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
