CLASS 3.

MORPHOLOGICAL STRUCTURE OF A WORD

TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION

1. Morphological structure of a word

2. Definition of the morpheme.
3. Types of morphemes.
4. Semantic and structural classification of morphemes.
5. Classification of words according to the number and
types of morphemes.
6. Structural types of English words
7. Morphemic analysis (IC / UC analysis).

READING

1. Ganetska, L. V. (2004). Lexi-Maker: Modern English

Lexicology in Tables, Figures and Exercises. Кyiv: Lenvit
(pp. 36-51).
2. Арнольд, И. В. (1986). Лексикология современного
английского языка (3-е изд.). Москва: Высшая школа
(с. 77-107).
3. Гинзбург, Р. С., Хидекель, С. С., Князева, Г. Ю., & Санкин,
А. А. (1979). Лексикология английского языка. Москва:
Высшая школа (с. 89-107).
4. Мостовий, М. І. (1993). Лексикологія англійської мови.
Харків: Основа (с. 10-29).

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© Стрельченко К. С., Федорова А. О., Чеснокова Г. В. 2020
 KEY TERMS:
►Morpheme ►Root ►Stem ►Affix ►Allomorph
►Free morpheme ►Bound morpheme
►Semi-bound morpheme ►Inflection
►Functional affix ►Derivational affix
►Living affix ►Dead affix
►Productive affix ►Non-productive affix
►Monomorphic word ►Polymorphic word
►Derived word ►Compound word ►IC/UC analysis

ACTIVITIES

Activity 1. Analyse the following words into morphemes

and use the words to complete the table.

Gatecrasher, disagreement, fingertips, knives, fault-finding,

afloat, hardship, widespread, post-modernism, trust,
subscription, broad-minded, interchangeable, calmed, ablaze,
sharp-tongued, wilderness, cross-cultural, time-consuming,
working, tongue-tied, prices, occupant, lively, income, sports,
railway, obligation, datum, insufferable, subscription, graphic,
joyriding, oxen, encircle, aid, forces, spacious, cat.
Simple words Derived Compounds Derivationa
words proper l
compounds

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© Стрельченко К. С., Федорова А. О., Чеснокова Г. В. 2020
Activity 2. Complete the table.

Affix Native/ Productive Meaning/ Examples

borrowed (P)/ function
non-
productive
(NP)
com-/ borrowed NP with, together to compile
con-/ ………………
co- ………………
retro- P ………………
………………
………………
op- NP opponent
………………
………………
amphi- NP ………………
………………
………………
-th NP nouns from ………………
adjectives ………………
………………
-er P doer
………………
………………
-ness P nouns ………………
denoting ………………
state, quality, ………………
degree
-ee P payee
………………
………………
-tion P nouns from ………………
verbs ………………
………………
-ic/-ics NP noun: art, music
science ………………
………………
-en P verb: make darken
like ………………
………………
………………

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© Стрельченко К. С., Федорова А. О., Чеснокова Г. В. 2020
-ise/ P verb: make, ………………
-ize conform to ………………
………………
-ous NP adjective: glorious
characterized ………………
by, full of ………………
-ful P ………………
………………
………………
-less P ………………
………………
………………

Activity 3. Consult a dictionary and identify the dead

affixes in the words that follow.

attribute appeal succeed alleviate

answer assimilate abbreviate efficient

Activity 4. Consult a dictionary and explain the meanings

of the morphemes of classical origin in bold. Provide at
least two more words containing each of the highlighted
morphemes in the table.

Word Meaning of the Further examples

morpheme
dehydration
herbicide
homonym
democrat
generation
grapheme
aggravate
kilobyte
kin(a)esthetic
elaboration
morphology
immortal
circumstances
sympathy
sophist
verbal

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© Стрельченко К. С., Федорова А. О., Чеснокова Г. В. 2020
Activity 5. Explain the meaning of each of the prefixes in
bold. Put the labels in bold into the appropriate boxes (1–
8). Provide one more word with each of the prefixes in the
table.

number location/distance negation reversal

orientation disparaging size/degree time/order
1 ……… 2 ……… 3 ……… 4 ………
amoral defrost maltreat anticlockwise
disobey disconnect mishear autobiography
non-smoker undo pseudo- counteract
unwise intellectual prosocialist
5 ……… 6 ……… 7 ……… 8 ………
megaloan extraterrestrial ex-husband bilingual
miniskirt international forewarn demigod
outrun foreleg Neo-Gothic digraph
overworked pan-American post-modern monophthong
subconscious telescope pre-marital multipurpose
superman transatlantic Proto-Indo- semicircle
ultrasound European polytechnic
underestimate renew tricycle
vice-president unisex

Activity 6. Explain the meaning of each of the suffixes in

bold. Provide further examples of words containing these
suffixes.

1) picturesque, Byronesque
2) lioness, heiress
3) kitchenette, statuette,
diskette
4) neologism, Americanism
5) grayish, twentyish

6) piglet, booklet
7) catling, duckling
8) doggy, dolly
9) twofold, threefold
10) homeward, downward

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© Стрельченко К. С., Федорова А. О., Чеснокова Г. В. 2020
Activity 7. Analyse the morphological structure of the
words below. Then find allomorphs of the same
morphemes and use them to complete the table as in the
example.

Illegal, inability, pleasure, improbable, strengthen(v),

irresistible, revision, broadly, breadth, shelf, pleasant,
stronghold, indestructible, depth, enact(v), please, finite,
empower(v), unprintable, lengthen(v), infinity, exclamation,
irrelevant, deepen(v), pseudonym, exclaim(v), shelve(v),
prolong(v), destroyer, revise(v), finish, onomatopoeia.
in- (inability), il- (illegal)…
onym-
pleas-
-able
strong-
-stroy-
-claim-
-vis-
en-
deep-
long-
finit-
shelv-
broad-

Activity 8. Analyse the following words into immediate

constituents.
disappearance, hopefully, unthinkable, improvement,
interactive, insufferable, renewal, impersonal, biodegradable

Activity 9. IC analysis is one of the

tools which enable a researcher to
account for the morphological
ambiguity of derived words. For
example, the adjective unlockable
can be taken to mean ‘one that
cannot be locked’ (un-lockable) or
‘one that can be unlocked’ (unlock-
able). How can IC analysis account for the difference in
the meanings of the words below?

undoable unzipable uninstallable unwrapable

unpackable untieable unfoldable unloadable
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© Стрельченко К. С., Федорова А. О., Чеснокова Г. В. 2020
Activity 10. Analyse the following words into morphemes,
following the suggested pattern.

peanuts misty-eyed brethren uncontrollable sugar-free

lengthy restrictive sports-minded whirlwind manly
optional deforestation divergent
upper incredibly copies latest blissfully

Morphological analysis

1) Single out the morphemes and define the stem.

2) Define the type of the word according the number and
types of morphemes.
3) Analyse each morpheme to determine whether it is
➢ free/bound/semi-bound
➢ functional/derivational
➢ living/dead
4) If the word is a compound, define its type.

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© Стрельченко К. С., Федорова А. О., Чеснокова Г. В. 2020