UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HCMC
FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
ENGLISH MORPHOLOGY
AND SYNTAX
COMPILED AND ADAPTED BY NGUYEN QUANG NHAT
HO CHI MINH CITY, 01/2022
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CHAPTER 1: MORPHEMES
Definition
1. Morphology is the study of the rules governing word formation.
In Greek, morph- means 'shape, form', and so morphology is the study of word forms.
2. A morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit in a language. It is a short segment of language
that meets three criteria:
- It is a word or part of a word that has meaning.
- It cannot be divided into smaller meaningful parts without violation of its meaning.
- We can recognize a morpheme by either its lexical or its grammatical meaning.
E.g.: “unkind” consists of 2 morphemes: the base “kind” means ‘friendly and thoughtful to others’
and the prefix “un”– means‘not’
“talks” consists of 2 morphemes: the base “talk” means ‘say something’ and the suffix “–s”
has no meaning, showing that the verb talks is in the third person singular present-tense form.
Task 1.1. Work in groups and make a cross (X) if the underlined groups of letters are
morphemes.
1 “de-” (in “derail, 9 “trans-” (in “transfer,
deactivate”) transport”)
2 “de-” (in “declare, detail”) 10 “-bloody-” (in “kanga-bloody-
roo, abso-bloody-lutely”)
3 “-age” (in “drainage, 11 “-ic” ( in “clinic, attic, traffic)
orphanage”)
4 “-ly” (in “wily, silly”) 12 “temp-” (in “tempo,
temptation)
5 “-ing” (in “betting, 13 “-eng-” (in “England, engine”)
wishing”)
6 “-ing” (in “bingo, king”) 14 “re-” (in “read, red”)
7 “s” (in “news, virus”) 15 “-ful” (in “powerful,
respectful”)
8 “s” (in “chairs, desks”) 16 “-er” (in “larger, hotter”)
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Task 1.2: Identify the number of morphemes in each word and complete the table below.
1 play 1 7 undesired
2 replay 2 (re– and play) 8 gentlemanliness
3 dating 9 befriended
4 cooperates 10 caretaker
5 wrongdoings 11 hydroelectricity
6 weaklings 12 environmentalists
Classification
1. LEXICAL MORPHEMES VS. GRAMMATICAL MORPHEMES
a. A lexical morpheme is one that carries the content or the meaning of the message.
E.g. follow, type, look, yellow, act, pick, strange.
b. A grammatical morpheme (or functional morpheme) is one that helps the grammar of the
clause or the sentence, but does not carry the content of a message.
E.g.: the, that, them, if, this, by.
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2. BOUND MORPHEMES vs. FREE MORPHEMES
a. Free morphemes can stand alone as separate words or combine with another morpheme.
E.g. Drink is a free morpheme which occurs as a word on its own and as a free base in
drinkable, undrinkable, drinking-water, etc.
b. A bound morpheme is never used alone and must be used with another morpheme.
E.g. the suffix –ing must be used after a verb form: writing, living, driving, etc.
Task 1.3. Identify the bound morpheme(s) in each word.
1 speaker –er 6 underdeveloped
2 kingdoms 7 intervene inter–, –vene
3 truthfulness 8 revise
4 idolized 9 daydreaming
5 selective 10 systematically
3. BASES (STEM), ROOTS, vs. AFFIXES
a. A BASE (also called A STEM) is morpheme in a word that has the principal meaning. It is the
central morpheme, the basic part of a word. There are two kinds of bases:
A FREE BASE is a base which may be a word on its own right once the other morphemes
have been stripped away.
E.g. break in unbreakable, act in deactivated, friend in friendship, etc.
A BOUND BASE is the basic part of a word, has the principal meaning, but it can never
occur on its own.
E.g. The bound base of audience, audible, audition, auditory, auditorium, etc. is audi–; that
of suicide, patricide, matricide, infanticide, etc. is –cide;
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Task 1.4. Underline the base in each word.
1 manly 2 marginalized 3 extraterrestrial
4 endangered 5 enlightening 6 Facebook
7 failures 8 scholarship 9 pityful
10 maternity 11 inflammables 12 falsified
13 infamously 14 Saigonese 15 outsourcing
16 faithfulness 17 unendurable 18 upbringing
19 hyperactive 20 non-alcoholic 21 undercarriage
22 dissatisfaction 23 unethical 24 non-specific
Task 1.5. Identify the meaning of the bound base in each word.
1 audience, audible, audition, auditorium The bound base audi– means ‘hear’.
2 suicide, patricide, matricide, infanticide The bound base –cide means ‘killing’.
3 oral, orate, oration, oracle and oratory
4 aquarium, aquatic, aquaduct
5 mortuary, mortal, immortal
6 vision, (tele)vision, (audio)visual,
supervise,
7 manuscript, manacle, manual, manicure
8 dictate, dictation, diction, contradict
b. A ROOT is the main morpheme of a word that cannot be analyzed any further into constituent
morphemes. In linguistics, a root word can also understood as a base coming from another language.
E.g. “create” is the root of the word “creativity”.
