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Identifying morphemes.
Words are made up of meaningful word parts: morphemes. Morphemes can be identied through the process of comparing words and word
parts in one word with the words and word parts in other words. These
words have been divided into morphemes:
photo
photo
photo
photo
photo
photo
graph
graph
graph
graph
graph
ic
ic
ic
y
al
al
ly
Notice that by comparing the rst word photo with the other words in the
list, it is possible to isolate the morpheme photo in all the words. By comparing photograph with the other words, it is possible to isolate the morpheme graph in all the remaining words, and so on.
A note on spelling. With frequent but fortunately often principled
exceptions, an individual morpheme is usually spelled the same way. The
spelling of morphemes is usually invariant despite variation in the actual
pronunciation of the morpheme; notice the word-to-word variation in the
pronunciation of the underlined vowels:
photo
photograph
photography
photographically
\ow\
\\
\a\
\\
--\\
\\
\\
English 121
26
Identifying morphemes.
there is an alternation in the pronunciation of the vowel. Despite this alternation in pronunciation, these morphemes have a single spelling.
Although in one sense these spellings are related to sound, in another sense
these spellings are morphemic (that is, related to word parts).
EXERCISE 2.1: PRACTICE IDENTIFYING SOME MORPHEMES: COMMON
ROOTS.
This exercise is to give you some practice identifying morphemes you run
into every day.
Divide off the morpheme with the core of the word's meaning using
slashes (/). This morpheme, by the way, is often called the root or base.
Sample answers are given at the end of the chapter.
Aqua-lung
aquarium
aqueduct3
hydrant
hydrate1
designate
dehydrat(e)ion
biology
biography
biopsy
Kodachrome
chromatin2
chromides4
corpulent
corps
corporation
synchronize
chronologically
chronometer
pedal5
podiatrist
pedometer
urban
suburbs
urbane
photographer
worker
baker
1. Compound or complex ion formed by the union of water with another substance.
2. The part of the cell nucleus that stains well with dyes.
3. The spelling of the rst morpheme is unexpected.
4. Small brightlycolored African sh.
5. In this group, one of the variants is from Latin, the other from Greek.
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English 121
Identifying morphemes.
bilateral
bisexual
bicycle
triangle
tripod
tricycle
tetragram
tetralogy1
tetragon2
uniform
unison
unicycle
dual
duplex
duo duet
quadrant
quadrangle
quad
pentagon
pentagram
Pentateuch3
sextet
sextuplet
September
septivalent4
octopus
octogon
March
November
hexagon
hexagram
hexachord6
heptameter
heptagon
heptachord
quintuplet
quintet5
quints
December
decade
English 121
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Identifying morphemes.
Latin
morpheme
morpheme
one
m______
______
two
-------
three
_____, ______
_______
Example(s)
____________
____________
____________
four
t______
_______
____________
ve
p______
_______
____________
six
h______
_______
____________
seven
h______
_______
____________
eight
-------
_______
____________
nine
-------
_______
____________
ten
_______
___________
6. This is now a musical theory term, but it originated as the name of a six-stringed instrument.
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English 121
In the above exercise, were there some morphemes that were unclear? If
so, exactly what parts were unclear? What made them unclear to you?
root
example:
undone
sufx
un-
done
words
__________
__________
__________
kitchen
__________
__________
__________
Arizona
__________
__________
__________
1. Roots may be further classied as free or bound, depending on whether they can occur by themselves or
whether they can only occur attached to another morpheme.
English 121
30
faster
__________
__________
__________
__________
__________
cucumbers
__________
__________
__________
policeman
__________
__________
__________
roots
sufxes
encircle
__________
__________
__________
artichoke
__________
__________
__________
dogs
__________
__________
__________
untie
__________
__________
__________
colder
__________
__________
__________
laziness
__________
__________
__________
roommate
__________
__________
__________
31
verbs:
nouns:
-ingPROGRESSIVE
-ed PAST TENSE
-s PLURAL
-er COMPARATIVE
-'sPOSSESSIVE -est SUPERLATIVE
English 121
adjectives:
1. The 3rd person singular (present tense) -s, is the -s added to verbs in the present tense after he, she, it, or a singular noun, for examples, I walk but He walks.
