Morphology
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
Morphology
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2
July 8th, 2021
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 1 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
Morphology
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 2 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
I Morphology (or word formation) offers an important kind of distributional
evidence for category distinctions
I Morphemes: the smallest meaningful unit of language
I semantically meaningful, indicating a grammatical property
I Some properties of morphemes we discuss today:
I free vs. bound
I roots vs. affixes
I In order to discuss these concepts, we will look at morphologically complex words
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 3 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
I Words can be simple or complex
I a word that consists only of one morpheme: the word is simple
I a word that consists of more than one morpheeme: the word is complex
I Set: general, generalize, generalization, overgeneralization
+ We can find subparts of words that are words themselves
+ But not all subparts are words on their own
I Free vs. bound morphemes
I Free morphemes: can appear independently
I Bound morphemes: must appear attached to another element
Bound morphemes are often referred to as affixes
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 4 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
Affixes
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 5 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
Derivational morphology
I forms a word with a
meaning and/or category
distinct from that of its
base
I relatively restricted to its
application
Inflectional morphology
I modifies a word to indicate
grammatical information
(e.g., tense, aspect,
number)
I relatively free in its
application
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 6 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
Derivational morphology vs. Inflectional morphology
I #1: Derivational morphology may alter the meaning of the base, whereas
inflectional morphology may not
I drive + -er = driver vs. drive + -s = (he) drives
I #2: may alter the lexical category of the base, whereas inflectional affixes may not
I drive (v) → driver (N) vs. drive (V) → drives (V)
I #3: Derivational affixes appear relatively closer to the base than inflectional affixes
I driv-er-s, act-iv-ti-es
I #4: Derivational affixes cannot apply to the base as freely as inflectional affixes
I *studi-er, *help-ant (cf. assistant)
I plural -s, past tense -ed
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 7 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
Prefix an affix that is attached to the left of a base
Suffix an affix that is attached to the right of a base
Infix an affix that is attached inside a base
Circumfix an affix that is attached to the both sides of a base
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 8 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
Prefix
a. happy → unhappy
b. assign → reassign
Suffix
a. teach → teacher
b. real → realism
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 9 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
Infix
Tagalog past tense
a. bili ‘buy’ → binili ‘bought’
b. basa ‘read’ → binasa ‘read’
Bontoc ‘become X’
a. fikas ‘strong’ → fumikas ‘he is becoming strong’
b. bato ‘stone’ → bumato ‘he is becoming stone’
English expletive
a. Massachussetts → Massa-fuckin’-chussetts
b. Alabama → Ala-fuckin’-bama
c. fantastic → fan-fuckin’-tastic
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 10 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
Circumfix
German past participle
a. lieb ‘love’ → geliebt ‘loved/beloved’
b. spiel ‘play’ → gespielt ‘played’
Chicksaw negation
a. lakna ‘it is yellow’ → iklakno ‘it is not yellow’
b. palli ‘it is hot’ → ikpallo ‘it is not hot’
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 11 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
Tri-consonantal Root
Arabic
k-t-b ‘related to writing’
a. kataba ‘he wrote’
b. yaktubu ‘he writes’
c. kātib ‘writer’
d. aktaba ‘he dictates’
e. maktab ‘office’
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 12 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
Suprasegmental affix
a. pérmit (N) vs. perḿıt (V)
b. áddress (N) vs. addréss (V)
Stem change
a. run (present) → ran (past)
b. swim (present) → swam (past)
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 13 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
Zero morphology (null affix)
a. apple-∅ (singular) vs. apple-s (plural)
b. fish-∅ (singular) vs. fish-∅ (plural)
c. eat-s (3rd person subject) vs. eat-∅ (non-3rd person subject)
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 14 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
I Set: general, generalize, generalization, overgeneralization
I Roots:
I “… the root of the word is what you start with, before any affixes have been
added” (p.485)
I e.g., de-human-ize
I Roots vs. Affixes
I Roots are always free? (Definition given so far are misleading…)
+ Roots may be bound
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 15 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
(1) a. *ceive, perceive, receive, deceive, conceive
b. *sist, persist, resist, desist, consist
(2) a. *scissor
b. scissors
c. scissor-kick, scissor-hands
(3) a. *kempt
b. unkempt
c. well-kempt
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 16 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
*gat ‘cat’ *perr ‘dog’ *maestr ‘teacher’
masc. gat-o perr-o maestr-o
masc.pl gat-os perr-os maestr-os
fem. gat-a perr-a maestr-a
fem. pl gat-as perr-as maestr-as
(Spanish)
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 17 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
Root
I a morpheme that constitutes the core of a word and carries the
major component of its meaning
I it has an independent meaning
Affix
I a morpheme that gives additional meaning to the root
I it has ‘slots’ in their meaning but only completed by its
attachment to the base
I an affix needs a complement
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 18 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
I Free morphemes in many languages can attach to each other to form compound
words
black + board → blackboard
white + house → whitehouse
green + gas → greengas
I Compounds behave differently from a simple sequence of two words
I stress placement
I blackboard vs. black board
I position of affixes
I *droped kick, [drop kick]ed
I modifier
I *very greengas
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 19 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
Morphological analysis
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 20 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
I Suppose that you elicited language data from a language you are investigating.
I How would you tell the shape and identity of roots and affixes found in the
dataset?
