English Language 2024 Morphology and Lexicology

Morphology

Study of morphemes and how they combine

Morphemes

Smallest unit of meaning in a word, a root or an affix

Lexicology

Study of words

Free morphemes

Morphemes that don't need to be attached to make sense

Bound morphemes

Must be attached to other morphemes to make sense

Prefix

A bound morpheme that attaches to the front of the stem

Suffix

A bound morphme that attaches to the end of the stem

Inflectional morphemes

Change grammatical meaning like tense, plurality etc. and are all suffixes - s, s, s, ed, en, ing, er, est are the only 8 in English

Derivational morphemes

Change lexical meaning and can be prefixes or suffixes - pre-, -ment, ex-, -ly and many more.

Word classes

Different kinds of words that have different roles in sentences

Nouns

Names of people, places and things. Take plural and possessive inflections (s, 's). Noun forming suffixes - tion, ance, ness, etc.

Verbs

Doing or being words. Take tense inflections - (ed, en, s, ing). Verb forming suffixes - ify, ize, en, ate, al

Adjectives

Describing words for nouns. Take comparative (er) and superlative (est) inflections. Adjective forming suffixes - ible, ant, ive

Adverbs

Describing words for verbs and adjectives. Adjective + ly often forms adverbs suffixes

Closed word classes

Preposition, determiner/article, interjection, pronoun, auxiliary and modal verbs, conjunction - cannot be easily added to

Prepositions

Describe position in time, space and attitude - in, at, according to, underneath

Determiner

A modifying word that determines the reference of a noun, a, an, the, every

Conjunction

Joins words, phrases or clauses. There are two types -co-ordinating and subordinating

Pronouns

Replace nouns. There are many factors - singular/plural (I/we), masculine/feminine/neutral (he/she/it), interrogative (what/which), reflexive (himself), emphatic (myself) subjective/objective (I/me)

Auxiliary verbs

Verbs that alter tense. To be, to have, to do and all forms of these.

Modal verbs

Auxiliary verbs that alter necessity or possibility. Must, shall, will, should, would, can, could, may, and might

Interjections

Words that express emotion - wow, hey, boy!

What is a common abstract noun?

A common abstract noun denotes concepts or qualities that cannot be perceived through the senses, such as 'happiness,' 'freedom,' and 'courage.'

What is a common concrete noun?

A common concrete noun refers to general physical items, people, or locations that can be perceived by the senses, such as 'apple,' 'dog,' or 'city.'

Pronouns: personal

Marks the subject: I, he, she they

Pronouns: possessive

Indicates possession: my, hers his theirs.

Pronouns: Demonstrative

Pronouns that point to specific things or people, such as this, that, these, and those.

Pronouns: Relative

Pronouns that introduce relative clauses, such as who, whom, whose, which, and that.

Pronouns: indefinite

Pronouns that refer to non-specific people or things, such as anyone, someone, everyone, and nothing.

Pronouns: reflexive

Pronouns that refer back to the subject of the sentence, such as myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves.

What are determiners

Words that precede nouns

Determiners: indefinite and definite articles

Words that specify nouns, indicating whether the noun is known or unknown to the reader. EG: the (definite), and a/an (indefinite)

Possessive determiners

Words that indicate ownership or possession, such as my, your, his, her, its, our, and their.

Demonstrative determiners

Words that point out specific nouns, such as this, that, these, and those.

Indefinite determiners

Words that specify a noun in a non-specific way, indicating items that are not previously mentioned or known, such as some, any, few, and several.

What is a postmodifier

A type of modifier that follows the noun it modifies, providing additional information or clarification, such as a prepositional phrase or a clause.