English 121
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English 121
Examples:
photographically
photo-graph-ic-al-ly
R-R-D-D-D
derivational
prex(es)
example:
re-play-ed (verb)
re-
root(s)
reections
re-ect-ion-s
D-R-D-I
derivational inectional
sufx(es) sufx
play
-ed
reconnections
__________
triliteral
__________
reformations
__________
bookkeepers
__________
informality
__________
reaction
__________
graphically
__________
photographically
photo-graph-ic-al-ly
R-R-D-D-D
English 121
reections
re-ect-ion-s
D-R-D-I
34
derivational
prex(es) root(s)
unhappily1
misleadingly
Massachusetts
ngers
endangered (verb)
reectively
restlessness
derivational inectional
sufx(es) sufx
friend/ly
world/ly
woman/ly
love/ly
(a) To nd out what part of speech these words were before the sufx -ly was added, we examine man, friend, world, woman, and love to see
if there is a single part of speech which they can all function as. We nd
that they all can function as nouns,4 as can be checked by putting the word
the in front of each of them:
the man, the friend, the world, the woman, the love 5
1. You should not let yourself be confused by the spelling of the root in this word as happi- rather than happy.
2.
3.
This -ly should not be mistaken for the -ly that occurs on some adverbs.
Determining the meaning of derivational afxes in this way serves at least two purposes. The rst is obvious; it is useful to be able to determine what the particular afxes do. Another less obvious benet is the dual benets from going
through the processes: not only is understanding of the parts of speech increased but also an increased familiarity with a
wide range of morphemes is gained.
4. While any individual word might function as more than one part of speech, it would be most unusual for more than one
part of speech to functions for all ve examples.
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English 121
So it appears that all the words were nouns before the addition of -ly. At
this point, we know these roots were nouns before -ly was added.
(b) To nd out what part of speech these words are after the addition of the -ly, we examine manly, friendly, worldly, womanly, and lovely to
see if there is a single part of speech which they function as. They are not
nouns; we cannot say, as the asterisk indicates, *the manly, *the friendly,
and so on, unless we consider them to have a following understood noun.
They are not verbs; we cannot say *to manly, *to friendly, and so on
However, they are adjectives; we can say things like the manly actor, the
friendly dog, the worldly sophomore, and so on in which our -ly words
function as adjectives.
nouns? no!
verbs? no!
adjectives? yes!
not
not
not
not
not
not
not
not
not
not
but
but
but
but
but
*the manly
*the friendly
*the worldly
*the womanly
*the lovely
*to manly
*to friendly
*to worldly
*to womanly
*to lovely
To put it all together, (a) the nouns man, friend, world, woman, and
love (b) become adjectives when -ly is added to them. Or, to say the same
thing, formulaically:
noun
-ly
====>
adjective
The word love is of little help to us, as it can be a noun as in the love or a verb as in to love. We assume that it is functioning as a noun here because the other four are functioning as nouns.
The roots were not verbs because only two of them can function as verbs. We test this by trying each of them with the
word to in front of the root:
to man, *to friend, *to world, *to woman, to love
Two of the roots can act as verbs, man and love, but the other three, as the asterisk shows, cannot.
English 121
36
__________
2. -ion:
__________
-ion
====>
__________
-ity
====>
___________
__________
5. -ive:
====>
__________
4. -ize:
less
__________
3. -ity:
-ize
====>
__________
__________
-ive
====>
__________
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English 121
were before the afx was added and (ii) what part of speech the words are
after the afx has been added.
1.
2.
ness
re-:
-al
un-:
====> __________
un- + ____________
6.
====> __________
5.
====> __________
4.
====> __________
-al:
__________
3.
====> __________
====> __________
English 121
38
rider
colder
silver
actor1
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
b.
tresses
melodies
Bess's
guess
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
rider
colder
silver
actor
______same________
_____different______
______none________
______same________
The word silver has no sufx. The word colder has the sufx -er, an
inectional sufx meaning more. The words rider and actor both have
the same sufx (sometimes spelled -er and sometimes-or), a derivational
sufx meaning one who... Thus, rider is one who rides and actor is
one who acts.
