Notes on Morphology Lecture

Introduction to Morphology

• Morphology: Study of forms in linguistics
• Focus: Internal structure of words
• Part 1 of a multi-part series

Key Concept: Morpheme

• Definition: Smallest meaningful unit in a language
• Cannot be broken down into smaller meaningful bits
• Example:
  • "cats": 2 morphemes
    • "cat" (meaning: furry animal)
    • "-s" (denotes plural)
  • "category": 1 morpheme
    • Meaning does not relate to "cat" or "gory"
  • Tip: Ask "Does the sum of parts equal the whole?"
    • Yes = more than 1 morpheme
    • No = 1 morpheme

More Examples

• "categorize": 2 morphemes
  • "category" + "-ize" (forms verb from noun)
• "categorized": 3 morphemes
  • "category" + "-ize" + "-d" (past tense)

Practice Exercise

• Determine the number of morphemes in various words
  • "overestimating": 3 morphemes
    • "over-" + "estimate" + "-ing"
  • "keyboard": 2 morphemes
    • "key" + "board"
  • "cranberry": 1 morpheme
    • "cran" is not widely defined
  • "antidisestablishmentarianism": 6 morphemes
    • "establish" + "anti-" + "dis-" + "-ment" + "-arian" + "-ism"

Types of Morphemes

Free Morphemes

• Definition: Can stand alone as individual words
• Types:
  • Lexical Morphemes: Carry content and meaning (nouns, verbs, adjectives)
    • Example: "google"
  • Functional Morphemes: Serve grammatical roles (prepositions, conjunctions, articles)
    • Closed class: cannot accept new members

Bound Morphemes

• Definition: Cannot stand alone; must attach to other morphemes
• Types:
  • Derivational Morphemes: Create new words and can change lexical category
    • Example:
      • "pre-" in "predetermine"
      • "-er" in "teacher"
  • Inflectional Morphemes: Grammatical functions; do not create new words
    • List of 8 Inflectional Morphemes in English:
      1. Plural "-s"
      2. Possessive "-'s"
      3. 3rd person singular "-s"
      4. Past tense "-ed"
      5. Continuous "-ing"
      6. Past participle "-en"
      7. Comparative "-er"
      8. Superlative "-est"

Conclusion

• Gained confidence in identifying morphemes
• Next in series: Morphemes vs. Allomorphs
• Part 3: Morphological analysis

Thank You

• Appreciate your participation!