Word Formation Processes and Morphological Tree Construction

Course Logistics and Discussion Forum Details

• Discussion Forum Requirements and Grading:

  • Discussion forum posts that remain ungraded indicate incomplete submissions. Specifically, this occurs if a post was made without responding to at least two peers, or if the initial post was omitted entirely.

  • Forum grades are finalized on Friday or Saturday following the module.

  • The discussion forum closes strictly on Sunday at 11:59 PM.

  • Estimated completion time for the forum exercise is 10 to 15 minutes.

  • The system allocates 3 minutes per question, which is significantly more time than required.

Word Formation Processes in Morphology

Affixation and Infixation

• Affixation:

  • The addition of bound morphemes (affixes) to a root or stem word.

  • Includes prefixes (attached to the beginning) and suffixes (attached to the end).

  • Standard English frequently utilizes plural suffixation (e.g., adding the plural $-s$).

• Infixation:

  • The insertion of an affix directly inside a word root.

  • Expletive Infixation in English:

  • Expletive infixation is the primary form of infixation existing in English (e.g., inserting swear words into base words such as fan-effing-tastic).

  • Structural rule: The expletive is inserted directly before the second or third stressed syllable.

  • Exception: This rule fails in words where primary stress falls on the first syllable, such as Michigan.

  • Infixation is highly prevalent in many Indigenous languages worldwide.

Compounding

• Definition:

  • Formed by combining two or more free morphemes to create a distinct single word.

  • Compounds do not strictly require being written as a single word without spaces; hyphenated terms and open compound nouns remain structural compounds.

• Cross-Linguistic Examples:

  • English: mother-in-law, father-in-law, son-in-law (three free morphemes forming a compound), air conditioner, James girl.

  • German: Notorious for extensive, highly productive compounding structures.

  • Mandarin: diàn ($\text{electric}$) + huà ($\text{speech}$) = diànhuà ($\text{telephone}$).

  • Albanian: Frequently utilizes compounding processes.

Reduplication

• Definition:

  • Forming new words or grammatical inflections by repeating either the entire word (total reduplication) or a portion of the word (partial reduplication).

• Language Applications:

  • Standard American English (SAE):

  • Total reduplication: Extremely rare; primary example is bye-bye.

  • Partial reduplication: Examples include rhyming doublets like itty-bitty.

  • Colloquial/Dialectal English: Reduplication denotes intensity (e.g., Ghanaian English using red red to mean exceptionally red, or colloquial expressions like he mad mad).

  • Tagalog:

  • Employs partial reduplication on verb roots to express future tense.

  • Example: bili ($\text{to buy}$) becomes bibili ($\text{will buy}$) by repeating the initial syllable.

  • Indonesian / Malay:

  • Employs total reduplication to mark pluralization on nouns.

  • Examples:

    • ruma ($\text{house}$) $\rightarrow$ ruma-ruma ($\text{houses}$).

    • ibu ($\text{mother}$) $\rightarrow$ ibu-ibu ($\text{mothers}$).

Alternation (Internal Change)

• Definition:

  • A word formation process involving an internal phonetic sound change within the root word, independent of orthographic spelling.

  • Phonetics (sound changes) governs alternation, whereas spelling can be deceptive.

• Inflectional Alternation:

  • Internal sound changes that convey grammatical information without changing the word's core meaning or lexical category.

  • Vowel Shift Verbs: Past-tense transformations such as sing $\rightarrow$ sang, teach $\rightarrow$ taught, speak $\rightarrow$ spoken.

  • Vowel Shift plus Affixation: give $\rightarrow$ gave $\rightarrow$ given (combines internal vowel alternation with suffixation from Old English).

  • Plural Nouns: goose $\rightarrow$ geese, foot $ ightarrow$ feet.

  • Vowel Alternation in Stems: Sound shifts observed in words like moment versus momentum.

• Derivational Alternation:

  • Internal sound changes that alter the lexical category (part of speech) of the word.

  • Vowel Alternation Pairs:

  • teeth (Noun) $\rightarrow$ teethe (Verb; e.g., "the baby is teething").

  • breath (Noun) $\rightarrow$ breathe (Verb).

