Practice 1: Morphological Analysis

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 497.

Analyze each of the items below morphologically. Determine how many morphemes each item contains (1 or more than 1);

if there is more than one morpheme, which are free and which bound;

if there is more than one morpheme, which one is the root; and what are the remaining morphemes: prefixes or suffixes;

if there are prefixes and/or suffixes, which are derivational and which inflectional (use elimination: if there is an affix and it is not in the list of inflectional morphemes, then it's derivational);

whether the word(s) is(are) simple, compound, or complex and finally,

if a word is inflected, is the inflection regular or irregular?

Remember: One or both of the words that make up a compound word may be complex. Such items count as both compound and complex words.

Warning: Don't let variations in spelling disturb you too much. Sometimes adding suffixes changes the way the base word or suffix is spelled.

Examples:

A. slept:

2 morphemes

both bound

root: slep- suffix: -t

suffix -t inflectional (marks past tense on a verb)

complex word

suffix -t: irregular

B. dehumidifiers

5 morphemes

free: humid bound: de- (prefix), -ify, -er, -s (suffixes)

root: humid

derivational: de-, -ify, -er inflectional: -s

complex word

inflectional suffix -s: regular

1 re-established

2 spaghetti

3 apologize

4 statements

5 snowboarding

6 nationality

7 security blanket

8 preregistration

9 relationship

10 burnt (as in burnt toast)

11 apology

12 American

13 antennae

14 bolder

15 uneaten

16 apologetic

17 gradually

18 kindnesses

19 microwave

20 wavelength