MORPHOLOGY

MORPHOLOGY

1. Mental system involved in the word formation

   • First main part
     • Derivation: Builds new words by adding morphemes to roots by affixation
       • Prefixes: Go before the root
         • eg. English prepositions and adverbials
       • Suffixes: Go after the root
         • Suffixes forming nouns
         • Suffixes forming verbs
         • Suffixes forming adjectives
       • Infixes: Segmental strings that go in somewhere in the middle of the root
       • Circumfixes: Consists of a prefix and a suffix that apply to the root simultaneously
     • Compounding: The process of putting two words together to build a new one
       • Compound verbs
       • Compound adverbs
       • Compound adjectives
       • Compound nouns
         • Exocentric compounds
         • Endocentric compounds
         • Appositival compounds
         • Copulative compounds
     • Conversion: Derivational process whereby an item changes its word class without adding any affix
   • Unpredictable formations
     • Clipping : Means cutting off the beginning or end of a word
     • Blending: It's the fusion of two words in one
     • Acronyms: Words derived from the initials of serveral words
     • Initialism: Pronounced as a sequece of letters
   • Borrowing: Process of borrowing words from foreign languages
   • Calque: Process of translating literaly the roots of a borrowed word, then, put them together to form a new one
   • Neologism/ Coinage: Process of inventing entirely new words
   • Onomatopoeia: Words which name is associated to their sound

2. Studies the internal structure of words

   • Word: The smallest independent unit of language
   • Morpheme: The smallest linguistic piece with a grammatical function
     • Free morphemes
     • Bound morphemes