Morphology and Syntax

Morphology and Syntax Morphology 7 Trương Văn Ánh Trường Đại học Sài Gòn 2 Structure classes A structure class is a part of speech class It has three characteristics Members of a given structure class[.]

Morphology 7

Trương Văn Ánh

Trường Đại học Sài Gòn

Structure classes

A structure class is a part-of-speech class It has three characteristics:

- Members of a given structure class have no

characteristics of form They are recognized mainly

by position, excepting a few, do not change form

- A structure class is small

- A structure class has a stable membership and is a closed class, that is, it rarely admits new members

1 Qualifiers

Position: qualifiers occur in the position just before an adjectival or an adverbial

Functions: Qualifiers modify other words

Most qualifiers are uninflected words Examples: very, much

A few qualifiers have the same form as adjective In the qualifier position, they do not take –er or –est > They are considered as uninflected qualifiers Pretty good, mighty fine, jolly hot, great big, full well, dead right

2 Prepositions

Prepositions are usually followed by a noun phrase, personal pronoun called the object of preposition

Prep + N phrase (O of prep.)= Prep Phrase

Kinds of prepositions:

a) Single prep.: mono syllabic Prep.: at, on, to, …; two-syllable prep.: before, above…

b) Compound prep.: into, onto,…

c) Complex prep.: on behalf of, due to,…

d) -ing prep.: during, concerning,…

3 Determiners

A determiner is a word that patterns with a noun It precedes the noun and signals that a noun is soon to follow

Determiners can be subdivided into the following

general classes:

Articles – the words the, a, and an.

Demonstratives – words such as this, that,

these, and those.

Possessives – noun phrases followed by the

suffix’s, such as John’s and the fat man’s, as

well as possessive pronouns, such as her, my, and whose.

Wh-determiners – words used in questions,

such as which and what.

Quantifying determiners – words such as some, every, most, no, any, both, and half

4 Auxiliaries

Auxiliaries are closely associated with the verb and are of two kinds

Modal auxiliaries There are ten modal auxiliaries: can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, must, ought (to)

Primary auxiliaries: have, be, do

4 semi-auxiliaries: need, dare, used to, have to

5 Pronouns

Personal pronouns:

Singular

Subject Object Prenominal Substitutional

possessive possessive

1st I me my mine

2nd You you your yours

3rdMale he him his his

Female she her her hers

N It it its its

Plural

1st We us our ours

2nd you you your yours

3rd they them their theirs

Interr who whom whose whose

Interrogative pronouns: who, whom, whose

Ex: Who borrowed my book? (S of verb)

Who (whom) did you take to the theatre? (O)

Who (whom) are you referring to? (O of prep.)

Relative pronouns: Who, whom, whose

Ex: Mary, who is a student, learns well (S)

Mary, whom you know, learns well (O)

Mary, whose father is a doctor, learns well (Poss.)

Unverbalized

Helpless embodiment

Reimbursements started

Lifelessness favoritism

Anticlerical itemized

Malconstruction misjudgement

Contradictory buildings

A morpheme=prefix/base/stem/suffix

stem (thân từ) Base= mort

Stem= mort

Im mort al ly Stem= mortal

base (gốc từ) Stem= mortally (3 stems) Prefix= im

Prefix suffix Suffix= al

Suffix= ly

Affix In this word, mort is called both base

IC: Immediate Constituent (thành tố trực tiếp)

The number of ICs is equal to the number of stems or the number of affixes (prefix and suffix)

In the word immortally, there are three affixes (prefix

im, suffix al and suffix ly) and there are three stems

(mort, mortal and mortally) So this word has three

A morpheme may be bound or free (independent)

Im mort al ly IC 1: mort and al

IC 2: mortal and ly

IC 3: Im and mortally

An IC must have at least one independent morpheme

Processes of forming words:

1 Clipping (cắt xén): lab (laboratory)

2 Compounding (Ghép từ): School-girl

3 Derivation (phái sinh): Actor (act)

4 Back formation (thành lập ngược): Act (actor)

5 Acronymy (chữ viết tắt đầu): MC (master of

ceremony)

6 Blending (pha trộn): Brunch (breakfast + lunch)

Word classification:

- N, V, Adj, Adv

- UW (Uninflected word): No inflectional ending

Good luck!