Morphology concepts
What is a morpheme?
In the sentence "The teacher reopened the discussion after the break", what morphological process(es) did the word reopen undergo?
Derivation (re-) and inflection (-ed)
What is the difference between form and function?
Form refers to structure and word class.
Function refers to the role in a sentence
Identify the morphemes, morphological process(es) (derivation or inflection) and part of speech of the word in bold:
She is the tallest student in the class.
Tall + est
Inflection
Adjective
How many morphemes does the word teachers have?
3 morphemes:
- teach
- -er (derivation)
- -s (inflection)
What is the difference between free and bound morphemes? Provide examples
Free: can stand alone, e.g. book.
Bound: cannot stand alone, e.g. un-, -ed, -ing
In the sentence "Her kindness was appreciated by everyone", what morphological process(es) did the word kindness undergo?
Derivation (-ness)
Compare these sentences:
1) The honest players admitted the mistake.
2) We really admire her honesty.
What changes in form and function did the affix -y introduce to the word honest?
Form: adjective -> noun
Function: modifier -> direct object
Identify the morphemes, morphological process(es) (derivation or inflection) and part of speech of the word in bold:
Her unhelpfulness surprised everyone in the group.
un+help+ful+ness
Derivation
Noun
Identify the FORM of the constituents in the following sentence:
She ate the cake quickly.
She: pronoun
ate: verb
the: modifier (article)
cake: noun
quickly: adverb
What is the difference between grammatical and lexical morphemes?
Lexical morphemes carry content meaning.
Grammatical morphemes carry functional meaning.
In the sentence, "Several misinterpretations of the data were published", what morphological process(es) did the word misinterpretations undergo?
Derivation: mis-, -ation
Inflection: -s
Direct object
Identify the morphemes, morphological process(es) (derivation or inflection) and part of speech of the word in bold:
He spoke persuasively during the final debate.
Persuade + ive+ly
Derivation
Adverb
Identify the FORM of the constituents in the following sentence:
The manager questioned the overgeneralized conclusions in the article.
The: modifier (article)
manager: noun
questioned: verb
the: modifier (article)
overgeneralized: adjective
conclusions: noun
in: preposition
the: modifier (article)
article: noun
What is the difference between derivation and inflection?
Derivation changes meaning/function.
Inflection changes grammar information.
In the sentence "The report highlights the overgeneralizations made by the researchers", what morphological process(es) did the word overgeneralizations undergo?
Derivation: -ize, -ation, over-
Inflection: -s
In the sentence "Working late every night exhausted the staff", what is the FUNCTION of the phrase "working late every night"?
Subject
Identify the morphemes, morphological process(es) (derivation or inflection) and part of speech of the word in bold:
The committee strongly criticized the shortsightedness of the proposal.
shortsight (compound)+ed+ness
Derivation
Noun
Identify the FUNCTION of the constituents in the following sentence:
The curious young researcher carefully analyzed the results yesterday.
The curious young researcher: subject
carefully analyzed the results yesterday: predicate
the results: direct object
yesterday: adjunct
What are allomorphs?
An allomorph is a variant phonetic form of a morpheme, or in other words, a unit of meaning that varies in sound and spelling without changing the meaning.
In the sentence "The report focuses on the miscalculations made during the experiment", what morphological process(es) did the word miscalculations undergo?
Derivation: mis-, -ion
Inflection: -s
In the sentence "Her main responsibility is coordinating international projects", what is the FUNCTION of the phrase coordinating international projects?
Subject complement
Identify the morphemes, morphological process(es) (derivation or inflection) and part of speech of the word in bold:
Several inconsistencies were found in her testimony.
in+consistent+ency+(ie)s
Derivation and inflection
Noun
Identify the FUNCTION of the constituents in the following sentence:
Several experienced teachers quietly explained the instructions to the students.
Several experienced teachers: subject
quietly explained the instructions to the students: predicate
the instructions: direct object
to the students: indirect object