1. The sufx meaning 'one who does X' has two spellings in modern English, -er and -or. The -er words (from Old English)
tend to be the more common and less prestigious occupations, reecting the less prestigious position of English; the -or
words tend to be the less common but more prestigious borrowings from French, reecting the French rule in England
after the Norman invasion, and from Latin, in church matters and in business and legal matters. Among the -or words are
emperor, professor (vs. teacher), assessor, senator, contractor, creditor, governor, author, moderator, investor, conciliator,
supervisor, confessor, and sailor (vs. seafarer). Note: this is a general tendency, not an exceptionless rule: cf. lawyer.
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English 121
running
foundling
handling
ing
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
d.
tables
lens
witches
calculates
___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
project
progress
promote
export
expel
express
extend
interstate
intermixed
intercollegiate
intermarriage
transport
transfer
transmit
ultrasonic
ultraviolet
antedate
prescribe
antecedent prevent
prex
antiseptic
antitank
recover
postwar
incapable
atheist
English 121
uncertain
40
regain
rework
postgraduate
postpone
ambidextrousmiscalculate
ambisexual mistrust
ambivalent misspell
injustice
indecent
unjust
unhappy
amoral
atypical
retrorocket miniature1
retrograde miniskirt
retroex
Part 2: Having divided the above words into morphemes, nd which of the
above prexes go with the meanings given below. The rst one is done.
morpheme example
within
morpheme
example
_________ __________across
_________ __________
_________ __________after
_________ __________
against
_________ __________small
_________ __________
both
_________ __________not
_________ __________
not
_________ __________not
_________ __________
before
________
_________ __________
_________ before
1. Historically, the mini- in this word is the root, not a prex. Thus, it is divided into mini- -at(e)- -ure.
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English 121
Collocations
Collocations
Collocations are what an analysis of the term would imply: words that occur together
(col- from con- with + location ) as set, relatively invariable phrases. Although there is considerable variation not only from speaker to speaker but also from region to region, for each
native speaker of English, for the majority of these there is only one way that they sound
right. Also for the majority of these, switching the order makes the collocation sound
"wrong". For the learner of English, these must be learned one-by-one just as new words must
be learned.
Pairs with and:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
English 121
42
Collocations
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
more or ______________________
trick or ______________________
win or _______________________
rain or _______________________
double or _____________________
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
better or ____________________
this or ______________________
heaven or ___________________
friend or ____________________
truth or _____________________
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.
63.
64.
Triplets:
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
as straight as ___________________
as stiff as ______________________
as sober as _____________________
as old as _______________________
as scarce as _____________________
as naked as _____________________
as easy as ______________________
as hard as ______________________
as sharp as _____________________
as heavy as _____________________
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English 121
Collocations
89.
90.
91.
92.
97.
98.
99.
100.
[No answers are given for this exercise. The original list was attributed to Charles Fillmore.]
Collocations
Collocations are what an analysis of the term would imply: words
that occur together (col- from con- with + location ) as set, relatively
invariable phrases. The meanings of such units are often not predictable
from the meanings of the individual parts. Thus, for users of English, these
must be learned one-by-one just as individual words must be learned.
Upon seeing these examples, a common reaction is to trivialize
these as idioms, but the fact is English has thousands of such collocations,
including countless noun-noun compounds, verb+particle combinations,
nouns from verb+particle combinations, and numerous other types of collocations.
