Section 1 | Morphology Basics Work

✏ Part A: Matching (Types of Morphemes)

Match the term to its correct definition:

1. ___ Bound Morpheme

2. ___ Lexical Morpheme

3. ___ Inflectional Morphology

4. ___ Circumfix

5. ___ Derivational Morphology

A. Changes the grammatical function of a word without altering its core meaning.
B. A type of morpheme that changes a word’s class or meaning (e.g., happy → happiness).
C. Has to attach to another morpheme; cannot stand alone.
D. A morpheme that surrounds a root, occurring on both sides.
E. Holds inherent meaning; often nouns, verbs, adjectives.

🧩 Part B: Fill in the Blank

1. The word “redoing” contains a ___________ prefix and an ___________ suffix.

2. The morpheme “-ed” in “walked” is an example of ___________ morphology.

3. ___________ morphemes can stand alone, like “dog” or “fast.”

4. The process of combining multiple free morphemes into one word is called ___________.

5. ___________ are morphemes that change pronunciation depending on the word but keep meaning (like plural -s in “cats” vs. “dogs”).

🧠 Part C: Short Answer (Concept Application)

1. Explain the difference between a monomorphemic and a polymorphemic word using your own examples.

2. Why is “unbreakable” not considered an inflected word?

3. How can understanding morphology help someone learn a new language more effectively?

🔍 Part D: Morphological Breakdown

Break the following words into their morphemes and label the type of each:

• Unhappiness

• Overreacting

• Friendly

• Rereading

Use this format:
Word: [prefix] + [base] + [suffix]
Types: prefix = derivational, base = free morpheme, etc.

🔥 Part E: Challenge Questions

1. English doesn’t use circumfixes, but many languages do. Invent an English word using a “pretend” circumfix and explain its parts.

2. Create a list of three allomorphs of the plural morpheme “-s” and explain the phonetic environment in which each appears.

3. Which of the following is NOT a morphological process described in your notes:
   A. Compounding
   B. Conversion
   C. Affixation
   D. Derivation

🎯 Optional Bonus Task:

Choose any sentence and highlight all the morphemes. Label whether they are free or bound, and if bound, what type (prefix/suffix, grammatical/lexical, inflectional/derivational).