Morphology: Affixes, Morphemes, and Hierarchical Word Structure

  • Overview and context
    • Morphology introduces hierarchical structure and a formal representation for how morphemes assemble into words.
    • Two key notions: phonological word (sound-based unit) and morpheme structure (meaning/function units). A word, in this framework, is a phonological word that contains one or more morphemes.
    • Important distinction between surface spelling and underlying morphology; the English writing system is useful for reading but can mislead morphological analysis. IPA can help reveal actual morpheme boundaries.
  • Core definitions and distinctions
    • Phonological word: a discrete sound unit in a language’s phonological system.
    • Morpheme: the minimal unit of meaning or function.
    • Word: a phonological word that contains one or more morphemes.
    • Root morpheme: the morpheme that remains when all affixes are removed from a complex word.
    • Root vs. stress: stress is a property of the phonological word, not a direct indicator of the root morpheme.
    • Morpheme types:
    • Free morphemes: can stand alone as words (e.g., run).
    • Bound morphemes: cannot stand alone (e.g., affixes). Bound morphemes attach to roots.
  • Affixes and their positions
    • Prefixes: bound morphemes that attach to the beginning of the root (before the root).
    • Suffixes: bound morphemes that attach to the end of the root (after the root).
    • Circumfixes: bound morphemes that surround the root (parts occur both before and after the root).
    • Infixes: morphemes inserted inside the word, often at a fixed position relative to the root (e.g., after the first consonant in some languages).
  • Examples and structural observations
    • Prefix examples and behavior
    • Untie, disagree, prefix forms (e.g., mis-, dis-, un-).
    • Generalization: prefixes occur at the beginning of the word; they are bound morphemes.
    • Suffix examples and behavior
    • Reopened, disability, falsify, -ly (as a suffix in many contexts).
    • A suffix is attached after the root and can be the last morpheme, but not always the final morpheme in a word.
    • Circumfix examples
    • Bahasa Indonesian uses circumfixes surrounding the root to convey meaning (e.g., red - circumfix around root to indicate color).
    • Infix examples
    • Bontoc (Philippines) uses infixes to denote certain semantics like “to be.”
    • English expletive infixation: insert an expletive morpheme inside a word, typically before the primary stress, to create a new form with different emphasis or meaning.
    • Examples of expletive infixes: bloody, freaking, flipping, etc.
    • Rule (as presented): insert the infix right before the primary stress syllable boundary in the word (e.g., absolutely -> abs(o) bloody lutely vs abs(o) bloody lutely? The course notes show abs(sub) bloody lutely as the intended form; abs bloody salutely shown as incorrect).
  • Stress, root, and their relationship
    • Primary stress is a property of the phonological word; it does not always align with the morphological root.
    • Example discussion:
    • Breakable vs unbreakable: the primary stress location can shift with affixation, but the root morpheme remains the same (break).
    • Unbreakability: the primary stress may shift in a longer word, separating from the root morph.
    • Practical takeaway: do not use primary stress alone to identify the root morpheme.
    • Two separate notions:
    • Morpheme structure (how affixes attach to form meaning)
    • Phonological word structure (stress and pronunciation pattern)
    • When analyzing, you should identify the root morpheme first, then determine affix attachment order to explain meaning and syntactic category shifts.
  • How affixes combine and the importance of order
    • The order of affix attachment can meaningfully affect word meaning and part of speech.
    • Prefixes attach before the root; suffixes attach after the root; circumfixes wrap around; infixes insert inside.
    • Example of order effects via a three-step process:
    • Root: like (verb)
    • Step 1: add suffix -able → likable (adjective: able to be liked)
    • Step 2: add prefix un- → unlikable (adjective: not able to be liked)
    • Alternative order with the same affixes:
    • Step 1: add prefix un- to root → unlike (verb: to not like)
    • Step 2: add suffix -able → unlikeable (adjective: not able to be liked)
    • Result: unlikable and unlikeable have related but distinct structures and meanings; the order of affixation changes the hierarchical tree and the resulting interpretation.
  • Representations of hierarchical structure
    • Three common representations for morphology:
    • Trees (or bracketed trees): hierarchical, visual depiction of morpheme assembly.
    • Onions: nested representations that illustrate hierarchical structure in a more visual, sequential sense.
