Morphology problems

In this project we are going to talk about morphology and morphology problems.

First, we need to introduce what is morphology to know what types of problems may exist and work on them to solve them.

There are different types of words, Simple words, Complex words and Compound words.

We can find different morphemes with one syllable, two syllables, three syllables, four syllables or more than four syllables.

Morphemes have different types:  Derivational morphemes, Inflectional morphemes and bound morpheme

We are going to play in a competition. There are 4 groups. The first group which has the correct answer will have 4 points, the second group will have 3 points, the third group will have 2 points and the last group will have 1 point. These points will be added to the points of the last activity which will be explained later.

ACTIVITY 2

You have to put some words in the correct column. Then you have to say if these words are verbs, adjectives and nouns.

MORPHOLOGY PROBLEMS

From this theory, we know that there are several morphemes that cause problems when doing an activity. These morphemes are:

First one, it is /-S/. This morpheme can cause a problem because /-s/ can be third person, possessive or plural; and it’s a problem because if we don’t know the context, we will have problems to identify it.

Another one, it is /-ED/ that it can be past tense or past participle.

There is a same morpheme that it can be inflectional and derivational. /-ER/ can indicate the comparative (inflectional), or it can create a new word (derivational) as in work/worker. If we add the morpheme /-s/ we follow the same grammatical structure, in other words, workers will be derivational too.

Work - verb        Worker - noun        Derivational

Worker - noun        Workers - noun    Inflectional

The same morpheme does not always attach to the same word class, for instance, /-UN/ can attach to verbs and adjectives (unlock/unacceptable), etc. This means that the morpheme /un-/ doesn’t change its grammatical structure.

Also, we find another two morphemes in that we find problems. One of these morphemes is /-ING/ and it can be a verb or an adjective and the other one is /-EST/ making a new word or a superlative.

Distinguish derivational and inflectional morphemes:

The morphemes in the list on the left contribute in some way to the insertion of the words in a particular grammatical context, so that the word agrees with this context in terms of tense, number, person etc.  These are called inflectional morphemes, note that these are all suffixes.

The morphemes in the list on the right bring considerable semantic changes to the word, often word class is changed, e.g. modern (adj.) > modernise (v.); drink (v.) > drinkable (adj.); nation (n.) > national (adj). These are called derivational morphemes because they are used to derive new words. Derivational morphemes may be prefixes or suffixes.

The last one is the allomorph. We don't know when a morpheme is inert/when it undergoes phonological processes/or when it triggers phonological processes.

Consider the following examples:

Note the three different pronunciations of the plural morpheme (on the basis of phonological characteristics of the preceding consonant). Are known as allomorphs.

Another example of allomorphy is in the suffix for regular verbs in the past and past participle, -ed.

Backformation is a morphological process in which the process of derivation is seen to be reversed. The more complex word comes first, and then some element is subtracted from it. This happens with the word baby sitter, this is a compound word and it is the verb baby sit the one which is said to be derived from baby sitter.

Because of this, when we have to decide the direction of the derivation, diverse problems might rise up. In words such as worker, worker derives from the verb work but what does it happen with the word editor?

To know how to answer to this question there is a list which everyone should always keep in mind, so that when we have to choose the direction of the derivation we know how to do it correctly.

Some of these words are the following:

1. adolesce from adolescence
2. automate from automation
3. babysit from babysitter
4. edit from editor
5. bibliograph from bibliography
6. choreograph from choreography
7. decadent from decadence
8. destruct from destruction
9. donate from donation
10. evaluate from evaluation
11. fragmentate from fragmentation
12. injure from injury
13. manipulate from manipulation
14. sculpt from sculptor
15. sleepwalk from sleepwalking
16. house keep from house keeper

There are many affixes which are usually given a constant element of meaning, as it happens to the affixes –able or -un.

When a word finishes in –able, it is usual to associate it with the action of “able to be something”. As for example in acceptable, which will refers to something that is “able to be accepted”.

But this is not the only meaning a word with the suffix –able can have. If you use the adjective comparable in a sentence as for example: “Its quality is comparable to more expensive models”, it will have an additional meaning. Besides comparing, we are also «««praising the object’s quality.

Other affixes follow a similar procedure, as it happens with the affix –un. It can have different meanings, doing the opposite or just the negative of the root. A word will mean doing the opposite when it is preceded by the affix –un (fasten à unfasten). And it will also be able to transform the word into negative (fair à unfair).

But there are six various of expressing negation:

à

Anti à antisocial

In à Inability

il à illegal

im à impossible

ir à irregular

un à unpredictable

non à nonsense

It is important to know that a word which is containing a negative affix does not necessarily mean that the word is going to have the negative meaning when comparing it to the root.

This project has been designed with the aim of improving compression of morphology by students. To do this, they will study basic knowledge of morphology, the internal structures of words and rules that constitute them. Not to mention the most common problems of morphological character that tend to commit. In addition, with the proposed activities, they will test their knowledge of the morphology, being able to direct and assess their learning independently.