Introduction of Language
Definition
In linguistics, grammatical description mainly focuses on two basic units: the word and the
sentence. These two serve as the foundation for describing and understanding different
languages.
A word is the smallest independent unit of language that conveys meaning and can be
spoken or written. Words may be made up of smaller meaningful parts known as
morphemes. A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning in a language that cannot be
further divided without losing its sense.
A morpheme has three main characteristics:
1. It is a word or part of a word that carries meaning.
2. It cannot be divided into smaller meaningful parts without changing its meaning.
3. It occurs in different contexts with a relatively stable meaning.
Examples:
The word unlikely consists of three morphemes, while carpet is made of one. The words car
and pet are independent morphemes, but in carpet they lose their original meanings.
Likewise, garbage is a single morpheme, while garb and age are separate morphemes.
The systematic study of how morphemes join to form words is called morphology. The word
unassailable illustrates this, as it has three morphemes—un, assail, and able—each with
its own meaning and sound pattern.
Segmentation
Segmentation refers to dividing words into smaller meaningful parts, or morphs. Words
that can be easily divided are determinate, while those that cannot are indeterminate.
Examples:
boys – boy-s
playing – play-ing
passed – pass-ed
unable – un-able
knowingly – know-ing-ly
watches – watch-es
Some words cannot be segmented or are only partly determinate.
Examples:
men, children, mice, sheep, went, took, broke, sang, brought, better, best, worse, worst.
The level of segmentation differs from word to word. For instance, better and went relate to
good and go as higher and played relate to high and play, but better and went cannot be
separated into smaller meaningful parts.
This relationship may be shown as:
good : better : best :: tall : taller : tallest
When a word is divided into its meaningful parts, the segments are called morphs.
Example: happier = happy + er.
Plural Morpheme
A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning in a word. When the same morpheme appears
in different sound forms, those forms are called allomorphs.
The plural ending –s / –es in English has three allomorphs, depending on the final sound of
the word:
1. /ɪz/ – after /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /tʃ/, /dʒ/
Examples: buses /bʌsɪz/, vases /veɪsɪz/, bushes /bʊʃɪz/, churches /tʃɜːtʃɪz/, judges
/dʒʌdʒɪz/
2. /s/ – after voiceless consonants (other than /ʃ, s, tʃ/)
Examples: cats /kæts/, caps /kæps/
3. /z/ – after voiced sounds (other than /z, ʒ, dʒ/)
Examples: boys /bɔɪz/, bags /bægz
Even though the pronunciation differs, the meaning—“more than one”—remains the same.
Therefore, /s/, /z/, and /ɪz/ are allomorphs of the plural morpheme {–(e)s}.
Past Morpheme
The English past tense ending –ed also has three allomorphs depending on the preceding
sound:
1. /t/ – after voiceless sounds (except /t/).
Examples: booked /bʊkt/, pushed /pʊʃt/
2. /d/ – after voiced sounds (except /d/).
Examples: loved /lʌvd/, bagged /bægd/
3. /ɪd/ – after /t/ and /d/.
Examples: wanted /wɒntɪd/, wedded /wedɪd/
The meaning of –ed remains the same—it always indicates a past action, regardless of how
it is pronounced.
Morph, Allomorph, and Morpheme
A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning (like –s or –ed).
A morph is the actual spoken or written form of that morpheme.
An allomorph is a variation in sound or form of the same morpheme that occurs in different
contexts but has the same meaning.
Examples: /ʃ/, /ɪz/, /kæps/, /s/, /bɔɪz/, /z/ are morphs.
The forms /s/, /z/, and /ɪz/ belong to the same morpheme—they are allomorphs of the
plural –s.
Generalization
Morphology explains how words are formed from the smallest units of meaning called
morphemes. It shows how words can be divided into parts and how their forms change, like
in plural and past tenses, while their meaning stays the sam