“frīgerāre” is the root of the word “refrigerator”
c. AN AFFIX is a morpheme (usually a bound morpheme) that occurs before or behind a base.
Affixes have four main subclasses:
• PREFIXES ‘occur before a base’ as in import, reconsider, unkind, understate.
• SUFFIXES ‘occur after a base’ as in shrinkage, noisy, quickly, nails, dreamed, mouse-like.
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• INFIXES are inserted within words, such as kanga-bloody-roo, abso-bloomin-lutely.
• CIRCUMFIXES are inserted both before and after a base.
Task 1.6. Identify the meaning of the affix in each word.
1 antedate The prefix ante– means ‘before’.
2 polytechnique
3 controller
4 ex-boyfriend
5 Marxism
6 subway
7 import
8 tricycle
Task 1.7. Add a correct negative prefix to the following words.
1. dependent 6. polite
2. approve 7. logical
3. zip 8. sensitive
4. responsible 9. behave .
5. respect 10. considerate
Further practice
Task 1.8. Analyze the following words into morphemes.
Prefix(es) Base Suffix(es)
inequality in- equal -ity
1. revaluation
2. disorganised
3. invisible
4. non-transferring
5. unlikelihood
6. interdependence
7. interchangeable
8. inaudibility
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Task 1.9. Work in groups, read the statements and decide if they are TRUE or FALSE.
1. There is no difference between syllables and morphemes.
2. Morphemes are the minimal units of English language.
3. Free morphemes must be attached to other words to convey their meaning.
4. If we try to break up a morpheme, the morpheme will lose its identity.
5. There are two morphemes in the word “unhappiness”.
6. Some English words can have more than one prefix.
7. A word can't be a morpheme.
8. Bound morphemes are also called affixes.
9. Roots are always functional morphemes.
10. A phoneme can be a morpheme that has specific mean.
Task 1.10. Choose the correct option A, B, C, or D.
1 Which word contains a bound stem?
A. careless B. deceive
C. goodness D. upstream
2. Which word contains two bound morphemes?
A. bodybuilder B. carefree
C. motorists D. seriously
3. The morpheme “-vise” in the word “television” is a ______.
A. bound base B. functional morpheme
C. suffix D. free morpheme
4_______ are those that have to be combined with other morphemes to form a word.
A. Bound morphemes B. Free morphemes
C. Infixes D. Allomorphs
5. _______ help to modify the meaning of a stem, but they usually do not change the
part of speech of the original word.
A. Roots B. Affixes
C. Prefixes D. Suffixes
6. What type of morpheme do the word “dog” and “his” belong to?
A. Functional morphemes B. Infixes
C. Bound bases D. Free morphemes
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CHAPTER 2: DERIVATION AND INFLECTION
Derivation
1. Defintition
Derivation could be defined as the formation of new words by adding some affixes to a
morpheme so that it can change the lexical meaning of the source words (Richards, Platt & Weber,
2010).
E.g.: immaturity: im + mature + ity
2. Types of derivation
- Class-changing derivational affixes: change the word class of the words to which they are
attached.
E.g.: noun to adjective verb to noun adjective to adverb noun to verb
boy + −ish acquit(t) + −al exact + −ly mortal + −ise
virtu(e) + −ous clear + −ance quiet + −ly vaccin(e)+ −ate
- Class-maintaining derivational affixes: do not change the word class of the words to which
they are attached.
E.g.: Many prefixes fall into this category:
ab- + normal = abnormal multi- + national = multinational
auto- + biography = autobiography re- + print = reprint
There are also suffixes of this type:
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vicar + -age = vicarage New Jersey + -ite = New Jerserite
Americ(a) + -an = American pun + -ster = punster
Task 2.1. Identify the meaning of the underlined derivational morphemes.
1. postdate 2. uberwealthy 3. ultraviolet
4. microorganism 5. bisexual 6. submarine
7. kilowatt 8. decade 9. megalosaur
Task 2.2. Work in groups and find 3 examples for each suffix.
1. –en (v) .......................................................................................
2. –ate (v)........................................................................................
3. –ous (adj) ....................................................................................
4. –ment (n) ....................................................................................
5. –ship (n) .....................................................................................
Task 2.3. Work in groups and identify all the affixes in each of the given words.
1 flirtatiously -ation, -ous, -ly
2 personality
3 microorganism
4 modernizer
5 responsibility
6 honourably
7 practicability
8 purification
9 endangerment
10 contradictorily
Task 2.4. Change the class of the given words with appropriate derivational morphemes.
Noun Verb Adjective
1. add
2. specific
3. poor
4. high
5. explain
6. destroy
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Inflection
1. Defintition
Inflection is “the process of adding an affix to a word or changing it in some other way
according to the rules of the grammar of a language.” [Richards, Platt & Weber, 1987: 77].
