9077: MORPHOLOGY

Unit 1 INTRODUCTION TO MORPHOLOGY

1.1 What is Morphology?
1.2 Morphology and Phonology
1.2.1 What is Phonology?
1.2.2 What is Morphology?
1.3 Morphology and Graphology
1.4 Morphology and Syntax
1.5 Morphology and Semantics
1.6 Morphology and Phraseology
1.7 Morphology and Sociolinguistics
Unit 2 WHAT IS A WORD?
2.1 Words as Meaningful Units
2.2 Words as Building Blocks of Language
2.3 Words as Meaningful Building Blocks of Language
2.4 The Nature of Words
2.5 Words as Types and Words as Tokens
2.5.1 Words with Predictable Meanings
2.6 The Lexicon
2.7 Words as Lexical Items
Unit 3 WORDS AND MORPHEMES
3.1 Parts of Word
3.2 Base Form and Affixes
3.3 Morpheme
3.4 Bound and Free Morphemes
3.5 Affixes and Typology of Affixes
3.6 Prefixes, Roots, Suffixes of Affixes
3.6.1 Prefixes
3.6.2 Roots
3.6.3 Suffixes
Unit 4 MORPHOLOGICAL RULES
4.1 Allomorphs
4.2 Typology of Allomorphs
4.2.1 Additive Allomorph
4.2.2 Replacive Allomorphs
4.2.3 Suppletive Allomorphs
4.2.4 Zero Allomorphs /Ø/
4.3 Cognates
4.4 Homophony in Roots and Affixes
4.5 Language Types: Isolating, Fusional, and Agglutinating
4.5.1 Fusional Languages
4.5.2 Agglutinative Languages
4.5.3 Isolating Language
Unit 5 WORD FORMATION PROCESSES
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Affixation
5.2.1 Prefixation
5.2.2 Suffixation
5.3 Compounding
5.4 Conversion
5.4.1 Verbification
5.4.2 Nonce Words
5.4.3 Shift in Meaning
5.4.4 Grammaticalisation
5.4.5 Stress Shift
5.4.6 Pronunciation
5.5 Clipping
5.6 Blending
5.7 Suppletion
5.8 Initialisms and Acronyms
5.9 Borrowing or Calquing
5.10 Coinage, Eponyms and Toponyms
5.10.1 Coinages
5.10.2 Toponyms
5.10.3 Eponyms
5.11 Apophony
5.12 Autonyms and Exonyms
Unit 6 COMPOUND WORDS AND PHRASES WORDS
6.1 Phrases versus Compounds
6.2 Compound Verbs
6.3 Compound Adjectives
6.4 Compound Nouns
6.5 Headed and Headless Compounds
6.6 Phrasal Words
Unit 7 INFLECTIONAL MORPHOLOGY
7.1 Inflectional and Derivational Morphology
7.1.1 Inflectional Morphology
7.1.2 Derivational Morphology
7.2 What Distinguishes Inflectional from Derivative Morphology?
7.3 Grammatical Categories
7.3.1 Decimal
7.3.2 In/Definiteness
7.3.3 Tense and Aspect
7.3.4 Case
7.3.5 Person
7.3.6 Gender
7.3.7 Mood
7.4 Functions of Major Linguistic Categories
7.4.1 Nouns: Singular and Plural
7.4.2 Natural and Grammatical Genders: Masculine, Feminine, and Neuter
7.4.3 Definitions: Definite and Indefinite
7.4.4 Possession: First, Second, and Third; Singular and Plural
7.4.5 Noun Class (Grammatical Gender)
7.4.6 Paradigm for Case (Declension)
7.5 Adjectives
7.5.1 Relational: Qualitative: Defective
7.5.2 Degree: Comparative and Superlative
7.6 Verbs
7.6.1 Transitivity: Transitive and Intransitive
7.6.2 Aspect: Perfective and Imperfect
7.7 Tense
7.8 Voice: Active, Passive
7.9 Mood
7.10 Conjugation Classes
7.11 Participles
7.12 Quantifiers
7.13 Inflectional Affixes
7.14 Regular and Irregular Inflection
Unit 8 WORD STUDY STRATEGIES
8.1 Introduction
8.1.1 The Importance of Vocabulary Learning Strategies
8.2 Word Part Strategy
8.3 Word Roots
8.4 The Use of Dictionaries
8.5 Using Word Cards
8.6 The Word Card Strategy
8.7 The Keyword Technique
Unit 9 MORPHOLOGICAL THEORY
9.1 Introduction
9.2 A-Morphous Morphology
9.3 Articulated Morphology
9.4 Categorical Morphology
9.5 Distributed Morphology
9.6 Lexeme-Morpheme Base Morphology
9.7 Natural Morphology
9.8 Network Phonology
9.9 Paradigm Function Morphology
9.10 Prosodic Morphology
9.11 Word-Syntax Morpheme

