LinguisticsLesson 1 of 3 in the course Morphology

Morphological Structure, Word Formation, Models, and Typology

5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 5 match pairs · 5 fill-in sentences · English

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Summary

Morphology examines how words are built and how their forms relate to meaning and grammar. This lesson introduces morphemes, roots, affixes, and the place of morphology among the major areas of linguistics.

Morphology is the study of how words are formed and how they relate to one another within a language. It considers the internal structure of words, the grammatical forms words can take, and the ways speakers create words for particular contexts. These patterns can also change over the history of a language.

All flashcards

What does morphology study?
Morphology studies how words are formed, how they are structured, and how their forms relate to one another and to grammatical functions.
What is a morpheme?
A morpheme is a minimal unit in a language that has meaning or a grammatical function.
How do roots and affixes differ?
A root is the central element carrying a word's core meaning. An affix attaches to a base; it may be a prefix or suffix and is typically bound.
What is the difference between a lexeme and a word-form?
A lexeme is an abstract vocabulary item, while a word-form is one of its particular grammatical forms. *EAT* includes *eat*, *eats*, *ate*, and *eaten*.
How are phonology, morphology, and syntax related by scale?
Phonology studies sound patterns, morphology studies the construction of words, and syntax studies how words form phrases and sentences. Morphology generally falls between the other two in scale.

Quiz questions

  1. In English, *go* and *goes* are grammatical forms of one lexeme. What process accounts for their relationship?Answer: Inflection
  2. English plural meaning can be expressed with *-s*, *-en*, a vowel change, or no visible change. What is the use of alternative forms to realize one morpheme or function called?Answer: Allomorphy
  3. Which approach to morphology emphasizes patterns among whole word-forms and their paradigms?Answer: Word-and-paradigm
  4. What best describes a clitic?Answer: A grammatical element with some word-like properties but limited prosodic independence.
  5. What do labels such as isolating, agglutinative, and fusional indicate about languages?Answer: Broad morphological tendencies that do not form rigid or ranked categories.

Based on the Wikipedia article Morphology (linguistics), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.

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