Introduction to
Morphology
Understanding the Structure of
Words
NURJAN JALGASOV
Introduction to Morphology
Morphology is the study of the structure
and formation of words.
Focuseson how words are built from the
smallest units of meaning, called
morphemes.
Essential
for understanding how
languages create and modify words.
What is Morphology?
Morphology explores the internal
structure of words.
Wordsare made up of morphemes, the
smallest units of meaning.
Studies
how morphemes combine to
form words and influence meaning.
Types of Morphology
InflectionalMorphology: Modifies
words for grammatical features (tense,
number, etc.).
DerivationalMorphology: Creates
new words by adding morphemes to a
base word.
What is a Morpheme?
A morpheme is the smallest unit of
meaning in a language.
Can be a word itself (e.g., "cat") or a
part of a word (e.g., "un-" in
"undo").
Types of Morphemes
FreeMorphemes: Can stand alone as
words (e.g., "dog," "run").
Bound Morphemes: Must be attached
to other morphemes (e.g., "un-" in
"unkown," "-ed" in "walked").
Free Morphemes
Independent words that carry
meaning.
Examples: "book," "house," "jump."
Bound Morphemes
Cannot stand alone and need to
attach to other morphemes.
Examples:
Prefixes: "un-" in "unkown"
Suffixes: "-ed" in "walked"
Derivational Morphology
Creates new words by adding
prefixes, suffixes, or other
morphemes to a base word.
Often changes the grammatical
category or meaning of the word.
Example: "happy" → "happiness"
Derivational Morphemes
Examples
Prefix: "un-" → "unhappy"
Suffix: "-ly" → "quick" → "quickly"
Infixes: Rare in English, but present
in other languages.
Inflectional Morphology
Modifies a word to express different grammatical features like
tense, number, or case.
Does not change the word's meaning or grammatical category.
Example: "play" → "plays" (third-person singular)
Inflectional Morphemes Examples
Verb Tense: "walk" → "walked"
Noun Plural: "cat" → "cats"
Possessive: "dog" → "dog's"
Word Formation Processes
Morphology also examines how new words are
formed.
Common processes include:
Affixation
Compounding
Blending
Acronyms
Backformation
Compounding
Combining two or more free morphemes to
create a new word.
Example: "toothbrush" (tooth + brush)
Example: "notebook" (note + book)
Blending
Combining parts of two words to
form a new word.
Example: "brunch" (breakfast + lunch)
Example: "smog" (smoke + fog)
Acronyms
Words formed from the first letters
of a series of words.
Example: "NASA" (National
Aeronautics and Space Administration)
Example: "FBI" (Federal Bureau of
Investigation)
Backformation
Creating a new word by removing an affix
from an existing word. Formation of the
back according to incorrect order.
Example: "editor" → "edit"
Example: "baker" → "bake"
Importance of Morphology
Language Understanding: Helps linguists and
learners understand how words are structured.
Vocabulary Expansion: Makes it easier to
understand and learn new words.
Grammar: Plays a key role in grammatical
structures like tense, number, etc.
Morphology in Language
Learning
Understanding morphology
enhances vocabulary acquisition.
Helps learners recognize word
patterns and meanings.
Crucial for both native speakers and
language learners to understand
word formation.
Conclusion
Morphology is the study of how words
are structured and formed.
Byunderstanding morphemes and word
formation, we can better analyze
language and expand vocabulary.
Morphology is essential for
understanding both grammar and
vocabulary in any language.