Unit 1 INTRODUCTION TO MORPHOLOGY

➢ Phonology as a subject focuses on sound systems (speech grammar) of
languages, whereas morphology as a field pays attention to morphemes as
meaning blocks and the word structures of languages.
➢ Graphology is the study of handwriting as a means of analyzing character. It
is sometimes also studied as an interesting branch of knowledge.
➢ Syntax as a term comes from Greek, which means ‘to arrange together.’
Syntax explores the structure of sentences and word order/arrangement in a
sentence.
➢ Semantics is the study of meaning. It is also studied as a feature of syntax,
sometimes about the 'truth value' of the sentence. Meanings are important and
often found interesting to see how an utterance is used and what it means in a
specific context.
➢ Phraseology, as a subject, is the study of fixed expressions, or sets of
expressions, such as phrasal verbs, idioms, and other types of multi-word
lexical units. These units are often called phrasemes.
➢ Sociolinguistics is an important branch of linguistics. It is the study of the
relationship between language and society. It is concerned with how language
use interacts with or is affected by social factors such as age, gender,
geographical area, ethnicity, or social class.

Unit 2 WHAT IS A WORD?

➢ Word is the smallest independent unit of grammar in a language.
➢ Language is a foundation or building block of thinking. It has three
building blocks: phonemes, morphemes, and words.
➢ Words are the basic units of language.
➢ The distinction between a type and token is an ontological one between a
general sort of thing and its particular concrete instances.
➢ The lexicon is the collection of all the words and phrases in a language,
along with their meanings, pronunciations, and grammatical properties. It
includes all the words that are used in written and spoken language, including
common words, technical terms, idioms, and slang.
➢ Lexical items are the building blocks of language, and their meanings and
grammatical properties play a fundamental role in our ability to
communicate effectively.

Unit 3 WORDS AND MORPHEMES

➢ In morphology, we need to divide a word into various morphemes, e.g.,
base form and affixes.
➢ Prefixes, roots, and suffixes are three different types of morphemes that can
be used to build words in a language.
➢ By combining prefixes, roots, and suffixes, we can create new words and
modify the meaning of existing words. For example, the word "unhappiness"
is formed by combining the prefix "un-", the root "happy," and the suffix "-
ness."
➢ A prefix is a morpheme that is added to the beginning of a word to modify
its meaning. For example, the prefix "un-" can be added to the word "happy"
to create the word "unhappy," which means not happy.
➢ A root is a morpheme that contains the core meaning of a word and cannot
be further broken down into smaller units of meaning. For example, the root
"act" is the core meaning of words like "actor," "actress," and "action."
➢ A suffix is a morpheme that is added to the end of a word to modify its
meaning or grammatical function. For example, the suffix "-able" can be
added to the word "read" to create the word "readable," which means capable
of being read.

Unit 4 MORPHOLOGICAL RULES

➢ An allomorph is a variant form of a morpheme that is phonetically or
phonologically conditioned. In other words, an allomorph is a different
pronunciation of the same morpheme that occurs in different linguistic
contexts.
➢ Cognates are words in two or more languages that have a similar form and
meaning because they share a common origin. These words are often related
through historical linguistic processes such as language borrowing, language
change, or language evolution.
➢ Homophony is a linguistic phenomenon where two or more words have the
same pronunciation but different meanings. In morphology, homophony can
occur with roots and affixes, where two or more morphemes have the same
pronunciation but different meanings.
➢ Fusional languages are languages where a single word can contain multiple
morphemes that convey several grammatical or lexical meanings
simultaneously. In fusional languages, morphemes often have multiple
functions, making it difficult to distinguish between them.
➢ Agglutinative languages are characterized by a relatively fixed word order
and a high degree of regularity in their morphology. Examples of
agglutinative languages include Turkish, Japanese, and Swahili.
➢ An isolating language is a language where each word is made up of one or
more independent morphemes, each of which carries a single meaning. In
isolating languages, grammatical relationships between words are expressed
through word order or the use of separate function words or particles, rather
than through inflectional morphology.
➢ There are three kinds of morphological types: fusional languages,
agglutinative languages, and isolating languages.

