AN00202T

Morphology basics

CM de
Daniel HUBER
[email protected]
How do we make sense of her mind
unfilling with the textbooks she’d
read?
 Roadmap
1) the nature of words in English
2) inflections in English
3) derivation in English
4) compounding in English
5) other ways of word formation in English
 Part One

The nature of words

in English
 nature of words
i) All we did was bake all day

ii) We bake a cake every weekend

 nature of words
iii) We baked a pie last Sunday

iv) We’ve baked a pie recently

 word types
lexeme abstract ‘word’, concept, ‘entry’
bake as opposed to baker, bakery
word form one of the shapes a word can take
bake as opposed to baked, bakes
or baking
grammatical word one of its grammatical uses
bake1 as opposed to bake2

token one of its occurrences

type and token
 word types
LEXEME, {word form}, grammatical word, token

BAKE

{bake} {bakes} {baked} {baking}

bake1 bake2 bakes baked1 baked2 baking

bake bake bake bake bakes ... baked baked …. baking ...
 word types
LEXEME, {word form}, grammatical word, token

SHEEP

{sheep}

sheep sheep
sheep, sheep... sheep, sheep...
One sheep, a sheep sheep are grazing, two sheep
 word types
LEXEME, {word form}, grammatical word, token

GOOD

{better} {good} {best}

better good best

better better better... good good good... best best best best ...
 word structure

happiness

happi|ness = happy + -ness

2 morphological units, morphemes

 word structure

un|happi|ness = happy + -ness

happy = free morpheme

-ness = bound morpheme
un- = bound morpheme

according to combinability
 word structure

un|happi|ness = happy + -ness

happy = root morpheme

-ness = affix morpheme (suffix)
un- = affix morpheme (prefix)

according to nature
 word structure

Do suffixes always contribute

to the meaning of a derived
word?
 word structure

pictur|esque ~ picture

grot|esque ~ ????
 word structure

san|ity ~ sane

happi|ness ~ happy
 Part Two

Inflections in English
 Inflections

Inflectional endings in English

On lexical verbs (excluding modals and primary verbs)

-3Sg present: -(e)s

-past simple: -ed or irregular
-past participle: -ed or irregular
-present participle: -ing
 Inflections

regular verbs have 4 word forms

hate – hates – hated – hating

baby – babies – babied – babying
 Inflections

primary verbs are irregular in 3Sg

do does did done doing

have has had had having

be is was/were been being

(am, are)
 Inflections

irregular verbs have irregular

correspondances between word
forms and grammatical words

take takes took taken taking

come comes came come coming
cut cuts cut cut cutting
 Inflections

apophony / internal change in verbs

1 ride – rode – ridden /raɪd/ – /rəʊd/ – /rɪdn/
2 bind – bound – bound /baɪnd/ – /baʊnd/ – /baʊnd/
3 wear – wore – worn /weə/ – /wɔ:/ – /wɔ:n/
4 take – took – taken /teɪk/ – /tʊk/ – /teɪkn/
5 flow – flew – flown /fləʊ/ – /flu:/ – /fləʊn/
6 freeze – froze – frozen /fri:z/ – /frəʊz/ – /frəʊzn/
7 sing – sang – sung /sɪŋ/ – /sæŋ/ – /sʌŋ/
8 swing – swung – swung /swɪŋ/ – /swʌŋ/ – /swʌŋ/
 Inflections

Inflectional endings in English

On nouns
-plural (if countable): -s or irregular
-possessive: -’s
 Inflections
plural issues

Is sheep plural in two sheep?

 Inflections
plural issues

Is sheep plural in two sheep?

Yes, even if it doesn’t show. It’s a countable noun:

-each/every sheep
-a sheep
-many sheep, *much sheep
> two sheep must be plural
 Inflections
plural issues

How do two sheep and two feet represent different plural

formations?

one sheep – two sheep ‘zero-plural’

one foot – two feet plural with apophony
 Inflections
foreign plurals
phenomen|on – phenomen|a Greek
schem|a – schem|ata

formul|a – formul|ae Latin

cact|us – cact|i

seraph – seraph|im Hebrew

cherub – cherub|im
 Inflections
A reasonable generalization about plural of
nouns:

A countable noun is a noun that undergoes

plural formation. Uncountable nouns do not.
 Inflections
possessive issues
 Inflections
possessive issues

what is the order of the possessive -’s and the plural -es?

the poet /pəʊɪt/

the poet’s /pəʊɪts/
the poets’ /pəʊɪts/
 Inflections
possessive issues

what is the order of the possessive -’s and the plural -es?

the poet /pəʊɪt/

the poet’s /pəʊɪts/
the poets’ /pəʊɪts/

child children children’s

 Inflections
possessive issues

Is it really the noun that takes a possessive -’s?

