Morphemic and

Morphological
Analysis
 Morph vs morpheme
• Morpheme is defined as the smallest meaningful unit in a language, and is
realized by morph (abstraction)

• Morph is the concrete realization of morpheme

We can analyze words in two different ways:
• Morphological analysis, words are analyzed into morphs
following formal divisions.

• Morphemic analysis, words are analyzed into morphemes,

recognizing the abstract units of meaning present
Morphemes abbreviation
pres = Present tense sg = Singular
past = Past tense pl = Plural number
prsprt = Present compr = Comparative
participle degree
pstprt = Past participle supl = Superlative
degree
poss = Possessive case

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 Nouns
Noun(s) Morphological Morphemic Analysis
Analysis
Writers 3 morphs writ/er/s 3 morphemes {WRITE} + {-ER} + {pl}
Authors 2 morphs author/s 2 morphemes {AUTHOR} + {pl}
Noun(s) Morphological Morphemic Analysis
Mice 1 morph mice
Analysis 2 morphemes {MOUSE} + {pl}
Children 2 morphs child/ren 2 morphemes {CHILD} + {pl}
Man’s 2 morphs man/s 2 morphemes {MAN} + {poss}
Men’s 2 morphs men/s 3 morphemes {MAN} + {pl} + {poss}
Sheep 1 morph sheep 2 morphemes {SHEEP} + {sg}
2 morphemes {SHEEP} + {pl}
Adjectives (Comperlative and Superlative)
We need to postulate a morpheme positive degree {pos}, even though it
is never realized, to account systematically for the inflected forms of
adjectives:

Adjective(s) Morphological Analysis Morphemic Analysis

Smaller 2 morphs small/er 2 morphemes {SMALL} + {compr}

Smallest 2 morphs small/est 2 morphemes {SMALL} + {supl}

Better 1 morph better 2 morphemes {GOOD} + {compr}

Best
Adjective 1 morph best Analysis
Morphological 2Morphemic
morphemesAnalysis
{GOOD} + {supl}

Good 1 morph good 2 morphemes {GOOD} + {pos}

Verbs
Verb(s) Morphological Morphemic Analysis
Analysis
Worked 2 morphs work/ed 2 morphemes {WORK} + {past}
2 morphemes {WORK} + {pstprt}
Wrote 1 morph wrote 2 morphemes {WRITE} + {past}
Written 1 morph written 2 morphemes {WRITE} + {pstprt}
Working 2 morphs work/ing 2 morphemes {WORK} + {prsprt}
3 morphemes {WORK} + {gerund} + {sg}
Put 1 morph put 2 morphemes {PUT} + {past}
2 morphemes {PUT} + {pstprt}
Work 1 morph work 2 morphemes {WORK} + {pres}
Write 1 morph write 2 morphemes {WRITE} + {pres}
Gerund
We have to analyze –ing verbal forms not only as present participles,
but also as “gerunds”, or verbal nouns, as in “Swimming is good”
exercise. Since gerunds are functioning as nouns, they may
sometimes be pluralized, e.g.:

Morphological Morphemic Analysis

Analysis
Sittings 3 morphs sitt/ing/s 3 morphemes {SIT} + {gerund}
+ {pl}
Pronoun
s
Pronoun(s) Morphological
Analysis
Morphemic Analysis

We 1 morph we 3 morphemes {1st p} + {pl} + {nomn}

Him 1 morph him 3 morphemes {3rd p} + {sg} + {m} +

{obj}
Its 2 morphs it/s 3 morphemes {3rd p} + {sg} + {n} +
{poss}
Morphemes combine and are
realized by
one of four morphological realization rules:
agglutinative rule
Two morphemes are realized by morphs which remain distinct
and simply “glued” together

e.g. {WRITER} + {pl} > writers

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fusional rule
Two morphemes are realized by morphs which do not remain distinct
but are fused together

e.g. {TOOTH} + {pl} > teeth

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null realization rule
A morpheme is never realized as a morph in any word of the
relevant class

e.g. {sg} on nouns, which never has concrete realization in English

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zero rule
A morpheme is realized as a zero morph in particular members of a word
class

e.g. {SHEEP} + {pl} > sheep

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exercises

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 Divide the following words into morphs (use slashes) and
then list the morphemes. Note that some words may require
more than one analysis into morphemes. List the
morphological realization rule(s) responsible for each
formation.
Example:
THESE {THIS} + {pl}
fusional
least
Answer:

{LITTLE} + {supl}
fusional rule

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should
Answer:

{SHALL} + {past}
fusional

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who/se
Answer:

{WHO} + {poss}
agglutinative

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take/n
Answer:

{TAKE} + {pstprt}
fusional

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hope/d
Answer:
1. {HOPE} + {past}
agglutinative

2. {HOPE} + {pstprt}
agglutinative

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fish
Answer:
1. {FISH} + {sg}
null realization

2. {FISH} + {pl}
zero

3. {FISH} + {pres}
null realization
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were
Answer:

{BE} + {past} + {pl}

fusional

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women/s
Answer:

{WOMAN} + {pl} + {poss}

Fusional and agglutinative

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