  • Consonant Alternation Pairs:

  • proof (Noun, ending in sound $/f/$) $\rightarrow$ prove (Verb, ending in sound $/v/$).

  • Stress Movement Alternation:

  • project (Noun, stress on first syllable) $\rightarrow$ project (Verb, stress on second syllable).

• Historical Influences:

  • Consonant shifts resulting in $/\text{ʃ}/$ ("sh") sound transitions (e.g., sense $\rightarrow$ sensation, apply $\rightarrow$ application) were adopted from French following the Norman Conquest of the British Isles in the 1000s–1500s.

Suppletion

• Definition:

  • A morphological process in which a root morpheme is completely replaced by a phonetically unrelated root to fulfill a grammatical paradigm.

  • Forms created via suppletion cannot be phonetically derived from the base root and must be entirely memorized.

• English Examples:

  • The Verb to be: Conjugations switch across am, are, is, was, were, and will be.

  • The Verb to go: Present form go switches to past tense went.

  • Adjectival Comparatives: good $\rightarrow$ better $\rightarrow$ best; bad $\rightarrow$ worse $\rightarrow$ worst.

• Cross-Linguistic Suppletion:

  • Spanish:

  • Infinitive ir ($\text{to go}$) switches present tense to voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van.

  • Past tense switches to fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron.

  • French: bon ($\text{good}$) $\rightarrow$ meilleur ($\text{better}$).

  • Other Languages: Suppletion for good/better and to be occurs consistently across Ukrainian, Albanian, and Irish.

Back Formation

• Definition:

  • A process where a new word (typically a verb) is created by removing a supposed or historical affix from an already existing word (typically a noun).

  • Reverses the standard directional expectation of word derivation (where verbs usually precede nouns).

• Historical Examples:

  • enthusiasm (Noun borrowed from French) $\rightarrow$ enthuse (Verb derived later by removing suffix).

  • unfriend (Verb introduced first) $\rightarrow$ friend (Derived by deleting prefix).

  • adulting (Gerund/Noun introduced first) $\rightarrow$ adult (Used as a verb by deleting -ing).

  • accountant (Manx Gaelic noun) $\rightarrow$ to account (Verb created by suffix deletion).

  • television (French noun) $\rightarrow$ televise (Verb derived by removing suffix).

  • donation (Noun) $\rightarrow$ donate (Verb derived by dropping suffix).

Acronyms and Initialisms (Abbreviations)

• Acronyms:

  • Words formed from the initial letters or components of a phrase and pronounced continuously as a single word.

  • Examples:

  • AIDS: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.

  • LASER: Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.

  • RADAR: Radio Detection and Ranging.

  • SCUBA: Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus.

  • NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

  • GOAT: Greatest Of All Time.

  • OSHA: Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

  • Nasdaq: National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations.

  • FAFSA: Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

  • STEM / STEAM: Science, Technology, Engineering, (Arts,) and Mathematics.

  • HIPAA: Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

  • FERPA: Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

  • CAD: Computer-Aided Design.

• Initialisms (Abbreviations):

  • Words formed from initial letters where each letter is pronounced individually.

  • Examples:

  • FBI: Federal Bureau of Investigation.

  • IPA: International Phonetic Alphabet.

  • TI: Texas Instruments.

  • DSM: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

  • MCL: Michigan Compiled Laws.

  • RPH: Registered Pharmacist.

  • ATM: Automated Teller Machine.

  • APR: Annual Percentage Rate.

  • DVD: Digital Video Disc / Digital Versatile Disc.

  • CD: Compact Disc.

  • USA: United States of America.

Blending

• Definition:

  • Combining non-morphemic parts of two separate existing words to produce a single new word.

• Examples:

  • hangry = hungry + angry

  • brunch = breakfast + lunch

  • guesstimate = guess + estimate

  • mocktail = mock + cocktail (non-alcoholic cocktail)

  • bromance = brother + romance

  • bromates = brother + roommates

  • FedEx = Federal + Express

  • smog = smoke + fog

  • fugly = fucking + ugly

  • Brangelina = Brad + Angelina

  • Bennifer = Ben + Jennifer

  • Phenix = phone + electronics (slang usage)

  • Brazilian Portuguese: Contains a specific blend word designating an actress who is also a professional singer.

