Course’s Plan 1- Morphology (6 days) • Words, sentences and dictionaries A word and its parts: roots, affixes and their shapes • A word and its forms: inflection A word and its relatives: derivation • Compound words, blends and phrasal words A word and its structure Mid- Term Test 2- Syntax ( 8 days) • Sentence structure: Constituents, Functions • Sentence structure: Categories, The verb phrase • Adverbials and other matters, The verb group • More on noun phrases, • Sentences within sentences, WH- Clauses • Non-finite clauses - Assessment - Total marks =30% Mid-term (Morpho) +70% Final (Final:
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Course’s Plan
1- Morphology (6 days)
• Words, sentences and dictionaries A word and its parts: roots, affixes and their shapes• A word and its forms: inflection A word and its relatives: derivation• Compound words, blends and phrasal words A word and its structure
Mid- Term Test2- Syntax ( 8 days)• Sentence structure: Constituents, Functions• Sentence structure: Categories, The verb phrase• Adverbials and other matters, The verb group• More on noun phrases, • Sentences within sentences, WH- Clauses • Non-finite clauses- Assessment- Total marks =30% Mid-term (Morpho) +70% Final (Final: Syntax)
Reference Books
• Carstairs-McCarthy, A. (2002). An Introduction to English Morphology: Words and their Structure. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press Ltd.
• Burton-Roberts, N. (1997). Analysing Sentences: An Introduction to English Syntax (second edition). New York: Addison Wesley Longman Ltd.
1. Booij, G. (2007). The Grammar of Words: An Introduction to Linguistic Morphology (second edition). New York: Oxford University Press.
2. Fromkin, V. et al. (2005). An Introduction to Language (Australian edition). Melbourne: Nelson Thomson Learning Pty Limited.
3. Jackson, H. (1982). Analyzing English: An Introduction to Descriptive Linguistics (second edition). Oxford: Pergamon Press.
4. Jacobs, R. A. (1995). English Syntax: A Grammar for English Professionals. London: Oxford University Press.
Morphology: basic notionsTo know a word, is to know …• spelling • pronunciation • definition • part of speech • history • non-standard/slang • whether the word is vulgar • whether the word is obsolete • examples
MORPHOLOGY: THE WORDS OF LANGUAGE
• morphe (Greek) = shape, form -ology = "science of“
• The study of the internal structure of words, and of the rules by which words are formed.
MORPHEME
• the smallest unit of linguistic meaning. • A single word may be composed of one or more
morphemes. • Example: un+system+atic+al+ly ( the word
unsystematically can be analyzed into 5 separate morphemes)
• A grammatical unit in which there is an arbitrary union of a sound and a meaning that cannot be further analyzed.
• Every word in every language is composed of one or more morphemes.
• Morphemes which cannot occur on its own as an independent (or separate) word.
Affixes (prefix, suffix, infix and circumfix) are all bound morphemes.
Root vs. Stem
Root Stem
Non-affix lexical content morphemes that cannot be analyzed into smaller parts (ex.) cran (as in cranberry), act, beauty, system, etc..
Free Root Morpheme: run, bottle, phone, etc.
Bound Root Morpheme: uncount, uncouth, nonchalant, etc.
When a root morpheme is combined with affix morphemes, it forms a stem.
Other affixes can be added to a stem to form a more complex stem.
Root believe (verb)Stem believe + able (verb + suffix)Word un + believe + able (prefix + verb + suffix) Root system (noun)
Stem system + atic (noun + suffix)
Stem un + system + atic (prefix + noun + suffix)
Stem un + system + atic + al (prefix + noun + suffix + suffix)
Word un + system + atic + al + ly (prefix + noun + suffix +
suffix + suffix )
Words, sentences and dictionaries
• words are units of language which are basic in two senses:
1. they have meanings that are unpredictable and so must be listed in dictionaries
2. they are the building-blocks out of which phrases and sentences are formed.
(Carstairs-McCarthy, A. 2002. p.5)
Words as types and words as tokens
• Mary goes to Edinburgh next week, and she intends going to Washington next month.
-> to E & to W: two performances of the same tune -> distinct tokens of one type-> next w & next m: two copies of the same book -> distinct tokens of one type
Words with predictable meanings• Do any words have meanings that are predictable?• Onomatopoeic words are not the same in all languages
(a cock-crow in German is kikeriki)• Some words have meanings that are ‘natural’ or
predictable in this way is really a leftover from childhood.
• What kinds of word do have predictable meanings?-> any words that are composed of independently identifiable parts, where the meaning of the parts is sufficient to determine the meaning of the whole word.
Which of the following words may not deserve to be regarded as lexicalitems, and so may not need to be listed in a dictionary of modern
• Which of the following phrases (in italics) may deserve to be regarded as lexical items? Why?
1- a. They put the cat among the hamsters.b. They put the cat among the pigeons.
2- a-Roger is a man who keeps his promises.b- Richard is a man of his word.
A word and its parts: roots, affixes and their shapes
• morphemes and allomorphs, bound and free• roots, affixes and combining forms• prefixes and suffixes.
What is an allomorph?
• Definition: An allomorph is one of two or more complementary morphs which manifest a morpheme in its different phonological or morphological environments.
• The allomorphs of a morpheme are derived from phonological rules and any morphophonemic rules that may apply to that morpheme.
• Definition An allomorph is an alternative manifestation of a
morpheme (a set of meaningful linguistic units). Allomorphs vary in shape or pronunciation according to their conditions of use, but not as to meaning.
Examples: In English, the negative prefix in has several allomorphs:
1. Divide them into morphemes, noting any instances where you are unsure. What differences are there between the words in each pair?
