Morphology 7

Morphology 7
Trương Văn Ánh
Trường Đại học Sài Gòn
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Structure classes
A structure class is a part-of-speech class. It has three characteristics:
- Members of a given structure class have no characteristics of form. They are recognized mainly by position, excepting a few, do not change form.
- A structure class is small.
- A structure class has a stable membership and is a closed class, that is, it rarely admits new members.
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1. Qualifiers
Position: qualifiers occur in the position just before an adjectival or an adverbial.
Functions: Qualifiers modify other words.
Most qualifiers are uninflected words. Examples: very, much
A few qualifiers have the same form as adjective. In the qualifier position, they do not take –er or –est. > They are considered as uninflected qualifiers. Pretty good, mighty fine, jolly hot, great big, full well, dead right
2. Prepositions
Prepositions are usually followed by a noun phrase, personal pronoun called the object of preposition.
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Prep. + N phrase (O of prep.)= Prep. Phrase
Kinds of prepositions:
a) Single prep.: mono syllabic Prep.: at, on, to, …; two-syllable prep.: before, above…
b) Compound prep.: into, onto,…
c) Complex prep.: on behalf of, due to,…
d) -ing prep.: during, concerning,…
3. Determiners
A determiner is a word that patterns with a noun. It precedes the noun and signals that a noun is soon to follow.
Determiners can be subdivided into the following general classes:
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Articles – the words the, a, and an.
Demonstratives – words such as this, that, these, and those.
Possessives – noun phrases followed by the suffix’s, such as John’s and the fat man’s, as well as possessive pronouns, such as her, my, and whose.
Wh-determiners – words used in questions, such as which and what.
Quantifying determiners – words such as some, every, most, no, any, both, and half
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4. Auxiliaries
Auxiliaries are closely associated with the verb and are of two kinds.
Modal auxiliaries. There are ten modal auxiliaries: can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, must, ought (to).
Primary auxiliaries: have, be, do
4 semi-auxiliaries: need, dare, used to, have to
5. Pronouns
Personal pronouns:

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Singular
Subject Object Prenominal Substitutional
possessive possessive
1st I me my mine
2nd You you your yours
3rdMale he him his his
Female she her her hers
N It it its its
Plural
1st We us our ours
2nd you you your yours
3rd they them their theirs
Interr who whom whose whose
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Interrogative pronouns: who, whom, whose
Ex: Who borrowed my book? (S of verb)
Who (whom) did you take to the theatre? (O)
Who (whom) are you referring to? (O of prep.)
Relative pronouns: Who, whom, whose
Ex: Mary, who is a student, learns well. (S)
Mary, whom you know, learns well. (O)
Mary, whose father is a doctor, learns well. (Poss.)
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EXERCISE:
Unverbalized

Helpless embodiment

Reimbursements started

Refertilize insufferably

Lifelessness favoritism
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Anticlerical itemized

Unlawful midafternoon

Preprofessional supernatural

Newspaperdom uncomfortable

Counterdeclaration engaging
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Malconstruction misjudgement

Contradictory buildings
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Summary
A morpheme=prefix/base/stem/suffix
stem (thân từ) Base= mort
Stem= mort
Im mort al ly Stem= mortal
base (gốc từ) Stem= mortally (3 stems)
Prefix= im
Prefix suffix Suffix= al
Suffix= ly
Affix In this word, mort is called both base
and stem.
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IC: Immediate Constituent (thành tố trực tiếp)
The number of ICs is equal to the number of stems or the number of affixes (prefix and suffix).
In the word immortally, there are three affixes (prefix im, suffix al and suffix ly) and there are three stems (mort, mortal and mortally). So this word has three
A morpheme may be bound or free (independent)
Im mort al ly IC 1: mort and al
IC 2: mortal and ly
IC 3: Im and mortally
An IC must have at least one independent morpheme.
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Processes of forming words:
1. Clipping (cắt xén): lab (laboratory)
2. Compounding (Ghép từ): School-girl
3. Derivation (phái sinh): Actor (act)
4. Back formation (thành lập ngược): Act (actor)
5. Acronymy (chữ viết tắt đầu): MC (master of ceremony)
6. Blending (pha trộn): Brunch (breakfast + lunch)
Word classification:
- N, V, Adj, Adv
- UW (Uninflected word): No inflectional ending





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