π GNS101 WORD FORMATION (Morpheme)
WORD FORMATION (Morpheme)
*Word formation* refers to the way in which new words are formed in the basis of other words or morpheme.
And a morpheme is meaningful linguistic unit consisting of a word that cannot be divided into smaller meaning parts
_There is a difference between a morpheme and a word_
▪️ *A word* can stand alone and can be meaningful but *a morpheme* can not always stand alone
▪️ *A word* can have 2 or more morphemes
```LET ME GIVE EXAMPLE```
*RECONSTRUCT*
This is a word that has two morphemes (RE/CONSTRUCT).
When we have a sentence, it consists of clause.
⚡Clause consists of phrase
⚡Phrases consists of words
⚡And words consist of morpheme
⚡Morpheme consists of syllables
*Define a phrase*
Group of words without finite verb.
So we can break this to phrase
They/ might be thinking/of words/ and their meaning
Each of these phrases consists of one or two words
So words can be broken to morpheme
⏩ *There's different between morpheme and syllable*
▪️ *A morpheme* consists of syllable and it deals with meaning but *syllables* deals with sound
*Example*
*RECONSTRUCT*
RECONSTRUCT has 2 morphemes (RE/CONSTRUCT)
But it has 3 syllables Re/con/struct
The syllables is like the unit which the word is pronounced re/ con /struct
*MAGNETIZE*
How many morpheme and syllables do we have?
*[6/7, 20:28] 100l:* 2 morphemes and 3 syllables✅
Wat about *DEMAGNETISATION*
*[6/7, 20:32] STA:* 4 morphemes, 6syllables✅
Magnet
Magnetise
Demagnetise
DEMAGNETISATION
The structure of the word can be represented by the formula (p) b(s)
*P* means prefix
*B* means base i.e the original word
*S* means suffix
*Prefix* , from the word pre e.g prelude,pre party it means before
*Suffix* means after
You can see p and s are in a bracket which means a word can be meaningful without a prefix and suffix
EXAMPLE
*Agree*
Disagreement
Dis is a prefix
Agree is the base
Ment is the suffix
*WORD BUILDING IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE*
1. EPONYMY:-
This refers to the widening of the use of a proper noun as a common noun. Name of people used as a name of object.
For example many units of measurement in physics came from the name of the inventors Michael Faraday, like Fahrenheit (F), unit of temperature is gotten from GABRIEL DANIEL, FAHRENHEIT who is a physicist. Also COULOMB is gotten from Charles -Augustin de Coulomb, etc
2. ALPHABETISM:-
This is use of letters as symbols
This is an abbreviation that takes the first letter of each word of the base expression and it's pronounced by spelling out each letter.
Examples
π«Ά UBA (UNITED BANK OF AFRICA)
π«Ά GTB(GUARANTY TRUST BANK
π«Ά W.H.O is World health organisation
Other examples ATM,GPS
3. ACRONYMS:-
This is different from alphabetism.
You know I said alphebetism is by pronounced by spelling out each of the letters
*Acronym is pronounced as a word*
E.g FUTA
You know you did not spell it ,you pronounced it as a word
UNICEF
*QUESTION*
π Group these into alphabetism and acronym:
❤️SOS(school of science)
π§‘SEET(SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING)
πSOC(SCHOOL OF COMPUTING)
πSAAT(SCHOOL OF AGRIC)
*[6/7, 21:13] STA:*
❤️Sos_alphabetism
π§‘Seet_Acronymy
πSoc_alphabetism
πSaat_acronymy
4. CLIPPING AND BLENDING:-
Before we proceed
_It's wrong to say ATM Machine or PIN number, because ATM is automated teller machine,so adding machine is repetition. PIN is personal identification number, so adding number again is repetition_
*Blending* is the combination of two separate words to produce a single new term e.g binary + digit =bit
BInary+biT =bit
*THERM* al + res *ISTOR*= thermistor
*E* lectronic + *MAIL* =e-mail
*CLIPPING*
This is when a word that has more than one syllable is reduced to a shorter form of usual casual speech e.g mathematics= math, examination= exam
5. COMPOUNDING:-
This is joining of two or more free morpheme to form one word.
The morpheme may be separated by space e.g carbon (IV) oxide
It can also be written together e.g airport, briefcase , foodstuff
6. AFFIXATION:- is a method of word formation where bound morpheme are added to free morpheme or already existed words.
The difference between compounding and affixation is that compounding is the addition of two free morpheme e.g stair+case=staircase
Stair is a *free morpheme*
Case too is a *free morpheme*
⚠️But affixation is addition of free and bound morpheme e.g work+ ed=worked ⚠️
Work is a *free morpheme*
Ed is a *bound morpheme*
So back to affixation
The bound morpheme are affixes
Affixes maybe inflectional or derivational
π *Inflectional affixes* are usually suffixes and I taught you what a suffix is last class that it's added after the base word e.g boy(s)
But they don't change the meaning or grammatical class( noun,verb etc). E.g boys
The original word is boy which is a noun
Abi?
If we add 's' to boy,it becomes boys which is still a noun
Another example sleeping
Sleep is the original word which is a verb
*What inflectional affixes do is that they serve to indicate tense* ( past tense, present tense, continuous tense etc), numbers or possession in nouns and degree in adjective and adverb
EXAMPLES
▪️Dog- dogs
# dog is singular
Dogs is plural
▪️Ox-oxen
Ox is singular
Oxen is plural
▪️Work-worked
Work is present tense
Worked is last tense
▪️ Sleep-sleeping
Sleep is present
Sleeping is continuous
So *derivational affixes* usually affect the grammatical class of the words they are attached to or change the meaning.
And they are prefix i.e before e.g dis + like= dislike
With this few point of mine,I think I have been able to convince not to confuse you on how to form words ππ
*Written by:*
Miss Adesina Iyanu
✍️ *FLASHPEE EDUCATIONAL TEAM*
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