The Internal Structure of Words and Processes of Word Formation in English

The Internal Structure of Words and Processes of Word Formation in English Exercise 4 1 English Word Division Analyze the following words into morphs using the model given below Prefix(es) Root Suffix(es) inequality in equal ity (a) hospitalization (k) disfunctional (b) invisibly (l) inconsiderate (c) uninteresting (m) postcolonial (d) undercooked (n) unlikelihood (e) transcontinental (o) relationship (f) ungrammatical (p) asymmetrical (g) reinforcement (q) hypersensitivity (h) prototypical (r).

The Internal Structure of Words and Processes of

Word Formation in English Exercise 4.1: English Word Division

Analyze the following words into morphs using the model given below:

Prefix(es

)

Roo t

Suffix(es )

inequality in- equal -ity

Exercise 4.2: Inflectional Affixes

For each of the bold words in the passage from Wallace Stegner's "The Dump Ground" below, label the inflectional suffix:

The place fascinated us, as it should have For this was the kitchen midden of all the civilization we knew It gave us the most tantalizing glimpses into our neighbors' lives and our own; it provided an aesthetic distance from which to know ourselves.

The town dump was our poetry and our history We took it home with us by the wagonload, bringing back into town the things the town had used and thrown away Some little part of what we gathered, mainly bottles, we managed to bring back to usefulness, but most of our gleanings we left lying

(a) hospitalization (k) disfunctional (b) invisibly (l) inconsiderate (c) uninteresting (m) postcolonial (d) undercooked (n) unlikelihood (e) transcontinental (o) relationship (f) ungrammatical (p) asymmetrical (g) reinforcement (q) hypersensitivity (h) prototypical (r) unfriendliness (i) unforgettable (s) interdependence (j) impropriety (t) monotheism

pres = present tense compr = comparative degree past = past tense supl = superlative degree prsprt = present participle poss = possessive case pstprt = past participle pl = plural number

around barn or attic or cellar until in some renewed fury of spring cleanup our families carted them off

to the dump again, to be rescued and briefly treasured by some other boy Occasionally something we

really valued with a passion was snatched from us in horror and returned at once That happened to the mounted head of a white mountain goat, somebody's trophy from old times and the far Rocky Mountains, that I brought home one day My mother took one look and discovered that his beard was

full of moths

I remember that goat; I regret him yet Poetry is seldom useful, but always memorable If I were a sociologist anxious to study in detail the life of any community I would go very early to its refuse piles For a community may be as well judged by what it throws away - what it has to throw away and what

it chooses to - as by any other evidence For whole civilizations we sometimes have no more of the

poetry and little more of the history than this (from Wolf Willow 1955: 35-36)

Exercise 4.3: Inflectional versus Derivational Affixes

Is -ly an inflectional or a derivational affix? Like an inflectional affix, it seems to attach to many (though not all) of the members of the class of adjective, as in quickly, helpfully, sadly, regrettably, softly, sharply, foolishly If -ly is an inflectional suffix marking the grammatical category adverb, then it should

meet the following criteria for inflectional suffixes:

Does -ly meet these criteria? Try to think of examples which violate these principles.

Exercise 4.4: Morphological and Morphemic Analysis

1 Divide the following words into morphs (use slashes) and then list the morphemes Note that some words may require more than one analysis into morphemes List the morphological realization rule(s) responsible for each formation

2

2

(a) never change the part of speech of a root,

(b) follow, not precede, any derivational suffixes,

(c) affix to virtually any member of the category adjective

Example: mice's Answer: mice/s {mouse} + {pl} + {poss} fusional and agglutinative

(a) least (k) our

(d) should (n) broken

(f) hearing (p) whose

(j) topmost (t) women's

Exercise 4.5: Writing Morphemic Rules

1 Examine the following past tense forms in English:

a) Determine the allomorphs of this inflectional suffix

b) Determine the conditioning environments for each of the allomorphs

c) Decide on the underlying (or "elsewhere") form of this morpheme from which the other

allomorphs are derived For what reasons did you choose this particular form as the base? d) Write a morphemic rule

e) Consider the following past tense forms How are they conditioned? How are they realized?

f) How do you account for the following variants: learned/learnt, dreamed/dreamt, burned/burnt?