    • Brackets: bracketed structures that can be translated from onion diagrams; a bracket diagram is easier to type and share, but can be harder to read.
    • Practical tip: all three representations encode the same hierarchical information; the choice is about readability and tooling.
    • Check for consistency: ensure the number of left brackets equals the number of right brackets in bracket diagrams.
  • Cross-linguistic morphology: what we can learn beyond English
    • Zapotec (Mexico): a case where prefixes mark plural; morphological problem-solving steps include identifying common meaning across forms and isolating the affix that contributes the plural meaning.
    • Example approach: identify the shared root meaning across chin, chin (plural?), shoulder, ear, ears; determine which morpheme contributes plural meaning.
    • Russian example: a suffix like -ly can mark related semantic roles in root meanings (illustrative of suffix behavior, not a direct English analogue).
    • Indonesian circumfixes: show how a circumfix surrounds the root to create new meaning (e.g., red formation).
    • Infix in English (expletive infixation): demonstrates that English has infixes even if rarer; stress interacts with infix placement.
  • Semantic and syntactic shifts via affixation
    • Root + suffix can often turn a verb into an adjective (e.g., like → likable).
    • Adding a prefix can change the word class again (e.g., likable → unlikable; or unlike + able → unlikeable depending on order).
    • The same surface form may encode different structures and meanings depending on affix order, demonstrating a key property of morphology: hierarchical branching determines interpretation.
  • Practical analysis heuristics and cautions
    • Avoid relying on simple “noun = person/place/thing” or “verb = doing word” heuristics; English morphology often violates these shortcuts.
    • Stress is a guide but not a definitive indicator of the root; separate the phonological word from the morpheme structure.
    • Build from the root morpheme first, then consider affix attachment order to explain the final form and meaning.
    • Use multiple representation forms (trees, onions, brackets) to solidify understanding of the underlying hierarchical structure.
  • Summary of key takeaways
    • Morphology relies on hierarchical structure and various affix types to create words with different meanings and syntactic categories.
    • Affixes come in several kinds: prefixes (before root), suffixes (after root), circumfixes (around root), and infixes (inside the word).
    • The order of affix attachment matters for meaning and category; two words with the same affixes in different orders can have different interpretations (e.g., unlikable vs unlikeable).
    • There are language-specific phenomena (Zapotec plural prefixes, Indonesian circumfixes, Bontoc infixes, English expletive infixation) that illustrate the broad diversity of morphological processes.
    • Representational tools (trees, onions, brackets) are used to encode and communicate hierarchical morphology; cross-check with bracket counts to ensure structural integrity.
  • Formulas and definitions (for quick reference)
    • Word formation from morphemes:
    • extWord=extPhonologicalWordextthatcontains1extormoremorphemesext{Word} = ext{PhonologicalWord} ext{ that contains } 1 ext{ or more morphemes}
    • Morpheme types:
    • extprefix<br/>ightarrowextboundmorphemeattachedtothebeginningext{prefix} <br /> ightarrow ext{bound morpheme attached to the beginning}
    • extsuffix<br/>ightarrowextboundmorphemeattachedtotheendext{suffix} <br /> ightarrow ext{bound morpheme attached to the end}
    • extcircumfix=extpre−rootpart + extpost−rootpartextaroundtherootext{circumfix} = ext{pre-root part} \, + \, ext{post-root part} ext{ around the root}
    • extinfix=extaffixinsertedinsidethestemext{infix} = ext{affix inserted inside the stem}
    • Root morpheme concept:
    • extroot=extmorphemethatremainsafterallaffixesareremovedfromacomplexwordext{root} = ext{morpheme that remains after all affixes are removed from a complex word}
    • Stress and morphology (conceptual separation):
    • extPrimaryStress<br/>eqextRootMorphemeext{PrimaryStress} <br /> eq ext{RootMorpheme}
    • Expletive infixation (rule sketch):
    • Insert the infix immediately before the syllable that bears the
      extprimarystressext{primary stress} in the word.
  • Closing notes
    • Morphology provides a framework to analyze how form and meaning are built up step by step.
    • Mastery hinges on recognizing root morphemes, affix types, and the hierarchical structure that ties them together, rather than relying solely on surface spelling or intuition from reading English text.