Unit 1 (Cont.

)
MORPHEMES
 AFFIXES
• AN AFFIX is a morpheme (usually a bound morpheme) ‘that occurs before
or behind a base’ Classified according to their POSITION in words, affixes
have three main subclasses:
Prefixes Suffixes Infixes
- occur before a base - occur after a base - are inserted within
- Ex: import, prefix, - Ex: noisy, quickly, words
unkind, understand careful, dreamed - not exist in English

• Affixes may be added directly to bases or to constructions consisting of a

base plus one or more (either free or bound) morphemes.
Thus we have: work + –s = works
worker + –s = workers
workshop + –s = workshops
 AFFIXES
Classified according to their FUNCTION in words, affixes have
two main subclasses:
• INFLECTIONAL affixes, ‘which are always suffixes in
English, perform a grammatical function; they are
representatives of grammatical categories’. [Jackson, 1980: 53]
• DERIVATIONAL affixes, ‘which may be prefixes or suffixes
in English, have a lexical function; they create new words out
of existing words or morphemes by their addition’. [Jackson,
1980: 53]
 INFLECTIONAL AFFIXES
• The only eight inflectional suffixes in English are:
the noun plural morpheme {–S1}: book–s, apple–s, box–es, etc.
the noun possessive morpheme {–S2}: man–‘s, girl–‘s, students–‘, Alice–‘s, etc.
the verb third person singular present tense morpheme {–S3}: walk–s, find–s, mix–es, etc.
the verb present participle morpheme {–ing1}: play–ing, typ(e)–ing, dig(g)–ing, etc.
the verb past simple morpheme {–D1}: flow–ed, work–ed, creat(e)–ed, drank, broke,
thought, show–ed, etc.
the verb past participle morpheme {–D2}: flow–ed, work–ed, creat(e)–ed, drunk, broken,
thought, show–n, etc.
the adjective or adverb comparative morpheme {–er1}: small–er, saf(e)–er, thinn–er,
long–er, fast–er, hard–er, etc.
the adjective or adverb superlative morpheme {–est1}: small–est, saf(e)– est, thinn–est,
long–est, fast–est, hard–est, etc.
Inflectional affixes
 DERIVATIONAL AFFIXES

Derivational affixes may be of two kinds:

• Class-changing derivational affixes change the word class of the
word to which they are attached: –al added to nation makes an
adjective out of a noun.
• Class-maintaining derivational affixes do not change the word
class of the word to which they are attached. Derivational prefixes
are usually class-maintaining: re–mark, dis–enthrone, un–refined,
etc.
Class-changing derivational affixes
Class-maintaining derivational affixes
 Distinguishing inflectional from derivational morphemes
Inflectional morpheme Derivational morpheme
- Grammatical function - Lexical function
- No word class change - May cause word class change
- Small or no meaning change - Some meaning change
- Often required by rules of - Never required by rules of
grammar grammar
- Follow derivational morphemes in - Precede inflectional morphemes in
a word a word
- Productive - Some productive, many
nonproductive
 The order of morphemes in English words