2 Consider the following words

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hated Pulled roared walked raided Opened hugged pushed faded Groomed robbed missed fitted Mowed bruised hoped mated Cried loved fetched loaded Paid judged laughed

sang bought cut went rang fought put were

illegal ineligible inactive imbalance irrelevant intolerant indeterminate immature impossible insecure illogical irregular immoral infamous imbalance injudicious

a) Determine the allomorphs of this derivational prefix.

b) Determine the conditioning factors for each of the allomorphs

c) Decide on the underlying (or "elsewhere") form of this morpheme from which the other

allomorphs are derived Justify the base form

d) Write a morphemic rule

e) State the meaning of the morpheme

Exercise 4.6: Derivational Prefixes and Suffixes

1 Sort the prefixes in the words below into the following seven categories according to meaning: a) Time

b) Number

c) Place

d) Degree e) Privative f) Negative, and

g) Size

Each category has two prefixes After you have classified the prefixes, use a dictionary to identify whether the prefix is native English, Latin, or Greek in origin

postdate maladjusted macrocosm forewarn bifocal Outdoor hyperactivity demilitarize

disclose foreshadow macroeconomics malpractice polygon Bisexual postelection nonsmoker

ultraconservative hyperthyroidism subfloor ultraviolet

3 Sort the suffixes in the words below according to their class-changing function The categories include the following:

a) N > N

b) V > N

c) A > N

(There are two examples of each suffix.)

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d) N/A > V

e) N > A

f) V > A

g) N/A > Adv

4 a) Can you think of a reason why -en may attach to some adjectives, but not to others, as

shown below?

below?

5 Which is the proper derivation of unknowledgeable? Explain.

broaden syntactic width Idealism participant falsehood closure Straighten rhetorician clockwise refusal Vaccinate gangster stardom warmth Tireless twofold trial accidental Selfish advisory likelihood friendless Politician conservatism mobster kingdom Facilitate inhabitant contradictory boyish Seizure manifold stepwise thankless Global historic penniless

blacken broaden stiffen ripen deafen tighten soften loosen

*thinen *longen *slimen

*nearen *slowen *narrowen

*highen *holyen *noblen \

brown-haired kind-hearted low-spirited left-handed narrow-minded strong-headed

*brown-coated *heavy-pursed *long-skirted

*one-childed *two-catted *silly-hatted

Exercise 4.7: Prefixation

1 Consider the following words:

dis-attach to? Explain

b) Is it a class-maintaining or class-changing prefix?

c) What are the two meanings of the prefix? Name and give an example from the list above of each of the two meanings

d) In addition to derivation, what process of word formation is involved in the formation of the following words?

e) Analyze the following words into morphs and label each morph as R (= root), DP (=

derivational prefix), DS (= derivational suffix), and IS (= inflectional suffix) Specify the

grammatical function of the affixes and the part of speech of the root

Example: DISCOURAGEMENT dis- (DP) + courage (R - noun) + -ment (DS - nominalizer)

disheartening disproportionately disqualification disenchantments disinterested

f) Draw a tree diagram showing the derivation of the word disreputable.

2. Consider the following words

a) What kinds of roots does the prefix anti- attach to? Explain.

b) Is the prefix class-changing or class-maintaining?

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disbelief dishonorable dislike discomfort dispassionate disconnect disharmony dismissive disclose disorder disgraceful disinfect displeasure disorderly disown dishonest dissimilar discontinuous discharge disobey distrust

disarm distrust dismember disfigure disband discolor discourage disbar

antisocial antibacterial antihistamine antibody antinuclear antihygienic anticlimax antihero antiseptic

c) Give the meaning of the prefix

d) In addition to derivation, what process of word formation is involved in the formation of the following words?

e) What problem do the following words pose for morphemic analysis? Explain

antacid antarctic antepileptic

f) Analyze the following words as in (1e) above:

antibacterial antiperspirant antirevolutionary anticommercialization

antidisestablishmentarianism

g) Give a tree diagram showing the derivation of the word antidepressant.

Exercise 4.8: Compounding

1. Identify the syntactic pattern in each of the following compounds and express it in a lexical rule

Example: gravedigger N + V + -er > N

words are compounds which also include derivational affixes Analyze the words, identifying the roots and their parts of speech, as well all the affixes and their function as nominalizer, verbalizer, adjectivalizer, or adverbializer

Example: housekeeper

house (root - noun) + keep (root - verb) + -er (nominalizer)

antiwar antifreeze antislip antitrust antiknock antiwrinkle

(a) hovercraft (m) dugout (y) lukewarm (b) dairyman (n) hardhearted (z) law-abiding (c) bath-towel (o) homesick (aa) far-reaching (d) goldfish (p) proofread (bb) homemade (e) inroads (q) overqualified (cc) clean-cut (f) bystander (r) overachieve (dd) fighter-bomber (g) setback (s) badmouth (ee) earthenware (h) meltdown (t) redhead (ff) driver's seat (i) blackout (u) birth control (gg) baking powder (j) stand-in (v) breakfast (hh) drip-coffee (k) turnout (w) thoroughgoing (ii) wisecrack (l) money-hungry (x) quick-change (jj) snowplow

c owner-occupied

d freedom-loving

e handicraft

f broken-hearted

g safety-tested

h worldly-wise

i antiaircraft

j machine-readable

k chartered accountant

Exercise 4.9: Minor Processes of Word Formation

1. Identify the process of word formation responsible for each of the following words Try to determine the process before you consult a dictionary, though it may be necessary for you to

do so

2. The words in column A have been created from the corresponding words in column B Indicate

KEY

Answer to Ex 4.1: English Word Division

Prefix(es) Root Suffix(es) (a) hospital -ize -ation

(c) un- interest -ing (d) under- cook -ed (e) trans- continent -al (f) un- grammar -ic -al (g) re- in- force -ment (h) proto- type -ic -al (i) un- for- get -able (j) im- proper -ity (k) dis- function -al (l) in- consider -ate (m) post- colony -al