E.g.: I work → he works, flower – flowers, man – men
2. Types of derivation
There are 8 inflectional morphemes in English:
English inflectional morphemes Examples
1. The noun plural morpheme trees, tomatoes, oxen, etc.
2. The noun possessive morpheme man’s, girl’s, students’, Alice’s, etc.
3. The verb third person singular present tense walks, studies, mixes, etc.
morpheme
4. The verb present participle morpheme playing, typ(e)ing, digging, etc.
5. The verb past simple morpheme flowed, worked, created, drank, etc.
6. The verb past participle morpheme worked, drunk, broken, shown, etc.
7. The comparative morpheme smaller, thinner, longer, harder, etc.
8. The superlative morpheme smallest, thinnest, longest, fastest, etc.
Task 2.5. Work in groups and list all the inflectional morphemes in the following sentences.
1. In England and Wales, a school year is divided into three terms.
………………………………………………………………………….
2. You are wasting your time looking for a job with higher salary in this town.
………………………………………………………………………….
3. He wanted to have a small party because he got the highest mark in the final exam.
………………………………………………………………………….
4. She ignored her mother’s warnings and ran across the road carelessly.
………………………………………………………………………….
5. Ben’s flat was broken into while he was away and his computer, television, and videos were
stolen.
………………………………………………………………………….
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Task 2.6. Work in groups and decide if the following statements are TRUE or FALSE.
1. Inflectional morphemes are related to the lexical meaning of the words or the sentences.
2. “Pre-, de-, and sub-” are derivational morphemes.
3. Changes in spelling is inevitable when an inflectional morpheme is added to a word.
4. Derivational morphemes add lexical meaning to the root words.
5. “Spec-, cred-, and aud-” are examples of inflectional morphemes.
6. “–ment, -tion, and –ence” are derivational suffixes that show the word class of English words.
7. An English root can have only one derivational suffix added to them.
8. Attaching a derivational morpheme to a root always changes its part of speech.
9. Derivational morphemes can apply freely to nearly every appropriate base.
10. An inflectional morpheme can be added to a derivational morpheme, but not vice
versa.
Task 2.7. Choose the correct option.
1. What kind of morpheme is the affix in suddenly?
A. derivational B. free C. inflectional D. stem
2. How many inflectional morphemes are there in English?
A. 6 B. 7 C. 8 D. 9
3. In derivation, new word forms are produced by ______.
A. the addition of an affix to a stem
B. the addition of an inflection to a stem
C. the combination of two stems
D. the combination of two stems
4. Inflectional morphemes are always ______.
A. suffixes and infixes B. prefixes and infixes
C. suffixes and prefixes D. affixes and circumfixes
5. Inflectional morphemes don’t change the words meaning or class, they just add more ______.
A. grammatical information to the word
B. information to the root word
C. strategical information to the bound base
D. lexical meaning to the stem
6. Derivational morphemes can be either prefixes and suffixes and can ______.
A. change the meaning of the word, the spelling of the word and the words class
B. change the meaning of the word and the spelling of the word
C. change the meaning of the word, the word class, and can add information to the wor
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D. alter the tense that the word is in, i.e past, present and future.
7. What is NOT true about derivational morphemes?
A. They change the meaning of a root.
B. They change part of speech of a root.
C. They carry semantic meaning.
D. They carry grammatical meaning.
8. What is an example of an inflectional morpheme?
A. “-er” to form a comparative adjective
B. “-ly” to form an adverb from an adjective.
C. “-ize” to form a verb from a noun
D. “-ic” to form an adjective.
9. What is NOT true about inflectional morphemes?
A. They only have grammatical function.
B. They never change the part of speech of the root.
C. They are always suffixes in English.
D. They always come before any derivational morphemes.
10. What is an example of a derivational morpheme?
A. un- B. do C. –s D. –ed
Immediate constituents in morphology
1. Definition
Let’s consider Bloomfield’s analysis of the word ungentlemanly. At the first cut, we obtain
two following immediate constituents: un– and gentlemanly:
un–
At the second cut, we obtain 2 following immediate constituents: gentleman and –ly:
gentleman –ly
The third cut separates the two free bases of the compound noun gentleman, resulting in
the two immediate constituents: gentle and man:
gentle man
We have now shown the layers of structure by which the word has been composed, down
to its ultimate constituents: un–, gentle, man, and –ly.
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un– gentle man –ly
Doing word diagrams, like the one above, to show layers of structure, we make successive
divisions into two parts, each of which is called AN IMMEDIATE CONSTITUENT, abbreviated
IC. The process is continued until all the component morphemes of a word, the morphemes of
which the word is composed, have been isolated.
2. Recommendations on IC division
- If a word ends with an inflectional suffix, fist cut this suffix and the rest of the word.
pre– + conceiv(e)⎪ –ed mal– + formation⎪–s
- One of the IC‘s should be, if possible, a free form. Here are examples of wrong and right
first cuts:
Wrong: en– ⎪ large + –ment Right: en– + large ⎪ –ment in– +
depend ⎪ –ent in– ⎪ depend + –ent
un– + law ⎪ –ful un– ⎪ law + –ful
- The meanings of the IC’s should be related to the meaning of the word. It would be wrong to cut
restrain like this: rest ⎪ rain because neither rest nor rain has a semantic connection with
restrain.
Task 2.8. Give the IC cuts of each of the following words.
1. reactions
2. disappearance
3. economically
4. financially
5. unsalaried
6. supermarkets
7. creativity
8. well-prepared
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