Chapter One

Morphemes
The definition of a morpheme

The types of a morpheme

The difficulty in the morphemic analysis

Affixes

Immediate Constituents

Homophone

Phonesthemes
Morpheme: It is a short segment in a language.
It is the smallest unit of meaning or grammatical
function.

A morpheme has three criteria:

1-It is a word or a part of a word that has meaning.

2-It cannot be divided into smaller meaningful parts

without violation of its meaning or without
meaningless remainders.
3-It recurs in different verbal environments with a
relatively stable meaning.
e.g.: straight
book
-en

 One Morpheme: home

 Two Morphemes: homeless = home + less
 Three Morphemes: homelessness = home+less+ness
 Four Morphemes: undesirability
=un+desire+able+ity
 Types of morphemes
1-Free morpheme: It is a kind of morpheme that
can be uttered alone with meaning.
e.g.: go, book, bad, well, this, table, good, play,
cheap, half, etc.

There are two types of free morphemes:

a-Lexical morpheme: It includes these
morphemes that carry content meaning, such as
nouns, verbs, and adjectives.
Tom, car, go, speak, good, nice, cold, etc.

b- Functional morpheme:
It incudes these morphemes that have no content
meaning, but grammatical role, such as
prepositions, articles, pronouns,
demonstratives, quantifiers, and auxiliaries.
on, at, an, him, this, that, many, few, are, will, etc.

2-Bound morpheme: It is a kind of morpheme that

cannot be used alone with meaning, it is annexed
to other morphemes to form words.
e.g.: im-, in-, -er, -est, re-,-ful, -ly, -y, anti-, mal-,
un-, pre-, -ity, -al, dis-, etc. –ed, -ing, …

1-Inflectional Suffixes
They include the grammatical suffixes that can be
attached to the stem of the word to show grammatical
relations without changing the word class.

There are nine inflectional morphemes in English,

including the following:

1-Noun plural -s bags, boxes

2-Noun possessive –’s doctor’s, shepherd’s
3-Noun plural possessive -s’ doctors’,shepherds’
4-Verb third person singular -s speaks, goes

5-Verb present participle -ing reading, shutting

6-Verb past tense -ed waited, used
7-Verb past participle -ed chewed, chosen
8-Adjective comparative -er sooner, happier
9-Adjctive superlative –est soonest, happiest

The inflectional suffixes are characterized by the following

features:
1-They do not change the part of speech.
e.g.: cough (v.) coughed (v.)
pet (n.) pets (n.)
2-They come last in a word.
e.g.: discuss discussed
happy happier

3-They go with all stems a given part of speech.

e.g.: dreams, eats, motivates

4-They do not pile up; only one ends a word.

e.g.: lower, waiting, nicer
 2-Derivational Suffixes
They include these affixes that are not grammatical and
they change the class of the word to which they are
attached.

The derivational suffixes are characterized by the following:

1-The words with which the derivational suffixes combine can
be an arbitrary matter.
develop development
fail failure

2-The derivational suffixes change the part of speech of the

word to which they are attached.
nation (n.) national (adj.)
kind (adj.) kindness (n.)

3-Derivational suffixes do not close off a word, a derivational

suffix sometimes follows another derivational suffix.
create creative creativity
Inflectional morpheme Derivational morpheme
1-They are grammatical. 1-They are not grammatical.

2-They do not change the word 2-They change the word

class. class.
3-They cannot be piled up. 3-They can be piled up.

4-They can be added to the 4-The cannot be added to

derivational morphemes. the inflectional ones.
5-They provide further information 5-They do not provide
about the word . further information about it.
 Bases

Base: It is the part of a word that has the principal meaning

and any kind of affix can be attached to it.

A base is the form of a word to which prefixes and suffixes

can be added to create new words.

Example: denial , action , unkind , lighten , beautiful,

manly, realize, etc.
 The requirements of a base are:
1-It is a borrowing from other languages in which it
is a free morpheme.
Biology
2-It is an allomorph of a morpheme which has
another allomorph as a free form.
depth (deep)
3-It can occur as an immediate constituent of a
word whose other constituent is an affix.
react, active
 Types of base

1-Free base: It is a type of base that can come

alone with meaning.
e.g. subway, falsify, likely, famous etc.