Unit 5 WORD FORMATION PROCESSES

➢ It is a method of creating new words in which an affix is joined to a root
(also known as a stem or base).

➢ A root is an independent, autonomous morpheme, also known as an

unbound morpheme.
➢ An affix, on the other hand, is a bound morpheme that can be either
inflectional or derivational and never occurs by itself; instead, it is always
joined to a free morpheme.
➢ A word form or grammatical category, such as tense, person, number,
gender, or case, is modified by an inflectional affix. Rats is an illustration of
this.
➢ A derivational affix affects the root's parts of speech while keeping the
grammatical category the same.
➢ The root's meaning is changed in this manner. For instance: write - writer.
Unit 6 COMPOUND WORDS AND PHRASES
WORDS
➢ When two or more words are combined to make a single part of speech,
they are called a phrase.
➢ Compound words, on the other hand, are words created by combining
roots.
➢ A compound verb is a verb, a noun, an adjective, or a preposition that is
followed by a verb and counts as a single verb.
➢ When two or more adjectives are combined to modify the same noun, a
compound adjective is formed.
➢ Headed compounds, such as blackboard and greenstone, are compounds
with an inner centre (this is known as endocentric).
➢ However, headless compounds are those that lack an internal centre (they
are known as exocentric).

Unit 7 INFLECTIONAL MORPHOLOGY

➢ The smallest meaningful morphological unit in a language is called a
morpheme. It is impossible to divide or examine this unit further.
➢ There are two basic categories of morphemes: inflectional and
derivational.
➢ Inflectional morphemes usually result in alternative word forms rather
than new words.
➢ Derivational morphology is the study of how new words are created that
differ from their bases in either syntactic category or meaning.
➢ To change a word's form for grammatical purposes, it must possess a
certain set of syntactic characteristics known as a grammatical category.
➢ Some examples of grammatical categories include number, definiteness,
tense and aspect, case, person, gender, and mood.
➢ In languages, there are three categories of adjectives: Relational,
Qualitative, and Defective.
➢ Some of the major categories of verbs are:
a. Transitivity: Transitive and Intransitive verbs
b. Aspect: Perfective and Imperfect
➢ Regular words are those that inflect in a consistent manner; irregular
words inflect differently.
➢ Irregular verbs often preserve patterns that were regular in earlier forms
of the language but are now considered unusual.

Unit 8 WORD STUDY STRATEGIES

➢ It is generally acknowledged that to understand English as a second
language, one must acquire a significant amount of vocabulary.
➢ However, academics state that pupils cannot absorb all the necessary
vocabulary in a single academic year.
➢ After acquiring around 3,000 high-frequency words, second-language
learners must develop vocabulary acquisition strategies to learn low-
frequency terms independently.
➢ Schmitt's broad definition differs from Nation’s (2001) assertion that a
strategy should include the following characteristics:
• Provide options, meaning there are several strategies to choose from.
• Be complex, as multiple steps are needed to learn.
• Require education and benefit from training.
• Enhance the effectiveness of vocabulary acquisition and usage.
➢ The analysis of word families in a corpus shows that word parts are a
highly common and significant element of English vocabulary.
➢ The process of associating a foreign language word’s written or spoken
form with its meaning is known as "learning through word cards."
➢ The keyword strategy is a technique that establishes a strong connection
between the form of an unfamiliar word and its meaning.