(p) a- symmetry -ic -al (q) hyper- sense -itive -ity (r) un- friend -ly -ness (s) inter- depend -ence

Note: It might be possible to break down some of these words further, especially if you have

a knowledge of Latin, e.g

(l') in- con- sider -ate

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(a) curio (j) serendipity (s) guestimate (b) (to) laze (k) diesel (t) canary (c) (to) network (l) (a) ha-ha (u) brain-gain (d) (to) cohere (m) (to) make up (v) boojum (e) (a) sitcom (n) (to) total (w) gaffe-slack (f) (the) muppets (o) (the) hereafter (x) psycho (g) (a) what-not (p) amphetamine (y) walkie-talkie (h) margarine (q) (a) construct (z) bonfire (i) dystopia (r) (the) chunnel

Column A Column B

(a) Stagflation stagnation + inflation

(b) Nostril nosu + thyrl 'hole' (in Old English)

(c) Bookie bookmaker

(d) Van caravan

(e) Amerindian American Indian

(f) CD compact disc

(g) RAM random access memory

(h) Televise television

(i) Xerox xeroxography

(j) Telethon television + marathon

(k) sci-fi science fiction

(l) Elect election

(m) Deli delicatessen

(n) Scuba self-contained underwater breathing apparatus

(o) Scavenge scavenger

(p) Hazmat hazardous material

(o') re- late -ion -ship

(s') inter- de- pend -ence

If you do so, you will end up with bound roots in most cases

Answer to Ex 4.2: Inflectional Affixes

should past

neighbors' pl (+ poss)*

ourselves pl

bringing prsprt

gathered past

lying prsprt

renewed pstprt

families pl

returned pstprt

somebody's poss brought past

remember pres

would past

judged pstprt

chooses pres

*There is really no inflection for case in the plural In writing, the apostrophe indicates possessive

Answer to Ex 4.3: Inflectional versus Derivational Affixes

(a) NO: -ly changes the part of speech of the root, deriving adverbs from adjectives:

happily < happy oddly < odd strangely < strange rarely < rare loudly < loud

It may also derive adverbs from nouns: weekly < week daily < day yearly < year

It can derive adjectives from nouns or other adjectives:

manly < man sickly < sick princely < prince goodly < good lovely < love kindly < kind portly < port leisurely < leisure

It may also change the meaning of an adjective or adverb: hardly/hard lately/late highly/high

(b) NO: -ly normally follows derivational suffixes (adjectivalizers):

famously woodenly usefully

foolishly acceptably

But -ly may precede certain derivational suffixes:

manliness manlier princeliness

loveliness lovelier kindliness

(Since no derivational suffix may be attached to an adverb, we cannot test to see whether

adverbializer -ly can be followed by a derivational suffix.)

Although adverbs inflect for comparison (e.g fast, faster, fastest or late, later, latest), adverbs in -ly form comparison with more and most Hence, -ly is never followed by an

inflection:

more usefully *usefullier

most usefully *usefulliest

(This is accounted for, though, by the fact that -er and -est are generally attached only to

monosyllabic words.)

(c) NO: many adverbs are not formed with -ly:

slow (or slowly) fast cheap (or cheaply) hard

Furthermore, many adjectives cannot take -ly:

tall *tally Canadian *Canadianly

blue *bluely two-toed *two-toedly

little *littly this, my *thisly, *myly

(It seems that when adjectives describe an intrinsic quality, they cannot take -ly because

they cannot modify verbal action.)

Answer to Ex 4.4: Morphological and Morphemic Analysis

1 (a) least {LITTLE} + {supl} fusional

(b) set {SET} + {pres}

{SET} + {past}

{SET} + {pstprt}

{SET} + {sg}

null realization zero

zero null realization (c) fish {FISH} + {sg}

{FISH} + {pl}

{FISH} + {pres}

null realization zero

null realization

(e) hop/ed {HOPE} + {past}

{HOPE} + {pstprt}

agglutinative agglutinative (f) hear/ing {HEAR} + {prsprt}

{HEAR} + {gerund} + {sg}

agglutinative agglutinative and null (g) were {BE} + {past} + {pl} fusional

(h) elder {OLD} + {compr}

{ELDER} + {sg}

fusional null (i) must {MUST} + {pres}

{MUST} + {past}

null realization zero

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