2-Bound base: It is a type of base that can come

with other morphemes.
e.g. resent, sentiment, consent, dissent, etc.
 The base is-sent which is bound, it is sometimes hard to
have a precise meaning of the bound base.

It is possible that the words contain several morphemes,

one free morpheme and the others are bound
morphemes.
For example unreliability

In English, most of the bases are free morphemes, but

some of them are bound morphemes, such as: consent,
dissent, resent, etc.
 Difficulties in Morphemic Analysis
1-People have their own individual stock of morphemes just
as they have a vocabulary that is particularly their own.
automobile (car)
auto (self) mobile (moving)
autograph, mobilize

2-Persons may know a given morpheme, but differ in the

degree to which they are aware of its presence in various
words.
agentive suffix (-er, -or, -ar)
speaker, actor, teacher, sailor, etc.
professor, cracker
3-Morphemes may slowly fade away into disuse
after some decades and centuries which affects our
view of morphemehood.
-some: it is a bound morpheme
troublesome, lonesome, burdensome
winsome

4- When language changes, the metaphors will not

exist any longer.
bankrupt
bank
rupt rupture, interrupt
5-When the morphemes combine in a word, their meanings
tend to be unstable and they may disappear.

The morpheme: pose

pose a question,
interpose
suppose, repose
 Affixes
Affix: It is a kind of bound morpheme that occurs
before, within or after a base.
There exist three types of affixes:
1-Prefix: It includes these bound morphemes that occur
before a base.

2-Infix: It is a kind of bound morpheme that is inserted

within a base.

3-Suffix: It includes these bound morphemes that are

attached to a base. The suffixes are divided into two types,
they are inflectional and the derivational suffixes.
Suffixal Homophones
Homophone: It includes these words that have the same
sound, but different spelling and meaning.
meat, meet

1-The inflectional suffix {-er}

This is an inflectional comparative suffix has two
homophones:

A-Nominal {-er}:
This type of derivational morpheme is added to verbs to
form nouns. It can also be attached to the non-verbal stems
to form other nouns.
 hunt hunter
fish fisher
swim swimmer
New York New Yorker
probation probationer

B-{-er} repetition:
This is a derivational suffix that appears at the end of
some words which gives the meaning of repetition, such as
patter, chatter, glitter, etc.
2-The inflectional suffix {-ing}

The verbal inflectional suffix (-ing) has two homophones:

A-Nominal {-ing}:
This derivational suffix is attached to some verbs to form
nouns.
Readings
Meetings

When the nominal {-ing} occurs alone without plural

morpheme, it causes problems.

Tom found the old writing.

Tom was writing a letter when I knocked at the door.
B-Adjectival {-ing}:
This derivational suffix appears at the end of some words
functioning as adjectives.

A charming garden
An exciting film
A refreshing shower

Verbal {-ing} versus adjectival {-ing}

1-Verbal –ing occurs before and after the noun, but the
adjectival –ing occurs before the noun.
They saw a burning house.
They saw a house burning.
2-The adjectival {-ing} can be preceded by very, quite,
rather, comparative and superlative forms and it occurs
after some linking verbs, but the verbal {-ing} is neither
preceded by these adverbs nor occurs with these verbs.

It is a very exciting essay.

This is a more exciting essay.
This essay seems exciting.
3-The inflectional suffix {-d}
This verbal inflectional suffix has one homophone which
is adjectival derivational.

Tom asked me a complicated question.

They are interested in stamp collection.

The adjectival {-d} is characterized by:

1-The ability to be modified by the qualifiers, such as
rather, very, quite, more, most, etc.

Tom asked me a very complicated question.

2-The adjectival {-d} can be used with the linking verbs.

The flower seems faded.

* The guest seems departed.

4-The derivational suffix {-ly}

This adverbial derivational suffix {-ly adv} is added to

adjectives to form adverbs.