Unit 9 MORPHOLOGICAL THEORY

➢ There are thirteen prominent theories of morphology: A-Morphous
Morphology, Articulated Morphology, Autolexical Syntax, Categorial
Morphology, Distributed Morphology, Lexeme-Morpheme Base Morphology,
Lexical Morphology and Phonology, Natural Morphology, Network Model,
Network Morphology, Paradigm Function Morphology, Prosodic Morphology,
and Word Syntax.
➢ A-Morphous Morphology challenges the idea that complex words are built
by combining simple morphemes. Instead, it suggests that word structure is
shaped by interactions between words, guided by rules.
➢ Articulated Morphology is incremental, meaning no extra information
(beyond the root) is included in a complex construction unless a rule applies.
➢ Categorical Morphology states that a language consists of a set of
expressions and an index of operations. This set includes all expressions formed
by applying these operations repeatedly.
➢ Distributed Morphology follows a similar idea to Categorical Morphology,
suggesting that expressions are generated through repeated application of
operations.
➢ Lexeme-Morpheme Base Morphology (LMBM) is a complex linguistic
theory that emphasizes the importance of morphology in language structure.
➢ Natural Morphology (NM) argues for clearer distinctions between different
categories of sound-structural rules and grammar-related elements.
➢ Network Morphology explains lexical knowledge using computational
concepts like hierarchy and inheritance.
➢ Paradigm Function Morphology (PFM) views all morphological processes
as occurring within the lexicon, rejecting the idea that inflection happens outside
of it.
➢ Prosodic Morphology developed from Autosegmental Phonology and was
influenced by McCarthy's study of Classical Arabic. It goes beyond traditional
two-dimensional syntax structures.
➢ Word Syntax is a unique morphological approach that plays a significant role
in linguistic theory, especially in relation to GB-style syntax.
 SELF ASSESSMENT
Unit 1 INTRODUCTION TO MORPHOLOGY
What is morphology? Discuss the difference between morphology and
syntax in your own words.
•Morphology is the study of word structure and how words are
formed using morphemes.
• Syntax is the study of sentence structure and how words combine to
form sentences.
• Example:
• Morphology: "unhappiness" (formed from "un-" + "happy" + "-
ness").
• Syntax: "She is happy" (words arranged to form a meaningful
sentence).
2. What is morphology and how is it different from phonology?
• Morphology studies word formation, while phonology studies
sounds and pronunciation.
• Example:
• Morphology: "teacher" (teach + -er).
• Phonology: The pronunciation difference in "cat" and "cut" due
to vowel sounds.
3. Define morphology and differentiate between morphology and syntax.
• Morphology: The study of how words are structured and formed.
• Syntax: The study of how words are arranged in sentences.
• Example:
• Morphology: "replay" (re- + play).
• Syntax: "She plays football" (correct order of words).
4. Compare morphology with other sub-fields of linguistics such as
syntax, semantics, and phonology with examples from your mother
tongue.
• Morphology: Studies word formation.
• Example (Urdu): "‫( "کتابیں‬kitaben) – "‫( "کتاب‬book) + "-‫"یں‬
(plural marker).
 • Syntax: Studies sentence structure.
• Example (Urdu): "‫( "وہ کتاب پڑھ رہی ہے‬She is reading a book).
• Semantics: Studies meaning.
• Example (Urdu): "‫( "ستارہ‬star) vs "‫( "ستارہ‬award) – same word,
different meanings.
• Phonology: Studies sound patterns.
• Example (Urdu): "‫( "گھر‬ghar) and "‫( "خر‬khar) sound different
due to consonant sounds.
5. Define the following terms with examples:
• Morphology: Study of word structure.
• Example: "unhappiness" (un- + happy + -ness).
• Phonology: Study of sound patterns.
• Example: "cat" vs "bat" (difference in initial sound).
• Graphology: Study of writing systems and symbols.
• Example: English letters (A, B, C), Urdu script (‫ پ‬،‫ ب‬،‫)ا‬.
• Semantics: Study of meaning in language.
• Example: "light" (can mean not heavy or brightness).
• Syntax: Study of sentence structure.
• Example: "Ali eats an apple" (correct syntax).
• Phraseology: Study of fixed expressions and idioms.
• Example: "Break the ice" (start a conversation).
6. Write a detailed note on the interface of morphology and
sociolinguistics.
• Morphology and sociolinguistics are connected because word
formation is influenced by social factors like region, age, and class.
• Examples:
• Slang words: "gonna" instead of "going to" in informal English.
• Dialects: British English "lorry" vs American English "truck".
• Code-switching: Speakers mix words from different languages.
• Example (Urdu-English): "‫ میں‬online shopping ‫( "کر رہی ہوں‬I
am doing online shopping).
• Conclusion: Language changes with society, and morphology
reflects these changes.
Unit 2 WHAT IS A WORD?
Define word as a morphological unit.
• A word is the smallest independent unit of language that carries
meaning and can stand alone.
• Example:
• English: "book", "running".
• Urdu: "‫ "کھانا‬,"‫"کتاب‬.
2. How do words serve as building blocks in the internal structure of
languages?
•Words combine to form phrases and sentences, making them the
foundation of communication.
• Examples:
• English: "She reads books" (words form a meaningful
sentence).
• Urdu: "‫( "وہ کتابیں پڑھتی ہے‬individual words create meaning).
3. Explain words as types and tokens as used in morphological studies.
• Word types: Unique words counted without repetition.
• Example: In "the cat sees the cat", there are three types ("the",
"cat", "sees").
• Word tokens: Total occurrences of words, including repetitions.
• Example: In "the cat sees the cat", there are five tokens.
4. Define the following terms:
• Lexicon: The vocabulary of a language, including words and their
meanings.
• Example: An English lexicon contains words like "run",
"happy".
• Words vs lexical items:
• Words are units of meaning (e.g., "book").
• Lexical items include words, idioms, and fixed expressions
(e.g., "kick the bucket" means "to die").
• Words as tokens: The total occurrences of a word in a text.
• Example: In "apple apple orange", "apple" has two tokens.
• Words as types: The count of unique words in a text.
 Example: In "apple apple orange", there are two types ("apple",
•
"orange").
5. Write a detailed note on the nature of words with examples from
English and regional Pakistani languages.
• Words are essential for communication and have different forms in
various languages.
• Types of words:
• Simple words: Cannot be broken into smaller units (English:
"sun", Urdu: "‫"چاند‬, Sindhi: "‫)"سورج‬.
• Compound words: Made by joining two words (English:
"blackboard", Punjabi: "‫)"چائےدان‬.
• Borrowed words: Taken from other languages (English:
"bazaar" from Persian, Sindhi: "‫ "ٹکٹ‬from English
"ticket").
• Words in Pakistani regional languages:
• Urdu: "‫( "کتاب‬book), "‫( "لڑکی‬girl).
• Punjabi: "‫( "روٹی‬bread), "‫( "پانی‬water).
• Sindhi: "‫( "مدرسو‬school), "‫( "ٻار‬child).
• Pashto: "‫( "کور‬house), "‫( "پالر‬father).
• Conclusion: Words are the basic units of meaning in all languages
and play an important role in communication.

