3.2　课后习题详解

1．Define the following terms briefly.

(1) morphology

Key: Morphology, as a branch of linguistics, is the study of the internal structure, forms and classes of words.

(2) morpheme

Key: Morpheme is the smallest unit of language, a unit that cannot be divided into further smaller units without destroying or drastically altering the meaning, whether it is lexical or grammatical.

(3) free morpheme

Key: Free morpheme is morpheme like car, talk, friend, which can stand alone as words. Every word must contain a free morpheme. There are two kinds of free morphemes: lexical morphemes or functional morphemes.

(4) bound morpheme

Key: Bound morpheme is morpheme like -s, -ism, pro-, ex-, which cannot normally stand alone, but function only as parts of words. Bound morpheme can be sorted into derivational morphemes and inflectional morphemes.

(5) morph

Key: Morph is the smallest meaning phonetic segments of an utterance on the level of parole. That is to say, morph is the phonological or orthographic forms which realize morpheme, and it is the minimal carrier of meaning.

(6) allomorph

Key: Some morphemes can be realized by more than one morph depending on the context in which they occur, and each of them is an allomorph of the morpheme. Allomorphs are phonological or orthographic variants of the same morpheme.

(7) derivation

Key: Derivation is done by adding affixes to other words or morphemes. In contrast to compounding, a derivational word consists of at least a free morpheme and a bound morpheme.

(8) clipping

Key: The process by which parts of a word have been cut off is called clipping. Clipping occurs when a word of more than one syllable is reduced to a shorter form, often in casual speech.

(9) acronym

Key: Some new words are formed from the first letters of a series of words and they are pronounced as a single word. Words of this kind such as NATO, UNESCO are called acronyms.

(10) initialism

Key: Some new words are composed of the first letters of a series of words and pronounced by saying each letter in them. Words of this kind such as VIP, WTO are called initialisms.

(11) blending

Key: The way a single new word is formed by combing two separate forms. Typically, blending is finished by taking only the beginning of one word and joining it to the end of another word.

(12) root

Key: A word must contain an element that can stand by itself--a free morpheme. This free morpheme is called a root. Therefore, root is the morpheme that remains when all affixes are stripped from a complex word, e.g. system from un-+system -atic-+-ally.

(13) stem

Key: The free morphemes can be generally considered as the set of separate English word-forms. When they are used with bound morphemes, the basic word-form involved is technically known as the stem.

(14) prefix

Key: A prefix is an affix that can be joined to the beginning of the root or stem.

(15) suffix

Key: A suffix is an affix that can be joined to the end of the root or stem.

2．Which of the following forms are possible words of English?

Key: The possible English words are (3) sproke, (5) frall, (7) fluke.

3．Consider the following words and finish two tasks:

(1) For each word, determine whether it is simple or compound.

Key: Simple words: fly, suite, tree.

Compound words: reuse, spiteful, preplan, desks, triumphed, optionality, untie, delight, fastest, prettier, justly, deform, mistreat, dislike, payment, disobey, premature.

(2) Circle all of the bound morphemes. Underline all of the roots.

Key: Bound morphemes: re-, -ful, pre-, -s, -ed, -al, -ity, un-, de-, -est, -er, -ly, de-, mis-, dis-, -ment.

Roots: fly, use, spite, plan, desk, triumph, suite, option, tie, light, fast, pretty, tree, just, form, treat, like, pay, obey, mature.

4．Each of the following columns illustrates a different morphological process.

(1) What morphological process is at work in each column?

Key: Morphological process:

Column I: Ablaut or Umlaut

Column II: Suppletion

Column III: Stress Modification

(2) Describe in your own words the difference between the process exemplified in Column I and that in Column II.

Key: Ablaut and Umlaut refer to vowel alternations in morphological process. In each pair of words, the nucleus changed conditioned by different inflectional morphemes, for example: mouse/mice (number), ride/rode (tense).

As for the case of Column II, total modification is involved. Its occurrence is by its nature idiosyncratic within inflectional categories established by regular processes. For example, the regular form for English past tense is –ed, but the past form of go is went; and the normal comparative form for adjectives is –er, but the comparative form of good is better. It is like the creation of a new word totally.

(3) Think of at least one more English example to add to each column.

Key: More examples:

Column I: goose/geese; draw/drew

Column II: we/us; bad/worse

Column III: ’content/con’tent; ‘export/ex’port

5．Each of the following words can be either a noun or a verb.

(1) For each word, determine whether stress placement can be used to make the distinction between the noun and the verb.

Key: For all of the following words, stress placement can be used to make the distinction between the noun and the verb.

‘record n./ re’cord v.

‘convict n./con’vict v.

‘contest n./con’test v.

While for the following words, stress placement cannot be used to make the distinction between the noun and the verb.

outline, report, journey, outrage, exchange, imprint, answer, remark, import, surprise, retreat, cripple.

(2) Think of two more English examples illustrating the process of stress shift to mark a category distinction.

Key: More examples:

‘increase n./in’crease v.

‘protest n./pro’test v.

6．In English, the suffix -er can be added to a place name. Examine the words in the two columns below.

(1) In general terms, what does the suffix -er mean in these words?

Key: “-er” means the residents of a place.

(2) How is this -er different in meaning from the -er found in the words skater and walker?

Key: “-er” added to a place name like “Londoner” means the residents of a place; while “-er” added to a verb such as “skater”, “walker” means the doer of an action.

(3) State the constraint on the distribution of -er illustrated above in your own words.

Key: “-er” can be added to a place name only when the pronunciation of that place ends with a consonant like [k], [n], [d] and [g]. If it ended with a vowel, it cannot be modified by an “-er”.

(4) Does this constraint also apply to the type of -er used in the word skater? (Hint: What would you call “one who discovers” or “one who ploughs”?)

Key: However, such constraint sometimes applies to the type of “-er” used in the word skater, that is, the kind of “-ed” used after a verb, and sometimes not. For example, the verb discover ended with a central vowel /ə:/, but we still use “discoverer” to call one who discovers; the verb plough ended with a back vowel /ɔ/, and we use the word “ploughman” to call one who ploughs.

7．Determine whether the words in each of the following groups are related to one another by processes of inflection or derivation.

(1) go, goes, going, gone

Key: inflection: go-goes(number & tense); go-going-gone(tense)

(2) discover, discovery, discoverer, discoverable, discoverability

Key: derivation

(3) lovely, lovelier, loveliest

Key: inflection: lovely-lovelier(comparative)-loveliest(superlative)

(4) inventor, inventor’s, inventors, inventors’

Key: inflection: inventor-inventor’s(case); inventor-inventors(number);inventors- inventors’(case)

(5) democracy, democrat, democratic, democratize

Key: derivation