The adverbial derivational suffix has one homophone

which is an adjectival derivational suffix {-ly adj}, it is used in
this way:
1-It is added to some monosyllabic nouns to form adjectives,
that are inflected with -er, -est.

Friendly , manly

2-It is added to nouns to form adjectives that are not inflected

with -er, -est.
kingly , beastly

3-It is added to few adjectives to give alternate adjective forms

that are inflected with -er, -est.
deadly , lively
4-It is added to some time nouns to form adjectives that are
not inflected with -er, -est.
daily , monthly
 There exist a group of adjectives that are formed the time
nouns, these adjectives can be used nominally.

Tom subscribed to two monthlies and three quarterlies.

 Noun Feminine Forms
Noun feminine form is a kind of noun which is formed by the
addition of a feminine derivational suffix to the base, it
denotes femaleness.

In English, there exist a group of feminine suffixes including

the following: -e, -enne, -ess, -etta, -ette, -euse, -ina, -ine, -
ster, - stress, and –ix.

They can be added to the base morpheme or a masculine

form. Most of the feminine derivational suffixes of English are
of foreign origin, except one (-ster).
1-(-e, -ess, -enne, -euse, ette)

These feminine suffixes are borrowed from French;

they can be added to masculine nouns to form feminine
nouns.
This suffix (-ess) is the most productive one which can
be used to form a number of feminine nouns, such as
poetess, patroness, tigress, etc.

This suffix (-e) is merely orthographic, not so much

heard in the spoken words, such as fiancee, protegee,
divorcee, etc.
These suffixes (-enne, -euse) are not so much
productive, they can be attached to words ending (-en,
eu), such as comedienne, Adrienne, chanteuse,
masseuse, etc.
 This suffix (-ette) has come from the diminutive suffix (-et)
which forms nouns denoting femaleness, such as
majorette, usherette, etc.
2-(-etta, -ine, -ina)

This suffix (etta) has been borrowed from Italian

language which gives the meaning of femaleness. It also
gives the meaning of smallness.
such as operetta, Henrietta, Julietta, etc.

These suffixes (-ine, -ina) are added to the masculine

forms to form feminine nouns, but the former is more
productive than the other, such as heroine, Pauline,
Czarina, Georgina, etc.
3-(-ster)

This suffix was used in English as feminine suffix some

centuries ago, but it is no longer used as feminine, it
indicates any person, such as spinster, gangster, etc.
4-(-stress)
It is the least productive feminine suffix which is
completely dead, such as seamstress, songstress, etc.
5-(-ix)
This suffix has been from Latin which is used to form
feminine nouns from masculine ones, such as aviatrix,
administratix, etc.
 In addition to these suffixes, there exist many pairs of
words that have been intrinsically separated for masculine
and feminine.

man: woman
uncle: aunt
bull: cow
 Noun Diminutive forms

The diminutive nouns include these nouns that convey the

meaning of smallness, endearment, or both. This is carried
by a group of derivational suffixes.

The diminutive suffixes include:

-ie, -i, -y: (auntie), (Janey)
-ette: (dinette)
-kin, -ikin, -kins: (lambkin), (babykins)
-ling: (duckling)
-et: (circlet)
-let: (booklet)
 The highly productive diminutive is -ie, -i, and -y which are
pronounced as / i /, they are attached to mono-syllabic
names, such as Johnny, Jackie, etc. They are also attached
to some common nouns, such as doggie, birdie, etc.

The second active suffix is -ette which also indicates

smallness.
The other diminutive suffixes are inactive and unproductive,
they are rarely used in English.

There are some other diminutive suffixes that are

borrowed into English. They were diminutives in their own
language, but not in English, such as mosquito, morsel,
quartet, etc.
 Immediate Constituents

It is a process that shows the layers of a structure by

making successive divisions. It continues till all the
component morphemes are isolated.