Unit 3 WORDS AND MORPHEMES

Define base form and affixes of a word as morphological units.
• Base form: The root of a word that carries the main meaning
(English: "play" in "playing, played") (Urdu: "‫ "پڑھ‬in "‫)"پڑھائی‬.
• Affixes: Morphemes added to the base form to change meaning or
function (English: "-er" in "teacher") (Urdu: "‫نا‬-" in "‫)"نادان‬.
2. Define morpheme with examples from English and Urdu languages.
•Morpheme: The smallest meaningful unit of language.
• Examples:
• English: "dogs" (dog + -s), "unhappy" (un- + happy).
• Urdu: ")‫ وفا‬+ ‫ "بےوفا" (بے‬,)‫ یں‬+ ‫کتابیں" (کتاب‬.
3. Explain with examples the types of morphemes:
 • Bound morphemes: Cannot stand alone; must attach to another
morpheme.
• English: "-s" in "cats", "un-" in "undo".
• Urdu: "‫نا‬-" in "‫ی‬-" ,"‫ "نادان‬in "‫"لڑکی‬.
• Free morphemes: Can exist independently as words.
• English: "book", "run".
• Urdu: "‫ "درخت‬,"‫"گھر‬.
4. Define affixes, roots, and stems with examples from English and Urdu.
•Affixes: Added to words to modify meaning (English: "re-" in
"rewrite") (Urdu: "‫بے‬-" in "‫)"بےایمان‬.
• Roots: Core part of the word without affixes (English: "act" in
"actor") (Urdu: "‫ "کھا‬in "‫)"کھایا‬.
• Stems: Root + one or more affixes (English: "reading" = "read" +
"-ing") (Urdu: "‫ "سونا‬from "‫)"سو‬.
5. Write a detailed note on the typology of affixes and roots.
•Affixes:
• Prefix: Before the root (English: "un-" in "unhappy") (Urdu:
"‫نا‬-" in "‫)"نااہل‬.
• Suffix: After the root (English: "-ful" in "hopeful") (Urdu: "-
‫ "ی‬in "‫)"لڑکی‬.
• Infix: Inside the root (Common in some languages, but rare in
English and Urdu).
• Roots:
• Simple roots: Cannot be broken into smaller parts (English:
"play") (Urdu: "‫)"چل‬.
• Complex roots: Formed by combining morphemes (English:
"blackboard") (Urdu: "‫)"خودمختار‬.
6. Explain the following terms:
• Zero suffix: A suffix that does not change the word’s appearance but
changes its function (English: "cut" (verb & noun, no visible
change)) (Urdu: "‫( "پانی‬noun, singular & plural same)).
• Prefixes: Affixes added at the beginning of words (English: "re-" in
"rewrite") (Urdu: "‫بے‬-" in "‫)"بےایمان‬.
• Affixes: General term for prefixes, suffixes, and infixes (English: "-
ed" in "played") (Urdu: "-‫ "ی‬in "‫)"لڑکی‬.
 • Suffixes: Affixes added at the end of words (English: "-ness" in
"kindness") (Urdu: "-‫ "دار‬in "‫)"عزت دار‬.
• Infixes: Affixes inserted inside the root (Rare in English and Urdu
but common in languages like Tagalog).

