1. LEXEME
It is an abstract unit which refers not to the particular shape that a word has on a particular occasion, but to all the possible shapes that the word can have, that roughly corresponds to a set of words that are different forms of the same word. For example, in the English language, come, comes, came and coming are forms of the same lexeme.
A lexeme is the minimal unit of language which:
- has a semantic interpretation and
- embodies a distinct cultural concept.
It is made up of one or more form-meaning composites called lexical units.
2. INFLECTION vs. WORD-FORMATION
- Compounding: A compound noun is a fixed expression which is made up of more than one word and which functions in the clause as a noun.
For example: baby-sister, letter-box, pen-friend, tin opener, pencil case, tea bag, bus stop…
- Derivation: The formation of a word from an earlier word or base by the addition of an affix. For example:
Advice - advisable; Destruction - destructive; Interest - interesting/ed; Peace - peaceful Luck - lucky; Person - personal; Use - useless…
- Acronym: A word formed from the initial letter or letters of each of the successive parts or major parts or a compound term. (SMS, SCUBA, IPOD, CNN, AD…)
- Back–formation:A word is created by shortening an existing one.
- Townhouse, Warehouse, Pubhouse, Lighthouse, Guesthouse…
- Roommate, Flatmate, Workmate, Schoolmate…
- Passport, airport…
- Armchair, Rokingchair…
- Clipping: Cut a word omitting several syllable. (Vet - veterinary surgeon; Lab- laboratory; Photo - photograph; fax - facsimile; Skylab – skylaboratory…)
- Conversion: A linguistic process that assigns an already existing word to a new word class (part of speech) or syntactic category. This process is also known as a functional shift.
- Water – to water
- Bottle – to bottle
- Love – to love
- Portmanteau words: A word formed by subtraction of a real or supposed affix from an already existing longer word. Motel - motor and hotel; Eurovision - European and television; Chunnel - Channel and tunnel; Hostel - Hostal and Hotel; Paratroops - Parachute and troops…
3. MORPHEME
Morpheme is the minimal, indivisible unit of grammatical analysis. Morphemes are abstract elements of analysis (like lexemes). The concrete realization of a morpheme is a morph.
A morpheme is the smallest linguistic unit that has semantic meaning. In spoken language, morphemes are composed of phonemes, the smallest linguistically distinctive units of sound.
The concept morpheme differs from the concept word, as many morphemes cannot stand as words on their own. A morpheme is free if it can stand alone, or bound if it is used exclusively alongside a free morpheme. Its actual phonetic representation is the morph, with the morphs representing the same morpheme being grouped as its allomorphs.
In conclusion, a morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit in the grammar of a language.
TYPES OF MORPHEMES
o FREE MORPH
Free morph is a morph which is capable of appearing on its own, that is, in isolation (a free morph can also be a word-form). A free morpheme is a grammatical unit that can occur by itself. However, other morphemes such as affixes can be attached to it.
o BOUND MORPHEMES
Bound morpheme is a morph which can only occur in a word-form in conjunction with at least one other morph, that is, is only a part of a larger form. A bound morpheme is a grammatical unit that never occurs by itself, but is always attached to some other morpheme.
o INFLECTIONAL MOPHEMES
Inflectional morphemes modify a word's tense, number, aspect, and so on.
o DERIVATION MORPH
Derivation is the process of creating new lexemes from other lexemes, for example, by adding a derivational affix. It is a kind of word formation. A derivational morpheme usually applies to words of one syntactic category and changes them into words of another syntactic category. For example, the English derivational suffix -ly changes adjectives into adverbs (slow → slowly). Some examples of English derivational suffixes:
adjective-to-noun: -ness (happy → happiness).
adjective-to-verb: -ise (modern → modernise).
noun-to-adjective: -al (recreation → recreational).
noun-to-verb: -fy (glory → glorify).
verb-to-adjective: -able (drink → drinkable).
verb-to-noun: -ance (deliver → deliverance).
o THE ROOT
It is a form which is not further analysable, either in terms of derivational or inflectional morphology. That is, it is the part of the word-form that remains when all inflectional and derivational affixes have been removed. A root is the basic part always present in a lexeme, and is itself morphologically simple (it is not further analysable). E.g. untouchables In this case, (un) and (able) are derivational affixes (they serve to create new lexemes); while (-s) is an inflectional affix (it serves to distinguish the various word-forms within a lexeme), in this case the plural form. Please not that I have used “untouchables” in plural, because here it is a noun.