A word of one morpheme has one part, a word of two

morphemes consists of two parts. A word of three or more
morphemes has a hierarchy of morphemes.
 gentlemanly

gentleman -ly

gentle man
 There are three recommendations on immediate constituent
division:
1-If a word ends in an inflectional suffix, the first cut will be
between this suffix and the rest of the word.
preconceived

preconceive ed

Pre conceive
2-One of the immediate constituents should be a free form.
enlargement

enlarge ment
en large
3-The meanings of the ICs should be related to the
meaning of the word.
starchy

star chy
starch y
 Allomorphs
Allomorph includes the variant forms of a morpheme.

The morphemes may have more than one phonemic form,

these phonemic forms are the allomorphs of one
morpheme. For example:
able : ability
/ eibl / : /ₔbilₔti /

/ eibl / and /ₔbil / two phonemic forms of one morpheme;

they are allomorphs of one morpheme which is able.
wide : width /waid/ : /widᶱ/
They are two allomorphs of one morpheme which is wide.
Complementary distribution

When the related forms have the same meaning and

occupy their own territory, they do not trespass on the
domain each other, they are in complementary distribution.
For example:
Past tense {-ed} has three allomorphs,they are / t /, / d /,
and / ₔd /.

The three allomorphs are in (CD) because they have the

same meaning and each has its own position, they do not
trespass on the domain of another.
 Conditioning
1-Phonological conditioning:

When the phonological environment determines which

allomorph is used, the selection of the allomorph is
phonologically conditioned.

{-S pl} has three phonological forms

/-s/~/-z/~/-ₔz/

The selection of each allomorph is determined by the

sound that immediately precedes the suffix.
2-Morphological conditioning (lexical):

When the environment requires a certain allomorph by

identifying specific morphemes, the selection of the
allomorphs is morphologically conditioned.

car: cars, sheep: sheep, ox: oxen, child: children

ₔ ₔ
{-S pl } =/ z /, / Ø /, / n /, / r n /

The selection of each plural morpheme is morphologically

conditioned.
Replacive allomorphs
Allomorph:
It includes different forms of one morpheme.

Replacive allomorph:
It is a kind of allomorph that can replace another allomorph
in a word.

In English, most of the allomorphs are additive because

they are added to the words, such as:
toys, man’s, repents, waited, tying, funnier, funniest,
actually, realize, minibus, inactive, endear, unlike, etc.
 However, some of them replace other allomorphs in the
words.
sing: sang
sang=sing + / I > a /

man: men
men = man + / a > e /

Sometimes the replacive allomorphs are known as infixes

because they can occur inside a word.
 Homophone
Homophone includes words that have the same sound,
but different spelling and meaning.

pair: pear

In addition to the free morphemes, the bound morphemes

have homophones.
Tom feels /-z/
These spoons /-z/
Helen’s car /-z/
 Phonesthemes
They include the speech sounds that intrinsically express
and suggest meaning.

The two words ch’ing and ch’ung are different by one

sound. These two different sounds express the differences
in meaning.

The most common phonesthemes in English include

the high front vowels /i/ and /I/ which suggest the meaning
of smallness (a small size), as in clink, kid, sip, glimmer, bit,
dwindle, etc.
These two vowels also function as the diminutives.
 Not only the vowels, the consonant sounds at the beginning
of words have also phonesthematic value, they may come in
clusters.

1-/gl-/ light, as in gleam, glitter, glow, etc.

2-/fl-/ moving light, as in flame, flash, flicker, etc.
3-/sp-/ point, as in spark, spade, spot, etc.
4-/sl-/ movement, as in slow, slide, slump, etc.

At the end of some monosyllabic words, the final consonants

have phonesthematic value:

1-The voiceless stops /p, t, k/ express the meaning of an

abrupt stoppage movement, as in slap, hit, crack, etc.
2-The final consonant / ʃ / suggests an unabrupt stoppage
movement, as in crash, smash, etc.

3-At the end of two-syllabic words, /-әr/ and /-әl/ also

suggest the meaning of repetition such as chatter, clatter,
stammar, sparkle, prattle, babble, etc.

Generally a speech sound is a phonestheme when the

sense of a speech sound is related to the sense of a word.
For example, sit

Although phonesthemes look like morphemes in their

behaviour, they do not have all the conditions of a
morpheme.