2. Are there any morphemes here which have two or more allomorphs?
3. Which of these morphemes are free and which are bound? Are the bound morphemes all affixes, or are some of them roots or combining forms?
4. Do any problems arise here for the view that morphemes are ‘the smallest units of language that can be associated with meaning’ or ‘the minimal units of meaning’?
Word characteristics
• unpredictable and so must be listed in dictionaries
• building-blocks for words and phrases.EX:
1- I keep tabs on all my expenditure.2- Too many cooks spoil the broth.3- A stitch in time saves nine.4- It’s no use crying over spilt milk.
MORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
-> Morphological analysis refers to the analysis of morphology in any of the many fields to use the term.EX: unreasonable
- un-: prefix, negative bound morpheme.- “reason”: stem, free morp., verb- able: suffix, bound morp., adj, ability to do sth
- restrain -> rest – rain / re – strain?- children -> child – r – en ?
DERIVATION & INFLECTION
Inflection and derivation are the two main processes of word formation. They are two kinds of morphosyntactic operation.
• Definition: Inflection is variation in the form of a word,
typically by means of an affix, that expresses a grammatical contrast which is obligatory for the stem’s word class in some given grammatical context.
Examples:• pianist -> pianists (plural)• talk -> talks (third person , singular)• decide -> decided (simple past, pp)• give -> giving (present part., gerund)• green -> greener (comparative)• green -> greenest (superlative)• her -> hers (possessive)
What is derivation?
• Definition: Derivation is the formation of a new word or
inflectable stem from another word or stem. It typically occurs by the addition of an affix. The derived word is often of a different word class from the original. It may thus take the inflectional affixes of the new word class.
Examples
• Kindness is derived from kind. • Joyful is derived from joy. • Amazement is derived from amaze. • Speaker is derived from speak. • National is derived from nation.
Comparison of inflection and derivation
Inflection Derivation
Lexical category
Do not change Often change
Location Tend to occur outside derivational affixes.
Tend to occur next to the root
Type of meaning
Contribute syntactically conditioned information, such as number, gender, or aspect.
Contribute lexical meaning
Affixes used
Occur with all or most members of a class of stems.
Are restricted to some, but not all members of a class of stems
• Headed compounds:a greenstone : a kind of stoneblackboard : a kind of board
• Headless compounds:a faintheart : someone who has a faint
heartstickleback : a kind of fish with spines on
its back
Types
• Endocentric compound: a type of compound in which one member functions as the head and the other as its modifier
EX: postman, milk deliver, taxi driver • Exocentric Compound: a term used to refer to a
particular type of compound that lacks a head.EX: white collar, pickpocket, killjoy
• Copulative compounds: compounds which have two semantic heads.
EX: bittersweet, sleepwalk
Blends and acronymsBlending: words formed by combining, mixing one part
with another EX: motor/ motorist + hotel -> motel, cheese+
hamburger -> cheeseburgerCompounding: words formed by joining two separate
wordsEX: fingerprint, taxidriver, sunflowerAcronymy: words formed from the beginning segmentsEX: United Nations Organization -> UNO North Atlantic Treaty Organisation -> NATO
Compounds containing bound combining forms
• anthrop(o): ‘human’• -(o)logy : ‘science or study’
-> anthropologyelectr(o)- + ic -> electronicaud- + (a)ible -> audible
Phrasal words
• brother-in-law behaves as a wordÞ brothers-in-law (plural, head = brothers)
A word and its structure
1. Meaning and structure2. Affixes as heads 3. More elaborate word forms: multiple
affixation, compounds within compounds4. Apparent mismatches between meaning and
structure
Meaning and structure
• Meaning of word: predictable from lexical items
EX: helpful = help (n) –ful (a)• Compounds may have different structure
EX: French history teacher = (1) French teacher of history (2) teacher of French history
Affixes as heads
• greenhouse -> -house = headÞ teacher -> -er = headÞ helpful -> help / -ful = head
• Prefixes rarely change the word class (enlarge, enslave…)
• Suffixes change the word class• Prefixed words are right-headed
Lexeme formation
• Words are divided into two kinds of lexical classes: open & closed
Definition and CharacteristicsDefinition:- The basic unit of language- The smallest linguistic unit which can occur on its own in
speech or writing.- The smallest unit of meaning. A word may consist of only one
morpheme (e.g. wolf), but a single morpheme may not be able to exist as a free form (e.g. the English plural morpheme -s).
- Typically, a word will consist of a root or stem, and zero or more affixes. Words can be combined to create other units of language, such as phrases, clauses, and/or sentences.
1. Indivisibility: structurally impermeable -> nothing can be inserted b/w its elements
2. Internal stability: uninterruptability -> having freedom to move within a sentence without destroying their meaning
- the bus/ comes/ here/ on time - he/ walked/ slowly/ down/ the street
Classification according to their Structure
1. Simple words: a single free morpheme2. Complex word: more than one morpheme
(FB, BB)3. Compound word: ≥ 2 free morpheme with or
without bound morpheme
Classification according to their Word-formation Processes 1. Coinage (neologism): creation of totally new wordsEX: nylon, vaseline, aspirin2. Borrowing: words formed by borrowing from other languagesEx: champagne (Fr.), kindergarten (G)3. Blending: words formed by combining, mixing one part with
another EX: motor/ motorist + hotel -> motel4. Clipping: words formed by cutting/ leaving a partEX: laboratory -> lab, telephone -> phone5. Acronymy: words formed from the beginning segmentsEX: United Nations Organization -> UNO6. Conversion: words formed by changing not any part of wordEX: corner (n) -> corner (V), fool (n,a,v)7. Affixation: words formed by adding affixes