Therefore, a root is the portion of a word that
- is common to a set of derived or inflected forms, if any, when all affixes are removed
- is not further analyzable into meaningful elements, being morphologically simple, and
- carries the principle portion of meaning of the words in which it functions.
o AN AFFIX
Bound morphs are affixes, they can be prefixes or suffixes depending on the place they occupy in the word. Prefixes appear at the beginning of the word, whereas suffixes are attached at the end of it. In some languages, as Spanish, we can also find infixes, which appear in the middle of the word: e.g. polvareda.
In conclusion, an affix is a bound morpheme that is joined before, after, or within a root or stem. An affix is joined by derivation or inflection.
- PREFIXES
A prefix is an affix that is joined before a root or stem. For example, the prefix un- attaches to the front of the stem selfish to form the word unselfish.
- SUFFIXES
A suffix is an affix that is attached to the end of a root or stem.
Example: The past tense suffix -ed attaches to the end of the stem walk to form the past tense verb walked.
Examples of prefixes:
Prefixes | Meaning | Examples |
UN IN DIS | the opposite of, not, to reserve actions | Unhappy, unusual, unfriendly, undress, unnecessary… Incapable, intolerant, incorrect, independent, incomplete… Dislike, disconnect, dissatisfied, disloyal, disagree… |
NON | not | Nonsense, non-believer, non-breakable, non conformist, nonexistent… |
A | lacking in | Asymmetry, apolitical, asexual, amoral, alive... |
MIS | Wrongly | Misunderstand, misspell, miscalculate, misbehave, misfortune… |
ARCH | highest | Archdeacon, Archduke, Archtype, Archangel, Archeology… |
SUPER | above, more than, better, over | Superficial, Superstructure, Supermarket, Superintendent, Superluxury… |
SUB | lower than, less than | Subtitle, Subway, Subnormal, Submarine, Subdivision… |
OVER | too much | Overcooked, Overpopular, Overtime, Overcoat, Overhanging … |
UNDER | too little | Underground, Undercooked, Underpass, Underdevelopment, Undergarments… |
HYPER | extremely | Hyperactive, Hypercritical, Hypersensitive, Hyperventilate, Hypertense… |
ULTRA | extremely, beyond | Ultraviolet, Ultramodern, Ultrabasic, Ultracareful, Ultracasual… |
MINI | little | Mini-skirt, Mini-budget, Minibar, Minicomputer, Miniseries… |
CO- | with | Cooperate, Coexist, Coeditor, Codirector, Coadjacent … |
ANTI | against | Antinuclear, Antiseptic, Antifreeze, Antibiotics, Antismoke… |
INTER | between, among | Interchange, Interplanetary, International, Intercontinental… |
TRANS | across, from one place to another | Transatlantic, transcontinental, transform, transmit, transplant… |
PRE | before | Pre-natal, pre-marital, prehistoric, predict, precaution… |
POST | after | Postgraduate, postoperation, postdated, postretirement, postmortem… |
EX | former | Ex-president, ex-wife, exfoliate, explode, extract… |
RE | again, back | Rebuild, remarry, redo, remake, replace… |
UNI-MONO | one | Unilateral, unisex, uniform, unicorn, universe… Monorail, monoplane, monolingual, mononucleosis, monoracial… |
BI-DI | two | Bilingual, bimonthly, bisexual, bifocal, bicycle… Dicyclic, difunctional, ditransitive, dimolecular, digastric |
TRI | three | Tridimensional, tripartite, triangle, tripod, tricolor… |
Some of the most important suffixes are…
Suffixes | Meaning | Examples | |
Occupational | -STER- ER | Person engaged in an occupation or activity | Barrister, minister, mobster, gangster , songster… Teacher, driver, murderer, painter, writer.. |
Status or domain | -HOOD | Status | Fatherhood, Neighbourhood, childhood, priesthood, sisterhood… |
Status or domain | - SHIP | Status, condition | Friendship, relationship, citizenship, battleship, championship… |
Status or domain | -OCRACY | System of Government | Democracy, plutocracy, autocracy, aristocracy, neocracy… |
Communities and Nationalities | - ITE | Member of Community | Israelite, Hittite, Zionite, Muscovite, Jacobite |
Communities and Nationalities | - ESE | Nationality | Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Lebanese… |
Communities and Nationalities | - IST | Member of a party, occupation | Communist, masochist, typist, journalist, anarchist… |
Communities and Nationalities | - ISM | Attitude, political movement | Communism, impressionism, nudism, fascism, masochism |