derivational prefix – base – derivational suffix(es) – inflectional suffix

 ALLOMORPHS
• An allomorph is ‘any of the different forms of a morpheme’.
• Or morphemes have two or more different pronunciations, called allomorphs
• Ex: The inflectional noun plural morpheme {–S1}: cat /kæt/ → cats /kæts/;
dog /dɒɡ/ → dogs /dɒɡz/;
box /bɒks/ → boxes /bɒksɪz /
It is believed that /–s/, /–z/, /–ɪz/ are three allomorphs of the inflectional noun plural
morpheme {–S1} because:
• They are in complementary distribution:
/–s / occurs only after the voiceless consonants /p, t, k, f, θ/;
/–ɪz / occurs only after the sibilant consonants /s, z, ∫, ʒ, t∫, dʒ/;
/–z/ occurs after voiced sounds, including all vowels and voiced consonants except /z/,
/ʒ/, /dʒ/
• They all have the same meaning, either lexical or grammatical: /–s/, /–z/, /–ɪz/ all
refer to ‘plurality’ and all mean ‘more than one’.
 Selection of allomorphs
• The selection of allomorphs are phonologically conditioned . In this case,
the conditioning factor is the phonetic nature of their preceding phoneme:
/–s/ occurs only after the voiceless consonants /p, t, k, f, θ/;
/–ɪz/ occurs only after the groove fricatives and affricates /s, z, ∫, ʒ, t∫, dʒ/;
/–z/ occurs only after voiced sounds, except the three voiced sibilants /z, ʒ, dʒ/
• The selection of allomorphs may also be morphologically conditioned. In
this case, the selection is determined by the specific morpheme or
morphemes forming the context:
 the plural of ox /ɒks/ is oxen /‘ɒksən/; /–ən/ is a morphologically conditioned
allomorph of the inflectional noun plural morpheme {–S1} which is used with
this stem /ɒks/:
ox / ɒks/ + -en /-ən/ → oxen /’ ɒksən/
 Types of allomorphs
1. Additive allomorphs
- To signify some difference in meaning, something is added to a word.
Ex. the past tense form verbs is formed by adding the suffix –ed
→ pronounced as either /–t/, or /–d/ or /–ɪd/:
ask + –ed /ɑːsk/ + /–t/,
liv(e) + –ed /lɪv/ + /–d/,
need + –ed /ni:d/ + /–ɪd/.
 Types of allomorphs
2. Replacive allomorphs
- To signify some difference in meaning, a sound is used to replace another
sound in a word.
- Ex. the /ɪ/ in drink is replaced by the /æ/ in drank to signal the simple past.
This is symbolized as follows:
/dræŋk/ = /drɪŋk/ + / ɪ → æ/.
3. Subtractive allomorphs:
To signify some difference in meaning, something is deleted from a word.
For example, the letter a is deleted from zopa to signal that this Russian noun
is in the plural form of the possessive case.
 Types of allomorphs
4. Suppletive allomorphs:
- To signify some difference in meaning, there is a complete change in the
shape of a word.
- Ex. go + the suppletive allomorph of {–D1} = went;
be + the suppletive allomorph of {–S3} = is;
bad + the suppletive allomorph of {–er1} = worse;
good + the suppletive allomorph of {–est1} = best.
5. The zero allomorph:
- There is no change in the shape of a word though some difference in
meaning is identified.
- Ex. the past tense form of hurt is formed by adding the zero allomorph of
{–D1} to this word.
 Exercise 8 – p.30
Question: Explain why ‘a’ and ‘an’ are two allomorphs of
the same morpheme.

Answer:
‘a’ and ‘an’ are two allomorphs of the same morpheme because
- they are in complementary distribution:
• ‘a’ occurs before consonant phonemes
• ‘an’ occurs before vowel phonemes
- and they have the same meaning: ‘one’
 Extra exercise
Question: Explain why ‘was’ and ‘were’ are two allomorphs
of the same morpheme.
Answer:
Because they are in complementary contribution:
• was /wəz/ occurs with the first person and the third person
singular subject.
• were /wɜː/ occurs with the third & first person plural subject and
the second person both plural and singular subject.
And they have the same meaning: used to say something about a
person, thing, or state, to show a permanent or temporary quality,
state, job, etc. in the past
 Give examples of the following morphemes
• The inflectional verb past simple morpheme {−D1}:
• The inflectional verb past participle morpheme {−D2}:
• The derivational class-changing adjective-forming morpheme {−D3}:

• The inflectional verb present participle morpheme {−ing1}:

• The derivational class-changing noun-forming morpheme {−ing2}:
• The derivational class-changing adjective-forming morpheme {−ing3}:

• The derivational class-changing adverb-forming morpheme {−ly1}:

• The derivational class-changing adjective-forming morpheme {−ly2}:
 Give examples of the following morphemes
• The inflectional adjective comparative morpheme {−er1}:
• The derivational class-changing noun-forming morpheme {−er2}:
• The derivational class-changing verb-forming morpheme {−er3}:

• The inflectional noun plural morpheme {–S1}:

• The inflectional noun possessive morpheme {–S2}:
• The inflectional verb third person singular present tense morpheme {–S3}: