English Morphology and Syntax.
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Introduction
BBI 3212 ENGLISH MORPHOLOGY AND SYNTAX
MAY SEMESTER 2003
Assignment:
- Breakdown the following words into morphemes and classify each one.
- breakdown
- It consists of two morphemes – break + down
- Break is a verb .
- Down is an adverb/ preposition / verb/ adjective as well as a noun.
- Breakdown (of a machine or vehicle) means to stop working because of a fault.
- cheese
- It consists of one morpheme. The word “cheese” exists as it is. It is a noun.
- It is a type of food made from milk that can be either soft or hard and is usually white or yellow in colour.
- unbeknown
- The word “unbeknown” consists of three morphemes.
- Un is a prefix meaning not or negative.
- be is also a prefix.
- known is a verb. ‘n’ is a suffix. When ‘know’ is added with ‘n’,
it becomes known which is the past pasticiple of the word ‘know’.
- unbeknown is an adjective (to sb) without the person
mentioned knowing.
- fraction
It consists of one morpheme.
It is a noun
Middle
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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.
Conclusion
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 :-
NOUN | VERB |
mower | mow |
teacher | teach |
sailor | sail |
farmer | farm |
caller | call |
operator | operate |
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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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