Morphology, part 2

Here we’ll talk more about morphology, discussing word structure in English. We’ll also discuss how morphology and phonology intersect.

If you’d like to dig deeper into these concepts, check out Chapter 4 of How English Works.

 

 

Ways of Forming (new) English words

Morphological processes are also used to form new words.

Some of these words no longer seem ‘new’, but they were at some point!

We’ll go through some of the common processes, thinking of examples of each.

 

Combining

Compounding – combinations of free morphemes

• Houseplant, doorknob, ice cream

Prefixing – attaching a new affix at the beginning

• Unicycle, pre-test, amoral

Suffixing – attaching a new affix at the end

• Hardest, classify, jumping, fusion

Infixing – inserting a new affix in the middle

• This is very limited in English! Basically only works with ‘swear’ words: abso-fucking-lutely

Other examples of each?

 

Shortening

Alphabetism – formed from the initials of a phrase

• URL, MIA, LOL (‘el-oh-el’)

Acronymy – alphabetism pronounced as a word

• Radar, scuba, AIDS, lol (‘lahl’)

Clipping – an element is removed

• Bio, lit (from ‘literature’), limo, mic

Backformation – removing something that looks like an affix

• Beg (from ‘beggar’, borrowed from French but the –ar sounds like and was treated like English ‘-er’)

(another example of backformation)

Other examples of each?

 

Other

Blending – joining together clipped words

• Brunch, frenemy, motel

Shifting – creating new part of speech for a word

• Email, google, text (all noun → verb)

Reduplication – repeating a morpheme

• No-no, knock-knock, wishy-washy

Borrowing – appropriating from other languages

• Flower (French), algebra (Arabic), raccoon (Algonquian), yam (Wolof/other West African languages)

Other examples of each?

 

Try making your own words! Can you make up a ‘new’ word (one you haven’t heard before) using each process?

• Combining: compounding, prefixing, suffixing, infixing
• Shortening: alphabetism, acronymy, clipping, backformation
• Other: blending, shifting, reduplication, borrowing

 

 

Analyzing English Morphology

And finally, we’ll work on some morphological analysis to better understand the patterns/rules at work!

 

Example 1

Long Islander
Vermonter
New Yorker
Marylander
Londoner

*Denverer
*Philadelphiaer
*Delawarer
*Ohioer
*Miamier

The first list contains common ways of naming residents of different places.

The second list contains names are not used and that are considered ‘unacceptable’ (The *asterisks* indicate that these are ‘non-words’).

 

What does the –er morpheme mean here?
What is the constraint on its distribution? What sounds can it not occur after?
Does this constraint apply to the –er in “skater”?
(Hint: think about “row” or “discover”)

 

What does the –er morpheme mean here?

• Resident of __

What is the constraint on its distribution? What sounds can it not occur after?

• It can’t occur after /r/ (*Denverer, *Delawarer) or a vowel (*Philadelphiaer, *Ohioer, *Miamier)

Does this constraint apply to the –er in “skater”?
(Hint: think about “row” or “discover”)

• No! These morphemes sound the same, but mean different things, and follow different rules (the –er in “skater” can occur after /r/ or vowels)

 

Example 2

imprecise
impossible
inadequate
inedible
incomplete
illegal
irresponsible
imbalance
illegible
incorrect
indirect

What morpheme do these words have in common?
What does this morpheme mean?
How many different forms does it have?
How can we describe its distribution?

 

What morpheme do these words have in common?

• in- (/ɪn/)

What does this morpheme mean?

• ‘Not’

How many different forms does it have?

• 3, in terms of written form: in-, im-, and i-

How can we describe its distribution?

• in- → im- before bilabials (/m/, /p/)
  in- → i- before /r/ and /l/ *

  (and, if we want to add in phonology, in- is pronounced as /ɪŋ/ before velar /k/)

*Also leads to a spelling change (initial ‘r’ or ‘l’ is doubled) but this doesn’t change the pronunciation (still only 1 /r/ or /l/)

 

 

Example 3:

Now we’re going to try an example that’s a little more complex, and builds on your knowledge of phonology!

(You can download this activity as an editable word doc here.)

Past tense in English:

There are two forms of the past tense marker (“-ed”) shown in the data above. What are they? You can look at the IPA transcriptions, or try sounding out the words.

What sounds does each form come after? Again, you can look at the IPA transcriptions, focusing on the symbol immediately before the past tense morpheme, or you can try sounding out the words.

Using natural classes, how can we describe their distribution?

 

Now, let’s try answering each question:

There are two forms of the past tense marker (“-ed”) shown in the data above. What are they? You can look at the IPA transcriptions, or try sounding out the words.

If we go through each word, we can see that they end in either /t/ or /d/. This means that in this selection of English words, there are two pronunciations of -ed: /t/ or /d/!

What sounds does each form come after? Again, you can look at the IPA transcriptions, focusing on the symbol immediately before the past tense morpheme, or you can try sounding out the words.

I find it easiest to go through the IPA transcriptions, and just copy+paste the symbol before each form of the morpheme. For example, if we look at just the first word /ʤʌmpt/, we see that Form 1 (/t/) appears after /p/. The second word /tægd/ contains Form 2 (/d/); here, Form 2 appears after /g/. Continue with the rest of the words, filling in the chart as you go.

And, finally, using natural classes, how can we describe their distribution?

We need to look at what the sounds in each group have in common. They’re all consonants, but if you think back to the IPA chart (or try sounding them out), you’ll notice that the first group is all unvoiced/voiceless, while the second is voiced!

So:

Which makes this an assimilation rule! The past tense morpheme takes on the voicing of the sound that it comes after.

Use this example to help you with #3 on the homework! We’ll also work through this example step-by-step in the optional Zoom meeting, so tune in if you’re feeling confused!

 

 

Next up:

Next week, we’ll discuss syntax!