Unit 4 MORPHOLOGICAL RULES

1. What are morphological rules and what is their focus?

• Morphological rules define how words are formed and structured

in a language.
• They focus on combining morphemes (smallest units of meaning) to
create new words or change word forms.
• Example: Adding "-s" to form plurals (cat → cats).
2. Define allomorph and give examples of various types focusing on
English and Urdu.
• Allomorph: A variant form of a morpheme that appears in different
contexts.
• Types of Allomorphs:
• Regular allomorphy: Follows a pattern (English: -s in "cats"
vs. -es in "buses") (Urdu: ‫ گھر‬/ghar/ → ‫ گھرے‬/gharay/).
• Zero allomorphy: No visible change (English: "deer"
(singular & plural same)) (Urdu: "‫( "مچھلی‬fish, singular &
plural same)).
• Irregular allomorphy: Unpredictable forms (English: "go" →
"went") (Urdu: "‫)"لڑکا" → "لڑکے‬.
• Fossilized allomorphy: Old forms kept in some words
(English: "children" instead of "childs") (Urdu: "‫ "پاؤں‬for
feet).
3. Define the following terms with examples from English and Urdu:
• Allomorphy: Different forms of the same morpheme (English:
plural "-s" in "cats," "-es" in "buses") (Urdu: ‫ گھر‬/ghar/ → ‫گھرے‬
/gharay/).
• Zero allomorphy: No visible change in form (English: "sheep"
(singular & plural same)) (Urdu: "‫( "پانی‬pani, singular & plural
same)).
 •Regular allomorphy: Predictable changes (English: "walked" → "-
ed" for past tense) (Urdu: "‫)"پڑھ" → "پڑھا‬.
• Irregular allomorphy: Unpredictable changes (English: "go" →
"went") (Urdu: "‫( "آدمی" → "آدمی‬man, same plural form)).
• Fossilized allomorphy: Fixed, old forms (English: "ox" → "oxen")
(Urdu: "‫( "پاؤں‬feet)).
• Cognates: Words with similar origins in different languages (English:
"mother" & Urdu: "‫)"ماں‬.
• Roots: The core part of a word (English: "act" in "actor, action")
(Urdu: "‫ "کھا‬in "‫)"کھایا‬.
• Affixes: Added morphemes to modify meaning (English: "un-" in
"unhappy") (Urdu: "‫بد‬-" in "‫)"بدتمیز‬.
4. What is the criteria for morphological language typing?
• Languages are classified based on word structure into three main
types:
• Isolating languages: Words remain unchanged (Example:
Chinese, Vietnamese).
• Agglutinative languages: Words have multiple morphemes with
clear boundaries (Example: Turkish, Urdu).
• Fusional languages: Morphemes combine multiple grammatical
meanings (Example: Latin, Russian).