Clipping

• Definition:

  • Shortening or truncating a polysyllabic word without altering its original meaning or lexical category.

• General and Professional Examples:

  • influenza $\rightarrow$ flu

  • gymnasium $\rightarrow$ gym

  • hamburger $\rightarrow$ burger

  • application $\rightarrow$ app

  • photograph $\rightarrow$ photo (occurs identically in Latvian)

  • macaranda $\rightarrow$ maca (in Hassa)

  • matrix laboratory $\rightarrow$ MATLAB

  • calculus $\rightarrow$ calc

  • thermodynamics $\rightarrow$ thermo

  • linguistics $\rightarrow$ ling

  • pediatrics $\rightarrow$ peds

  • oncology $\rightarrow$ onco

  • neurology $\rightarrow$ neuro

  • Personal Proper Names: Kaicola $\rightarrow$ Kai, Rosalina $\rightarrow$ Rosie, William $\rightarrow$ Will, Thomas $\rightarrow$ Tom.

  • Music Composers: Rachmaninoff $\rightarrow$ Rach, Shostakovich $\rightarrow$ Shosty.

Coinage

• Definition:

  • The total creation of an entirely novel word without relying on existing morphemes, roots, or structural word-formation mechanisms.

• Examples:

  • Skibidi: Internet meme coinage traceably created in Garry's Mod computer software using pitch-shifted lyrics from a Polish song attached to a head in a toilet (Skibidi Toilet).

  • Nylon: Man-made synthetic material brand coinage.

  • Vaseline: Brand coinage for petroleum jelly.

  • Kodak: Brand coinage created for photography equipment.

  • Kleenex: Brand coinage for facial tissue.

  • Pooch: Slang term for dog of unclear etymological origin.

Conversion (Functional Shift)

• Definition:

  • Assigning an existing word to a brand-new lexical category (part of speech) without making any phonetic, morphological, or orthographic changes.

• Category Shift Examples:

  • Noun to Verb:

  • impact: the impact (Noun) $\rightarrow$ to impact (Verb).

  • access: the access (Noun) $\rightarrow$ to access (Verb).

  • email: the email (Noun) $\rightarrow$ to email (Verb).

  • run: a run (Noun) $\rightarrow$ to run (Verb).

  • fix: a fix (Noun) $\rightarrow$ to fix (Verb).

  • call, hit.

  • Adjective to Noun:

  • regular, final (e.g., taking a final or enrolling in a regular).

  • Adjective to Verb:

  • better: to better oneself.

  • clear: to clear my name.

  • Preposition to Verb:

  • down: he downed ten Cokes or downed five beers.

  • up: we need to up his medications.

  • off: she offed her husband.

  • Noun to Verb Pairs:

  • address / dress.

Borrowing (Loanwords)

• Definition:

  • The process of adopting words directly from foreign target languages into the native lexicon.

• Historical & Modern Examples in English:

  • sushi, karaoke, sake, tsunami (borrowed from Japanese).

  • alcohol (borrowed from Arabic).

  • coffee (borrowed from Turkish).

  • shampoo (borrowed from Hindi).

  • cappuccino (borrowed from Italian).

  • taekwondo (borrowed from Korean).

  • safari (borrowed from Swahili).

  • robot (borrowed from Czech/German).

  • cruise (borrowed from Dutch).

  • fog (borrowed from Old Norse).

  • bacon, poultry (borrowed from Old French).

  • egg (borrowed from Danish).

• Cross-Linguistic Borrowing:

  • Japanese: Borrowed pan ($\text{bread}$) from Portuguese.

  • Swahili: Borrowed shule ($\text{school}$) from German.

  • Tagalog: Borrowed extensive vocabulary from Spanish as a result of Spanish colonialism and imperialism.

  • Russian: Borrowed caf ($\text{coffee/caf}$) from French.

  • Maltese: Borrowed television from English.

  • Korean: Borrowed concert from English.

Morphological Trees and Structural Hierarchy

Principles of Tree Construction

• Hierarchical Structure:

  • Words are built in a structured, step-by-step hierarchy dictated by mental grammar, not through random affix arrangement.

