Chapter-II-Morphological-Structure-of-English-Word

Chapter2MorphologicalStructureofEnglishWordsZhanglingHebeiNormalUniversityforNationalitiesSeptember26,2013EnglishLexicologyMainContents2.1Morphemes2.2TypesofMorphemes2.3Allomorphs2.1MorphemesThedefinitionofamorphemeThemorpheme(词素)isthesmallestmeaningfullinguisticunitoflanguage,notdivisibleoranalyzableintosmallerforms.Awordisthesmallestunitofalanguagethatstandsalonetocommunicatemeaning.Structurally,however,awordisnotthesmallestunitbecausemanywordscanbeseparatedintosmallermeaningfulunits.Wordsarecomposedofmorphemes.WhatisusuallyconsideredasinglewordinEnglishmaybecomposedofoneormoremorphemes:2.1MorphemesThedefinitionofamorphemeExampleOnemorpheme:nationTwomorphemes:nation-alThreemorphemes:nation-al-izeFourmorphemes:de-nation-al-ize2.2TypesofMorphemesFreemorphemes(自由词素)Morphemeswhichareindependentofothermorphemesareconsideredtobefree.Freemorphemeshavecompletemeaningsinthemselvesandcanbeusedasfreegrammaticalunitsinsentences.Therefore,wemightaswellsaythatfreemorphemesarecontentmorphemesorfreeroots(自由词根).man,earth,wind,faith,red,write….2.2TypesofMorphemesBoundMorphemes(粘着词素)Morphemeswhichcannotoccurasseparatewordsarebound.Theyaresonamedbecausetheyareboundtoothermorphemestoformwords.Unlikefreemorphemes,theydonothaveindependentsemanticmeaning;instead,theyhaveattachedmeaning(un-kind,hope-ful)orgrammaticalmeaning(cat-s,slow-ly,walk-ing,call-ed).Theyarealsocalledgrammaticalmorphemes.2.2TypesofMorphemesTypesofboundmorphemesBoundroots(粘着词根):Aboundrootisthatpartofthewordthatcarriesthefundamentalmeaningjustlikeafreeroot.Unlikeafreeroot,itisaboundformandhastocombinewithothermorphemestomakewords.Forexample:dict-conveysthemeaningof‘sayorspeak’-----contradict,predict,contradiction,prediction,dictate,diction,dictionary….dur-:continuous,during,duration,durable,endure2.2TypesofMorphemesTypesofboundmorphemesAffixes(词缀):Affixesareformsthatareattachedtowordsorwordelementstomodifymeaningorfunction.Accordingtothefunctionsofaffixes,wecanputthemintotwogroups:inflectionalandderivationalaffixes.2.2TypesofMorphemesInflectionalaffixes(曲折词缀)Affixesattachedtotheendofwordstoindicategrammaticalrelationshipsareinflectional,thusknownasinflectionalmorphemes.Forexample:cats,walked,walking,John’sbook…Derivationalaffixes(派生词缀)Affixesaddedtoothermorphemestocreatenewwords.TheycanbefurtherdividedintoprefixesandsuffixesPrefixes(前缀)Suffixes(后缀)2.2TypesofMorphemesDiagramofmorphemesMorphemesFreeBoundBoundrootAffixesInflectionalDerivationalPrefixSuffix2.3AllomorphsAnallomorph(词素变体)isanyofthevariantformsofamorphemeasconditionedbypositionoradjoiningsounds.Forexample:Themorphemeofplurality{-s}:/s/afterthesounds/t,p,k/;/z/after/d,b,g,l/;/iz/after/s,z,…/go:went,gone2.3Allomorphs-ion/-tion/-sion/-ationarethepositionalvariantsofthesamesuffix.Verbsendingwiththesound/t/usuallytake–ion(asininvent,invention);verdsendingwithconsonantsotherthan/t/take–tion(asindescribe,description);verbsendingin–ifyand–izetake–ation(asinjustify,justification;modernize,modernization);verbsendingin–d,-de,or–mit,take–sion(asinexpansion,decision,omission);thereareexceptions:attend,attention;convert,conversion,etc.2.3AllomorphsAprefixlikeim-occursbeforep,b,orm(imperfect,imbalance,immobile);itsallomorphsareir-beforer(irregular,irresponsible);il-beforel(illogical,illegal);in-beforeallotherconsonantsandvowels(inflexible,incomplete).ExercisesDecentralizationSpecializeIndividualisticHalf-heartedAmanoflettersDownfallPower-drunkExercisesDecentralizationSpecializeIndividualisticHalf-heartedAmanoflettersDownfallPower-drunkde-,center,-al,-ize,-ationspecies,-al,-izein-,divide,-al,-ist,-ichalf,heart,-eda,man,of,letter,-sdown,fallpower,drink,anallomorphof–edExercisesEcocrisisMeaningfulnessPredictionInequalityunderstatementUndevelopedDownsizingMoonscapesupernaturalExercisesEcocrisisMeaningfulnessPredictionInequalityunderstatementUndevelopedDownsizingMoonscapesupernaturaleco-,crisismean,-ing,-ful,-nesspre-,-dict-,-ion-in,equal,-ity-under,state,-ment-un,develop,-eddown,size,-ingmoon,-scape-super,nature,-al