Morphology

Grammar Lesson: Morphology

Introduction

Words are the basic units of meaning in a language. They can be simple or complex, depending on how many parts they contain. These parts are called morphemes, and they are the smallest units of meaning in a word. In this grammar lesson, we will learn about three main processes that create complex words: inflection, derivation, and compounding. We will also learn how to identify and analyse the structure of words using these processes.

The Structure of Words: Morphology

Morphology is the study of the structure and form of words in language. Words can be simple or complex, depending on how many morphemes they contain. A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning in a word. There are three main processes that create complex words: inflection, derivation, and compounding.

Inflection

Inflection is the change in the form of a word that reflects a change in grammatical function, such as number, tense, or case. Inflection does not change the identity or word class of a word; it remains the same lexeme. Inflection usually involves adding an affix, which is a morpheme attached to the beginning (a prefix) or to the end (a suffix) of a word. The following word classes are marked by inflection:

nouns: boy (singular), boys (plural), boy’s (genitive singular), boys’ (genitive plural)
verbs: live (base form), lives (singular present tense), lived (past tense), lived (past participle), living (ing-participle)
adjectives: dark (positive), darker (comparative), darkest (superlative)
adverbs: soon (positive), sooner (comparative), soonest (superlative)

Other classes of words are generally invariable, such as prepositions (of, in, with), conjunctions (if, while, unless), and determiners (the, each, several).

Derivation

Derivation is the process of creating new words by adding prefixes or suffixes to existing words. Derivation changes the meaning or word class of a word, or both, and creates a new base form for the word. For example:

ex+president = ex-president (noun + noun = noun; meaning: former president)
un+kind = unkind (prefix + adjective = adjective; meaning: not kind)
re+read = reread (prefix + verb = verb; meaning: read again)
a+broad = abroad (prefix + noun = adverb; meaning: in or to a foreign country)

Words can be built up using several prefixes and suffixes, such as:

industri +al = industrial (noun + suffix = adjective; meaning: related to industry)
industri +al +ise = industrialise (adjective + suffix = verb; meaning: make industrial)
industri+al+is+ation = industrialisation (verb + suffix = noun; meaning: the process of making industrial)
post+industri+al = post-industrial (prefix + adjective = adjective; meaning: after the industrial period)

Notice that inflections follow derivational suffixes:

central+is+ed = centralised (verb + suffix = adjective; meaning: made central)
build+er +s = builders (noun + suffix = noun; meaning: people who build)

Compounding

Compounding is the process of creating new words by combining two or more stems. A stem is a base form that can be used to make other words. Words that are compounds contain more than one stem. For example:

chair+man = chairman (noun + noun = noun; meaning: a man who presides over a meeting or an organization)
girl+friend = girlfriend (noun + noun = noun; meaning: a female friend or lover)
cook+book = cookbook (verb + noun = noun; meaning: a book of recipes)
guess+work = guesswork (verb + noun = noun; meaning: work based on guessing)
blue+bird = bluebird (adjective + noun = noun; meaning: a bird with blue feathers)
flat+fish = flatfish (adjective + noun = noun; meaning: a fish with a flat body)
head+long = headlong (noun + adjective = adverb; meaning: with the head foremost)
water+tight = watertight (noun + adjective = adjective; meaning: not allowing water to pass through)

How do we know whether two words are genuinely a compound and not simply a sequence of two words? Three tests help to show this:

The word will be spelt as a single word, without spaces between the two forms: goldfish, not gold fish.
It will be pronounced with the main stress on the first element: a goldfish, not a gold fish.
It will have a meaning that cannot be determined from the individual parts: goldfish (= an ornamental fish of the carp family) not gold fish (= a fish that is made of gold).

If a word passes all three tests, there is no doubt that it is a compound. But in other cases, we may be uncertain about whether an expression is one word or two words. As an in-between category, consider words that are joined by hyphens: e.g. gold-tipped, care-free. This shows that the combination overall is felt to be a single word, and yet the two parts are felt to be somewhat separate. There are also words like ice cream, which are usually spelt as two separate orthographic words, but where the pronunciation and meaning tests suggest a single word. Like many categories in grammar, compounds are not a hard-and-fast category.

Conclusion

In this grammar lesson, we have learnt about morphology, the study of the structure and form of words in language. We have seen that words can be simple or complex, depending on how many morphemes they contain. We have also learnt about three main processes that create complex words: inflection, derivation, and compounding. We have further learnt how to use different tests to identify and analyse the structure of words using these processes. I hope that this grammar lesson has helped you to understand and use words more effectively in English.