  • Every word tree must identify the central root, label all attached affixes (prefixes/suffixes), track intermediate lexical categories, and terminate at a single unified top node representing the final word class.

  • On formal evaluations, failing to draw the final connecting lines or missing top-level category nodes results in loss of partial credit.

• Analytical Guidelines:

  1. Rewrite the word components with clear physical separation.

  2. Identify the root and assign its underlying lexical category (Noun, Verb, Adjective, Adverb).

  3. Determine affixation sequence by testing if intermediate forms constitute valid English words.

  4. Apply rule constraints (e.g., English prefix un- attaches to adjectives or specific reversible verbs, but cannot attach directly to base nouns like table or irreversible verbs like break).

Step-by-Step Tree Examples

• Example 1: Unbreakable

  • Root: break [Verb]

  • Step 1: Attach suffix -able [Affix] $\rightarrow$ breakable [Adjective]. (Unbreak is invalid because un-breaking an object is impossible).

  • Step 2: Attach prefix un- [Affix] to breakable [Adjective] $\rightarrow$ unbreakable [Adjective].

• Example 2: Dogs

  • Root: dog [Noun]

  • Step 1: Attach plural suffix -s [Affix] $\rightarrow$ dogs [Noun].

• Example 3: Snowflake (Compound Word)

  • Left Branch: snow [Noun]

  • Right Branch: flake [Noun]

  • Combination: Merge snow [Noun] and flake [Noun] $\rightarrow$ snowflake [Noun].

• Example 4: Lighthouse Keeper (Complex Compound/Affixed)

  • Component 1 (Compound): light [Noun] + house [Noun] $\rightarrow$ lighthouse [Noun].

  • Component 2 (Affixation): keep [Verb] + -er [Affix] $\rightarrow$ keeper [Noun] (Note: Suffix -er attaches to verbs to form agent nouns).

  • Final Combination: Connect lighthouse [Noun] and keeper [Noun] $\rightarrow$ lighthouse keeper [Noun].

• Example 5: Unfriendly

  • Root: friend [Noun]

  • Step 1: Attach suffix -ly [Affix] $\rightarrow$ friendly [Adjective].

  • Syntactic Test: "You are friendly" / "a friendly cat" demonstrates adjectival function rather than adverbial.

  • Step 2: Attach prefix un- [Affix] $\rightarrow$ unfriendly [Adjective].

  • Rule: Prefixes in English preserve the lexical category of their base ($\text{Adjective} \rightarrow \text{Adjective}$).

• Example 6: Unconstitutional

  • Root: constitute [Verb]. (Constitute cannot be broken into con- + stitute because stitute is not a free base morpheme).

  • Step 1: Attach nominalizing suffix -tion / -ion [Affix] $\rightarrow$ constitution [Noun].

  • Step 2: Attach adjectivizing suffix -al [Affix] $\rightarrow$ constitutional [Adjective].

  • Step 3: Attach negative prefix un- [Affix] $\rightarrow$ unconstitutional [Adjective].

Ambiguity in Morphological Trees (Unlockable)

• Structural ambiguity occurs when a single word possesses two distinct meanings depending on affixation hierarchy.

• Meaning 1: "Not able to be locked" (e.g., a broken door lock).

  • Hierarchy: lock [Verb] + -able [Affix] $\rightarrow$ lockable [Adjective]; un- [Affix] + lockable [Adjective] $\rightarrow$ unlockable [Adjective].

• Meaning 2: "Able to be unlocked" (e.g., a key fits the lock).

  • Hierarchy: un- [Affix] + lock [Verb] $\rightarrow$ unlock [Verb]; unlock [Verb] + -able [Affix] $\rightarrow$ unlockable [Adjective].

Questions, Discussion, and Class Logistics

Election Day Logistics

• Class is officially canceled on Election Day (Tuesday, November 3).

• Reason: Accommodate students commuting long distances (students reported living 27, 29, and 40 miles away from campus) to allow them full opportunity to vote.

Student Discussion & Sociolinguistics

• Slang Terminology: High school / Gen Alpha slang term Chud refers to an extremely unattractive or unkempt individual.

• Exam Expectations: The upcoming exam requires drawing exactly 4 morphological trees (including compounds and complex affixation) and answering multiple-choice identification questions.