc. commonly occur in words. Some decodable
words occasionally contain one irregular
• Repetition of letters is possible when spelling pattern, at most. These words contain
adding a prefix. Basically, point number 3 enough common spelling patterns that the
(do not change spelling) is to be followed student should be able to reason out what the
even if the spelling results in double word is.
consonants after adding the prefix.
How to Tell the Difference of Sight words
• There are certain words that start with and Decoded words
prefix but do not have any prefix added to
them like the word Uncle. Even though any adult reading this is
presumably a fluent reader and likely has
• Many Prefixes can have the same meaning been for some time, most adults not in
such as ‘in’ ‘im’ ‘un’ all these prefixes mean education or linguistics probably don’t know
‘opposite of’ or ‘not’. the phonics rules that dictate our language.
Therefore, it can be hard to know when your
• Similarly, many Suffixes also have the child has come across a sight word (which,
same meaning. Like the suffix, ‘er’ when again, often can’t be decoded) and when we
added to any word will denote the action can encourage them to sound it out. Instead of
performed by the person. Example – Teacher, providing a crash course in all the phonics
Gardener, Performer etc. rules your child may be learning between
Kindergarten and second grade, here is a list
• Suffix ‘er’ is also added towards the end of
of some common sight words that cannot be
adjectives or adverbs to help compare two
decoded.
things.
Lexical Morpheme vs Grammatical
Example- Slow becomes slower, soon
Morpheme
becomes sooner, fast becomes faster etc.
A. Lexical morpheme expresses lexical
• When suffix is added, the spelling of the
meaning, referring to things, events, actions,
base word can change. This is mostly the case state or property.
when the base words end with y or e. For
example – happy becomes happier, costly B. Grammatical morpheme expresses
become costlier with the suffix ‘er’, manage common meaning referring to grammatical
becomes managing, make becomes making relationship within and between sentences.
with the suffix ‘ing’.
• The Prefix that ends in a vowel, ‘a’ than the
base word starting with a consonant will use it Example:
as it is, like atypical, amoral, etc. • Works /as noun; as verb/ (lexical
What are Sight Words? morpheme)

Sight words are words that students need to • worked /as past form of the verb/
be able to recognize instantly (or within just a (grammatical morpheme)
few seconds). Some words are sight words
• working /as gerund form of the verb/
because they appear in text so frequently that
(grammatical morpheme)
students should learn to recognize them
without much effort. Other words are sight
words because they do not fit the
conventional spelling rules of the English
language, and therefore must be memorized.
What are Decodable Words?