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 21 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
I Zulu
umfazi ‘married woman’ abafazi ‘married women’
umfani ‘boy’ abafani ‘boys’
umzali ‘parent’ abazali ‘parents’
umfundisi ‘teacher’ abafundisi ‘teachers’
umbazi ‘carver’ ababazi ‘carvers’
umlimi ‘farmer’ abalimi ‘farmers’
umdlali ‘player’ abadlali ‘players’
umfundi ‘reader’ abafundi ‘readers’
fundisa ‘to teach’ funda ‘to read’
lima ‘to cultivate’ baza ‘to carve’
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 22 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
I Zulu
umfazi ‘married woman’ abafazi ‘married women’
umfani ‘boy’ abafani ‘boys’
umzali ‘parent’ abazali ‘parents’
umfundisi ‘teacher’ abafundisi ‘teachers’
umbazi ‘carver’ ababazi ‘carvers’
umlimi ‘farmer’ abalimi ‘farmers’
umdlali ‘player’ abadlali ‘players’
umfundi ‘reader’ abafundi ‘readers’
fundisa ‘to teach’ funda ‘to read’
lima ‘to cultivate’ baza ‘to carve’
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 23 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
I Zulu
umfazi ‘married woman’ abafazi ‘married women’
umfani ‘boy’ abafani ‘boys’
umzali ‘parent’ abazali ‘parents’
umfundisi ‘teacher’ abafundisi ‘teachers’
umbazi ‘carver’ ababazi ‘carvers’
umlimi ‘farmer’ abalimi ‘farmers’
umdlali ‘player’ abadlali ‘players’
umfundi ‘reader’ abafundi ‘readers’
fundisa ‘to teach’ funda ‘to read’
lima ‘to cultivate’ baza ‘to carve’
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 24 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
I Zulu
umfazi ‘married woman’ abafazi ‘married women’
umfani ‘boy’ abafani ‘boys’
umzali ‘parent’ abazali ‘parents’
umfundisi ‘teacher’ abafundisi ‘teachers’
umbazi ‘carver’ ababazi ‘carvers’
umlimi ‘farmer’ abalimi ‘farmers’
umdlali ‘player’ abadlali ‘players’
umfundi ‘reader’ abafundi ‘readers’
fundisa ‘to teach’ funda ‘to read’
lima ‘to cultivate’ baza ‘to carve’
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 25 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
Complex words
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 26 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
Compositionality
The meaning of a complex structure is a function of the meanings of its parts
I English nouns formed with -er follow a systematic pattern
I V + -er ⇒ one who does V
I This pattern is productive (or generative)
I I need to debug a computer program. I should run a debugger
I Do you telemark? I’m an OK telemarker
I My cat kneels a lot. She is a regular
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 27 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
I Not all complex forms are compositional ⇒ idiomaticity
I Word level:
e.g., stool pigeon, pick pocket, considerable … etc.
I Phrase level:
a. The old man kicked the bucket
b. The police were barking up the wrong tree.
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 28 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
I The meaning of a compound may or may not be transparent from its components
I bearskin (a bearskin rug) = endocentric
I cowhand (He works as a cowhand on the ranch) = exocentric
I Examples:
I bookshop as in “She manages a bookshop.”
I pickpocket
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 29 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
I Complex words include morphemes that stand in special relations with one another
I Recall: an affix is not ‘complete’ → it needs its complement
I An affix selects its complement:
I category selection (c-selection)
I Once an affix attaches to its complement, it is the head that determines the
category of the resulting complex form
Head
One of the sub-parts that determines the category
un- + lock, V → unlock, V black, A + board, N → blackboard, N
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 30 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
I In addition to c-selection, affixes are sometimes picky about their bases in other
ways
(4) a. national, rational, ornamental, sentimental, mayoral, pastoral
b. *neighbourhoodal, *friendal, *meatal, *friendal
..
I The suffix -al only attaches to latinate bases
I We call the restriction lexical restrictions
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 31 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
I C-selection involves a relation between morphemes in complex words
I But it also must be a stored property of an individual morpheme
I The c-selection properties of a morpheme are part of the knowledge of a
speaker must acquire about that morpheme
I The sum of morphological knowledge a speaker has about a morpheme
I lexical entry of a morpheme
form bound/free category c-selection category lexical meaning
of morpheme of result restriction
-al bound(suff) N A latinate relating
to
digit free N digit
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 32 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
base
speak
suffix
-er
speaker
speak -er
N
V Af
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 33 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
Locality
Selection is local in the sense that an item can only select
properties of its sister(s)
availability
available
avail -able
-ity
N
A
A
avail
A
-able
N
-ity
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 34 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 35 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
Right-Hand Head Rule (RHHR) in English
the rightmost element of a word is the head of a word
V
un- V
lock
N
V
speak
N
-er
V
A
N
digit
A
-al
V
-ize
N
A
black
N
board
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 36 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 37 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
Locality
Selection is local in the sense that an item can only select
properties of its sisters
Right-Hand Head Rule (RHHR) *for English
The rightmost element of a word is the head of the word
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 38 / 39
Morphology Affixes Morphological analysis Complex words
I Practice drawing tree diagrams for…:
I indifferent
I equalization
LIN102H1F – Lecture 2 Morphology July 8th, 2021 39 / 39
Morphology
Affixes
Morphological analysis
Complex words