Linguistics - weeks 3 and 4

word class (aka parts of speech)

noun, verb, adjective, adverb

noun

(tree, girl, book, orange. . .)

• time-stable entity

• in English: can be singular/plural, can be subject/object of a clause

verb

(run, fly, grow, contemplate. . .)

• state, event, or action

• in English: can be past tense, can be inflected for 3rd person singular

adjective

(short, long, hot, tired. . .)

• property held by some entity

• in English: precedes a noun in a noun phrase

adverb

(quickly, thoroughly, increasingly. . .)

• manner in which an action is performed, modifies an adjective, comments on an entire sentence from speaker's perspective

• in English: complicated!

morpheme types

root and affix

root

carries the "core" conceptual meaning. usually have fairly specific & constant meaning

• free roots

• bound roots

free roots versus bound roots

free roots can occur as independent words, bound roots cannot

affix

modifies the meaning of the root(s) (always bound)

• Prefixes (x-)

• Suffixes (-x)

four prefix modifiers

relational - describes a relation in time or space (temporal or spatial)

intensify - have ‘very’ or ‘a lot’ type meanings, intensifies the root

negation - usually have ‘not’ or reversal meaning

quality - tell a number or amount

two suffix types

inflectional - adds grammatical meaning

present tense, past tense, progressive, plural

-s/-es, -en/-ed, -ing, -s’, -est, -er

derivational - makes new word with new meaning by often changing class

-ous, -ize, -ion ~ -tion, -y

Adj, V, N, N

when there are multiple derivational suffixes in a word, which tells you the word class?

the very last derivational suffix

affixed in other languauges

• infixes

group of letters inserted directly inside a word's root

• circumfixes

a discontinuous two-part affix that attaches to both the beginning and the end, goes around the root

adjective suffix

-ous

verb suffix

-ize

six noun suffixes

-ence

-ance

-ion

-y

-sis

-ity

six adjective/noun suffixes

-oid

-ive

-ory

-ary

-ent

-ic

noun/adjective/verb suffix

-ate

revised morpheme analysis steps

parse the word

gloss the morphemes

label each morpheme (root, prefix, suffix)

• roots: label free or bound

• suffixes: label inflectional or derivational

name the word class of the whole word

give the literal definition of the word

seven word formation processes

onomatopoeia & sound symbolism

compounding

conversion / zero derivation

clipping

blending

initialisms & acronyms

analogy (back-formation)

onomatopoeia & sound symbolism

onomatopoeia: mimics the sound (language-specific)

woof, splash, flap, babble

sound symbolism -

ideophones: represent the idea

whoops, ouch, putrid

phonesthemes: sound sequences that suggest a certain meaning

slide, slick, sled → sl = 'frictionless motion’

compounding

two or more free roots combined in one word

handheld, blackbird, cupboard

how word compounds behave like a single word

stress pattern : in compounds stress is on first element, non-compound on the second

BLACKboard vs. small BOARD

inflection : compounds are treated as a whole, and grammatical markers go at end

stir-fried (not: stirred-fry)

meaning : compounds have meaning from their literal parts

blackbird literally means ‘a bird that is black’

conversion / zero derivation

change in word class without extra morphology, simply by sentence context

Google was founded in 1996 (N) You should google it (V)

clipping

word chunk used for the whole, cuts down to a bare minimum that still is recognizable

• does not change word class or meaning

mathematics → math

blending

combination of chunks from 2 different words

smoke + fog = smog

initialisms & acronyms

Initialisms: pronounced as letters

FYI → For your information

Acronyms: pronounced as a word

NATO → North American Treaty Organization

analogy (back-formation)

where a simpler word is derived from a more complex word by removing apparent affixes

• often changes word class or meaning

• based on analogy (comparison) to formation of complex word

reaction (N) to react (V)

taboo replacement

used for things it is taboo to name or say

dang, darn, shoot, frikin