Unit 5 WORD FORMATION PROCESSES

1: What is affixation? Explain the role of affixation in the word formation
process.
• Affixation is the process of adding affixes (prefixes, suffixes, infixes) to a
root or base word to create a new word.
• It plays a key role in word formation by changing meaning (unhappy =
"not happy") or function (teach → teacher).
2: Describe compounding in detail with examples.
• Compounding is the process of joining two or more words to form a new
word (e.g., "toothbrush," "football").
• Types:
 • Closed compounds: Written as a single word (e.g., "sunflower").
• Hyphenated compounds: Joined with a hyphen (e.g., "mother-in-
law").
• Open compounds: Written separately but function as one unit (e.g.,
"high school").
3: What is conversion? Explain forms of conversion.
• Conversion is the process of changing a word’s grammatical category
without altering its form.
• Forms:
• Noun to verb (e.g., "Google" → "to google").
• Verb to noun (e.g., "run" → "a run").
• Adjective to noun (e.g., "the poor" from "poor").

4: Describe the difference between blending and clipping.

• Blending combines parts of two words to form a new word (e.g., "brunch"
= "breakfast + lunch").
• Clipping shortens a single word (e.g., "phone" from "telephone").
5: Explain the difference between borrowing and calque.
• Borrowing is taking a word directly from another language (e.g., "piano"
from Italian).
• Calque is translating a foreign phrase word-for-word (e.g., "skyscraper"
from French "gratte-ciel").
6: Define coinage, toponyms, and eponyms.
• Coinage: Creating a completely new word (e.g., "Google").
• Toponyms: Words derived from place names (e.g., "champagne" from
Champagne, France).
• Eponyms: Words derived from people's names (e.g., "sandwich" from the
Earl of Sandwich).
7: Define autonyms and exonyms.
• Autonyms: The name a group gives itself (e.g., "Deutschland" for
Germany in German).
• Exonyms: A name given by outsiders (e.g., "Germany" for Deutschland).
Unit 6 COMPOUND WORDS AND PHRASES
WORDS
1: Explain the difference between compounds and phrases.
• Compounds are single words formed by combining two or more roots
(e.g., "blackboard," "toothpaste"). They have fixed meanings.
• Phrases are groups of words that function as a unit but retain separate
meanings (e.g., "black board" as in "a board that is black").
2: Explain head and headless compounds with examples.
• Headed Compounds (Endocentric): The meaning is determined by the
head, usually the second word (e.g., "blackboard" – a type of board).
• Headless Compounds (Exocentric): There is no clear head, and the
meaning is not directly derived from the words (e.g., "pickpocket" – not a
type of pocket).
3: Define phrasal word structure.
• Phrasal words are multi-word expressions that function as single units in
a sentence, such as phrasal verbs (e.g., "give up" meaning "quit").
4: Can phrases other than noun phrases constitute phrasal words?
• Yes. Besides noun phrases, verb phrases, adjective phrases, and
prepositional phrases can also act as phrasal words (e.g., "well-known"
as an adjective phrase).
5: Explain the possible forms of compound nouns with examples.
• Closed Compounds: Single words (e.g., "notebook").
• Hyphenated Compounds: Words with a hyphen (e.g., "mother-in-law").
• Open Compounds: Words written separately but function as a unit (e.g.,
"high school").

Unit 7 INFLECTIONAL MORPHOLOGY

1: Explain inflectional and derivational morphology in detail.
• Inflectional Morphology deals with changing word forms to show
grammatical functions like tense, number, or case without changing the
word's basic meaning. Example: "talk" → "talked" (past tense).
 • Derivational Morphology creates new words by adding prefixes or
suffixes, often changing the word's meaning or category. Example:
"happy" → "happiness" (adjective to noun).
2: What is grammatical category? Explain the types of this category.
• Grammatical category refers to features of words that indicate their
function in a sentence.
• Types of grammatical categories:
• Number (singular/plural) – cat → cats
• Tense (past/present) – go → went
• Case (subject/object) – he → him
• Gender (masculine/feminine) – actor → actress
• Person (1st, 2nd, 3rd) – I, you, he/she

3: Explain the difference between regular and irregular inflection.