 Inflections
possessive issues

Is it really the noun that takes a possessive -’s?

the Queen of England’s son

Is it England’s son??? or the Queen’s?

 Inflections
possessive issues

Is it really the noun that takes a possessive -’s?

the Queen of England’s son

Is it England’s son??? or the Queen’s?

[[the Queen of England]’s son]

 Inflections
possessive issues

Is it really the noun that takes a possessive -’s?

Is it England’s son??? or the Queen’s?

[the Queen of England’s] son > her son, *its son

[the Queen of England]’s son > head = Queen

 Inflections

Inflectional endings in English

On gradable adjectives

-comparative: -er, or with more, or irregular

-superlative: -est, or with most, or irregular
 Inflections
comparative and superlative forms of adjectives
 Inflections
comparative and superlative forms of adjectives

the ‘Germanic’ way: with suffixes -er, -est

(synthetic formation)

‘glad’ > ‘gladder’ > ‘gladdest’

ME glad > gladdre/gladder > gladdest
 Inflections
comparative and superlative forms of adjectives

the ‘Germanic way’: with suffixes -er, -est

(synthetic formation)

the ‘Romance way’: with more/most (translation of Fr

plus)
(analytic formation)
more exciting formed on plus excitant
 Inflections
comparative and superlative forms of adjectives

worse
more worse
worser

hyper-specification
(in what sense can this be an ‘error’ really?)
 Part Three

Derivation in English
 Derivation
Properties of a suffix
-what it takes as its base
-what word class it contributes to
-its productivity
-its phonological influence on the overall
shape of the derived word
 Derivation
Derivation and the ecology of affixes

-deadjectival -en
blacken, slacken, whiten, tighten, shorten, redden,
sadden, broaden, widen, loosen, soften, toughen

long, strong > lengthen, strengthen

(1) *yellowen, *bluen, *highen

(2) *pinken, *greenen, *wetten, *richen
 Derivation
Derivation and the ecology of affixes

-deverbal -al
a'rrive > a'rrival
re'fuse > re'fusal
be'troth > be'trothal
with'draw > with'drawal
'organize > *organizal
con'struct > *constructal Aronoff (1976)
 Derivation
-aire 'million – ˌmillio'naire
'question – ˌquestio'nnaire
-ette 'kitchen – ˌkitche'nette
'statue – ˌstatu'ette
-eer/-ier ˌengi'neer, ˌvolun'teer, ca'reer,
ca'shier
-ese ˌPortu'guese, Chi'nese
-ique tech'nique, an'tique, cri'tique
 Derivation
-esque 'picture – ˌpictu'resque
gro'tesque

suffix or ending???

> what really matters: the presence of

such morphological elements determines
word stress (Mark Aronoff 1976)
 Derivation
Origin of suffixes: Germanic

'purpose – 'purposeful, re'proach – re'proachful

'mother – 'motherhood, 'likely – 'likelihood
po'lite – po'liteness, 'merciless–'mercilessness
'mercy – 'merciless, re'gard – re'gardless
se'vere – se'verely, en'couraging – en'couragingly

They also attach to non-Germanic bases!

 Derivation
Origin of suffixes: Latin/French

'parent – 'parentage, per'cent – per'centage, 'village,

'heritage, 'storage
'modern – 'modernism, de'termine – de'terminism,
'atheism
a'gree – a'greement, en'courage – en'couragement,
'document

They also attach to Romance/Latinate bases!