Terms
To check yourself, see if you can briey describe each of the following terms and illustrate it in a phrase or sentence (underlining the relevant part).
morpheme
root (or base)
afx
prex
sufx
English 121
44
Terms
inectional
verbs:
-ing
-ed
-en/-ed
-s
nouns:
adjectives:
PROGRESSIVE
-s PLURAL
-er COMPARATIVE
PAST TENSE
-'s POSSESSIVE -est SUPERLATIVE
PAST PARTICIPLE
3rd person singular
derivational
hydr- water
chron- time
bio- life
ped-, pod- foot"
chrom- color
urb- city
bi- two
tri- three
du- two
quadr-, quad- four
september
octo- eight
hepta seven
Greek
morpheme
one
two
three
four
ve
six
seven
eight
nine
ten
45
mono
-------
tetr- four
nov- nine
Latin
morpheme
du-,
tri-
tetrpentahexahepta-------------
unibiquadrquint
sextseptaoctonov-
dec-
English 121
quint- ve
penta- ve
dec- ten
Example(s)
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
________________
Terms
In the above exercise, were there some morphemes that were unclear? If
so, exactly what parts were unclear? What made them unclear to you?
For morphemes like quad-/quadr-, there are two variants, one used
in combinations and the other used when the morpheme is the whole word.
For the morphemes like those in the month November, it is not clear where
the number part ends and where the next morpheme begins; it is clear that
nov- is at least part of the number, but it is not clear if the following -egoes with the nov- or with the -mber that follows.
roots
suf-
--------re-----
word
kitchen
Arizona
fast
work
cucumber
police; man
-s
-----er
-ing
-s
---
xes
words
kitchen
Arizona
faster
reworking
cucumbers
policeman
Answers to Exercise 2.4:
encircle
artichoke
dogs
untie
colder
laziness
roommate
prexes
roots
en-
circle
artichoke
dog
tie
cold
laziroom, mate
un-
sufxes
-s
-er
-ness
English 121
46
Terms
derivational
prex(es)
reconnections
triliteral
reformations
bookkeepers
informality
reaction
graphically
re-, contrireinre-
root(s)
derivational
sufx(es)
inectional
sufx
-nect-literform
book, keep
form
act
graph
-ion
-al
-at-, ion
-er
-al, -ity
-ion
-ic, -al, -ly
-s
-s
-s
unmis-
derivational
sufx(es)
root(s)
happy
lead
Massachusetts
nger
danger
ectrest
enre-
inectional
sufx
-ly
-ing, -ly
-ive, -ly
-less, -ness
-s
-ed
-s
noun
verb
adjective
noun
verb
+
+
+
+
+
-less
-ion
-ity
-ize
-ive
===>
===>
===>
===>
===>
adjective
noun
noun
verb
adjective
-ness
====>
noun
47
adjective
English 121
Terms
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
noun
remisunun-
+
+
+
+
+
-al
verb
verb
verb
adjective
====>
====>
====>
====>
====>
adjective
verb
verb
verb
adjective
b.
rider
colder
silver
actor
same:
different:
none
same:
tresses
melodies
Bess's
guess
same:
same:
different:
none
-s meaning plural
-es meaning plural
-s indicating possessive
running
foundling
handling
ing
same:
different:
same:
none
d.
tables
lens
witches
calculates
same:
none
same:
different:
inectional: -s plural
inectional: -es plural
inectional: -es third person singular
intra/state
intra/mural
sub/marine
sub/merge
sub/contract
pro/ject
pro/gress
pro/mote
English 121
ex/port
ex/pel
ex/press
ex/tend
inter/state
inter/mixed
inter/collegiate
inter/marriage
48
Terms
trans/port
trans/fer
trans/mit
ultra/sonic
ultra/violet
ante/date
ante/cedent
pre/scribe
pre/vent
pre/x
anti/septic
anti/tank
re/cover
re/gain
re/work
post/war
post/graduate
post/pone
in/capable
in/justice
in/decent
un/certain
un/just
un/happy
a/theist
a/moral
a/typical
retro/rocket
retro/grade
retro/ex
mini/ature
mini/skirt
ambi/dextrous mis/calculate
ambi/sexual mis/trust
ambi/valent mis/spell
Part 2: Having divided the above words into morphemes, nd which of the
above prexes go with the meanings given below. The rst one is done.
morpheme
within
forward
under
beyond
again
against
both
not
before
out, outside
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English 121
morpheme
between
wrongly
across
backward
after
small
not
not
before
Terms
English 121
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