- It consists of two morphemes: {stupid} + {ity}
- marketable
- It consists of two morphemes: {market} + {table}
- ugly
- It consists of only one morpheme: {ugly}
- competitiveness
- It consists of three morphemes: {complete} + {ive} + {ness}
- unfairly
- It consists of three morphemes: {un} + {fair} + {ly}
- sandwich
- It consists of two morphemes: {sand} + {wich}
- NB: The word “sandwich” came from the story ‘Earl of Sandwich’.
‘Wich’ probably denotes the name of a place.
We may also quote some similar examples from Malaysia , for instance:
( I ). “Darul” is the names of the different states of Malaysia - Darul Ehsan, Darul Makmur, Darul ……
( ii ). In Sarawak, many places begin with the names “Long” - Long Lama, Long Ajong and Long Banga and etc.
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3 What analysis applies to the word disappearance,
unfaithfully, flower, footballer and record-player? Explain your answers in detail.
- disappearance
- ‘appear’ is a verb
- when appear is add in with the prefix ‘dis’ , it is an -adjective which means no more exist.
- When it adds in the suffix ‘ance’ , it also becomes an adjective. It means the looking.
- unfaithfully
- ‘ faithful’ is an adjective.
- ‘un’ is the prefix. When it is added to it –unfaithful – it means not faithful.
- When the suffix ‘ly’ is added to it, - unfaithfully – it becomes an adverb. It means not faithfull to somebody.
- flower
- The word “flower” exists as it is.
- footballer
- Both ‘foot’ and ‘ball’ are nouns. When the word “footballer’ is formed, the foot here becomes the adjective form and it tells us what kind of ball it is.
- record-player
- It is a compound word formed from 2 nouns: ‘record’ + ‘player’. When record-player is formed, the word record remains a noun. It has no change in the part of speech. It is a player that plays the record.
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4. Isolate the affixes in each of these words and state whether each
is a prefix or suffix.
- depose
- ‘de’ is a prefix
- active
- ‘ive’ is a suffix
- repackage
- ‘re’ is a prefix
- ‘age’ is a suffix
- forcefully
- ‘fully’ is a suffix
- behead
- ‘be’ is a prefix
- unchanged
- ‘un’ is a prefix
5. Identify the roots (base words) for all the following words.
- dragged
The base word is ‘drag’
- impossible
The base word is ‘possible’
- unassuming
The base word is ‘assume
- racketeeers
The base word is ‘racket’
- unchanged
The base word is ‘change’
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6. Study the word list provided below. Then solve the problem given.
Word list a. taller, shorter, greener, higher,
lower, sweeter, Smarter.
b. mower, teacher, sailor, farmer, caller, operator.
c. never, cover, finger, either, river,
candor, other, velor.
Ouestion: Using (a) your own knowledge of English and
(b) the notion of consistent match between meaning and form to construst an argument in which you agree or
disagree with the following statement, supporting your position with evidence from the data.
1. The item spelled “er” / “or” is the same item in all the words, in all three lists.
Answers:
(i) {er} in the group of words mower, teacher, sailor, farmer, caller, operator,
is used to form nouns from verbs
(ii) {er} in the group of words taller, shorter, greener, higher, lower, sweeter, smarter, represent the comparison form of adjective.
-
We may classify them by using table :-
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( iii ) {er} , {or} in never, cover, finger, either, river, candor, other, valor,
exist as they are.
Therefore, it is obvious that the items spelled {er} / {or} is not the same item in all of the words, in all three lists. Thus, we cannot generalise {er} form as the comparative form of adjective and {or} is used to form nouns from verbs.
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REFERENCES
1. Sharmeen Rafik Khan(2002), Universiti Putra Malaysia Module
English Morphology and Syntax
2. Noel Burton – Roberts (1997) 2nd Edition,
Analysing Sentences- An Introduction to English Syntax,
Harlow Addison Wesley – Longman
3. N. Chandra and Sudha Datta (1997), An approach to Learner’s Grammar,
New Delhi-11002(India) Anmol Publication PVT.LTD.
4. Victoria Fromkin and Robert Rodman, An introduction to Language,
Harcourt Brace Jovannovich College Publishers.
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