 Derivation
Two -ish endings

-ish (adjectives): a true suffix

'yellow – 'yellowish, 'amateur – 'amateurish

-ish (verbs): an ending found on borrowed verbs

'perish, 'cherish, 'vanish, 'varnish, 'furnish, 'nourrish
di'minish, de'molish, im'poverish
 Derivation
Use of creative prefixation in un- in Brit Bennett’s The
Mothers (2016)
 Derivation
Use of creative prefixation in un- in Brit Bennett’s The
Mothers (2016)

(1) adjectives
un|natural, un|able, un|surprising
‘not natural’, ‘not able’, ‘not surprising’
 Derivation
Use of creative prefixation in un- in Brit Bennett’s The
Mothers (2016)

(1) adjectives
un|natural, un|able, un|surprising
‘not natural’, ‘not able’, ‘not surprising’
(2) verbs
un|do, un|lock, un|tangle
[cancel/reverse act of doing, locking, tangling]
 Derivation
Use of creative prefixation in un- in Brit Bennett’s The
Mothers (2016)

(2) verbs [cancel/reverse act of VERB-ing]

un|dress, un|button, un|zip, un|screw

un|hook, un|hinge, un|cross

 Derivation
Use of creative prefixation in un- in Brit Bennett’s The
Mothers (2016)

(2) verbs [cancel/reverse act of VERB-ing]

‘Pulling at her earrings until she unhooks his
chubby fingers.’
‘...she had felt like she was floating in time,
unhinged from it completely.’
‘The nurse uncrossed, then recrossed her
legs.’
 Derivation
Use of creative prefixation in un- in Brit Bennett’s The
Mothers (2016)

(2) her creative verbs

‘In her bed, she believed the impossible. She felt
herself growing younger, her skin softer and tighter,
her mind unfilling with the textbooks she’d read.
Luke uncrippled, unswallowing aspirin by the
palmfuls. Unloving Aubrey. He kissed Nadia and she
felt untouched, their baby unforming inside of her,
their lives separating.’
 Derivation
Use of creative prefixation in un- in Brit Bennett’s The
Mothers (2016)

(2) her creative verbs

‘By April, she was only sleeping a few hours a night
and those few hours made her feel more tired than if
she hadn’t slept at all. She was unsleeping, and it
wasn’t the wedding jitters like everybody tried to tell
her.’
 Derivation
Use of creative prefixation in un- in Brit Bennett’s The
Mothers (2016)

(2) her creative verbs

‘He wanted to get back into football shape,
stop eating fried food between shifts, stop
drinking beer and smoking weed, and start
treating his body like a machine again, an
unfeeling, unwanting thing.’
 Derivation
Use of creative prefixation in un- in Brit Bennett’s The
Mothers (2016)

(2) her creative verbs

[unlock]ing
[unsleep]ing
[unform]ing
[unfeel]ing
[unwant]ing
 Derivation
Use of creative prefixation in un- in Brit Bennett’s The
Mothers (2016)

(1) adjectives
un|manly ‘not manly’

un|skilled, un|expected, un|surprising

‘not skilled’, ‘not expected’, ‘not surprising’
 Derivation
Use of creative prefixation in un- in Brit Bennett’s The
Mothers (2016)

(1) adjectives
un|[surprising] – [surprising]
‘not surprising’, *cancel the act of surprising

un|flinching – ?flinching
‘not flinching’, *cancel the act of flinching
 Derivation
derivation and conversion

For example, denominal conversions

English major > to major in English

to chair a meeting
 Part Four

Compounding in
English
 compounds
Compound verbs (1)

to 'sidestep
to 'babysit
to 'headhunt
to 'belly-dance
to 'water-ski
to 'sunbathe
 compounds

‘...and now his floor plan read like a map of her

teenage firsts: […]; the hallway in front of the
bathroom where she had drunk-cried the
weekend after they buried her mother.’
‘We’d soft-stepped down hallways as the choir
practiced...’
‘She jumped up, finger-combing her hair into a
ponytail...’
from Brit Bennett, The Mothers, 2016
 compounds
Compound verbs (2)

ˌunder'take, ˌunder'pay, ˌunder'rate,

ˌunder'stand, ˌunder'estimate,
ˌout'number, ˌout'balance,
ˌover'step, ˌover'shadow, ˌover'feed,
ˌover'dose
ˌup'grade ˌill-'treat ˌself-de'struct
 compounds
Compound nouns

raspberry 'tart, marble 'statue

 compounds
toy 'soldier, woman 'writer, boy 'scout,
queen 'bee, child 'actor, girl 'guide, blood
'sister, aroma 'therapy, county 'council
 compounds
Fifth 'Avenue, Abbey 'Road, Pearl 'Harbor