• Regular Inflection follows consistent rules. Example: adding "-ed" to
form the past tense of verbs (walk → walked).
• Irregular Inflection does not follow standard rules. Example: "go" →
"went" or "child" → "children".
4: Explain inflectional affixation.
• Inflectional affixation is when suffixes are added to a word to show
grammatical changes like tense, number, or case.
• Example:
• Plural: dog → dogs
• Past Tense: jump → jumped
• Comparative: tall → taller

Unit 8 WORD STUDY STRATEGIES

Why are vocabulary learning strategies important for understanding word
structure? Name the common types of vocabulary learning strategies.
Vocabulary learning strategies help learners understand word structure by
breaking words into smaller parts like roots, prefixes, and suffixes. This makes
learning new words easier.
Common types include: Word Part Strategy, Word Root Strategy, Using
Dictionaries, Word Card Strategy, and the Keyword Technique.
1. What are vocabulary learning strategies? Explain the Word-Root
Strategy and the Keyword Technique.
Vocabulary learning strategies are methods used to learn and remember
new words.
• Word-Root Strategy – Focuses on learning the base part of a word
(root) to understand its meaning. Example: "act" in "actor" and
"action".
• Keyword Technique – Uses associations to connect new words with
known words or images to remember them better.
2. Explain the difference between Word Part Strategy and Word Card
Strategy of vocabulary learning.
• Word Part Strategy – Breaks words into prefixes, roots, and
suffixes to understand their meaning.
• Word Card Strategy – Uses flashcards to remember words with
meanings, examples, or images.
3. How can dictionaries be utilized in classrooms as a part of vocabulary
learning strategies?
• Students can use dictionaries to find word meanings,
pronunciation, synonyms, and examples.
• Teachers can give exercises where students find word meanings, use
words in sentences, or explore different word forms.
4. Reflect on your personal word learning strategies and write them in
order of their usefulness.
(Personal reflection answer will vary, but an example is:)
•Word Root Strategy – Helps understand many words from a single
root.
• Keyword Technique – Makes remembering words easier with
associations.
• Using Dictionaries – Provides meanings, examples, and synonyms.
• Word Card Strategy – Useful for memorization with flashcards.
• Word Part Strategy – Helps break down words for better
understanding.
5. Write short notes on the following terms:
 • Word Parts Strategy – Divides words into prefixes, roots, and
suffixes to understand meanings.
• Word Roots Strategy – Focuses on learning the base/root word to
recognize related words.
• Using Dictionaries – Helps find meanings, pronunciation,
synonyms, and examples of words.
• Word Card Strategy – Uses flashcards to learn and review words
with meanings and examples.
• The Keyword Technique – Uses associations to connect new words
with known words or images for easier recall.

Unit 9 MORPHOLOGICAL THEORY

What are morphological theories and models?
Morphological theories and models explain how words are formed and
structured in a language. They describe rules for combining morphemes
(smallest meaning units) to create words and study how words change form.
1. Describe important morphological theories and models by giving their
important features.
Some important morphological theories are:
• A-Morphous Morphology – Words are not built by simple
morphemes but by rules and interactions between words.
• Distributed Morphology – Word formation happens in steps, using a
set of rules applied to smaller parts.
• Paradigm Function Morphology – All word changes happen in
the lexicon, not outside it.
2. Briefly define the following theories of morphology:
• A-Morphous Morphology – Suggests that words are formed by
rules, not by combining simple morphemes.
• Articulated Morphology – Words are built step by step, adding only
the necessary information at each stage.
• Autolexical Syntax – Words and sentences have separate but linked
structures, working together in meaning and grammar.
• Categorial Morphology – A language has a set of basic expressions
and a system to create more by applying rules.
• Distributed Morphology – Words are created by applying rules
repeatedly to smaller parts of language.
• Lexeme-Morpheme Base Morphology – Focuses on the importance
of morphemes in understanding language structure.
• Lexical Morphology and Phonology – Explains how sound
(phonology) and word formation (morphology) interact in a
language.
• Natural Morphology – Says that language changes follow natural
rules to make communication easier.
• Network Morphology – Uses hierarchy and inheritance to explain
word formation.
• Paradigm Function Morphology – All word changes happen
inside the lexicon, meaning there are no external rules for inflection.
• Prosodic Morphology – Studies how word structure is influenced
by sound patterns and rhythm.
• Word Syntax Morphology – Focuses on how word formation is
related to sentence structure and syntax.