Steve 'Jobs, Abraham 'Lincoln

Queen E'lisabeth, Doctor 'Jones,

Professor 'Adams, Mrs /mɪsɪz/ 'Smith
 compounds
100% suc'cess <[hundred percent]
suc'cess>
£10 'note <[ten pound] 'note>
14-hour 'day <[fourteen hour] 'day>
3-mile 'hike <[three mile] 'hike>
15-minute 'warning
 Part Five

Other processes in
English
 Other processes
-neologisms
-blending
-acronyms and initialisms
-shortenings

-grammaticalization
 Other processes
neologisms

blurb, Kodak

nylon, Kleenex
 Other processes
neologisms

blurb, Kodak

nylon, Kleenex

> the role played by marketing

 Other processes
blending

smog = sm(oke) + (f)og

brunch = br(eakfast)+(l)unch
motel = mo(tor) + (ho)tel
Chunnel = Ch(annel) + ((t)unnel
acetal = acet(ic) + al(cohol)
sexploitation = sex + (ex)ploitation
 Other processes
blending

‘In late spring, Oceanside was blanketed in so much

mist, the locals called it May Gray. When darkened
skies lasted into summer, it became June Gloom. No
Sky July. Fogust.’

What does Fogust mean here?

from Brit Bennett, The Mothers, 2016

 Other processes
acronyms

NATO, NASA, laser, wifi

words composed of word initials

and pronounced as words

radar, sonar, jeep (from GP)

 Other processes
initialisms

TNT, GI, UFO, LED, BBC, NBC, CNN, FYI

words composed of word initials

and pronounced as a sequence of letters

contrast with Roman SPQR or INRI that were never event

thought of as initialism in their time!!!
 Other processes
reverse acronyms and initialisms

You take a common word and you take it as an

acronym/initialism and you then find the
words that are supposed to have formed that
acronym/initialism

> typical of slogans and names of institutions or

political parties and movements, in marketing, etc
 Other processes
reverse acronyms and initialisms

ACT UP < AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power

AID < Agency for International Development

a CYA operation is a Cover Your A… operation

 Other processes
shortenings

quiz < inquisitive

flu < influenza
phone < telephone
zoo < zoological gardens
ad < advertisement
gin < Geneva
 Other processes
shortenings

editor noun ending in -or > edit

Fr pois Sg > peas > pea
Fr cerise Sg > cherries > cherry
 Other processes
eponyms

-names of persons
-names of places
-names from mythology, literature, pop culture, etc
-trade marks
 Other processes
eponyms: names of persons

watt, ohm, amper etc

boycott, lynch
dahlia
cardigan
nicotine
sandwich
 Other processes
eponyms: names of places

bikini, china(ware), delft(ware), cheddar, denim (‘de

Nîmes’), milliner (< Milan), jean(s) (< Genoa), port,
currant, sherry, coach
 Other processes
eponyms: names from mythology, etc

atlas
chimera
panic
satirical
 Other processes
eponyms: trade marks

Band-aid® (US) plaster (UK)

Levis®
Xerox®
zipper® > zip
velcro® < vel(ours) + cro(ché)
 Other processes

grammaticalization

ONE versus AN

OE 'an (stressed) > ME 'on (‘one’)

OE an (unstressed) > ME an (‘an’)
 Other processes

Compare the meaning of AN in the

following Old English (OE) passage
 Other processes
OE an ‘one’
i) ...oþ hie alle lægon butan anum Bryttiscum gisle…
...until they lay dead except for one British hostage

OE an ‘an’
ii) ...ond he þær wunade oþ þæt hiene an swan
ofstang æt Pryfetesflodan…
...and he lived there until a swineherd stabbed him
to death at Privett...
(both come from Cynewulf and Cyneheard)
 Have a further look
Crystal's Cambridge Encyclopedia of the
English Language:

pp. 54-55, 66-67, 78-79, 110-111,164-169

NBR chapter 3