Introduction
Morphology is that branch of grammar that is concerned with the study of morphemes. A morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit in grammar (Tomori, 1977: 16). We have two basic types of morphemes, viz. (a) Free Morphemes which are otherwise called roots or bases. They are the type of morphemes that can function as words, and (b) Bound Morphemes which are those that cannot function as words. Instead, they are attached either at the initial or at the final parts of the base. They are otherwise called affixes (prefixes and suffixes).
Another concept associated with morphology is stem. A stem is different from a root in the sense that it is that part of the word to which the last suffix is added. Let us consider the word internationalisation. The root of the word above is nation while the stem is nationalise and the prefix is inter. Sometimes, the stem in a word is truncated (i.e., not looking like a real word). For this purpose, let us consider a word like conversion. The base/root is convert, while the stem is convers. Sometimes too, the root can function as the stem as in the word brotherhood. We need to point out that bound morphemes may be referred to as affixes, which comprise prefixes (i.e., bound morphemes that appear before the roots) or suffixes (i.e., bound morphemes that appear immediately after the root.
Morphemes can be further classified into derivational (lexical) morphemes and inflectional morphemes. The derivational morphemes are closely associated with word formation, while inflectional morphemes are associated with word inflections.
In this chapter, we shall discuss various forms of morphemes and how they can be combined to form English words. Our intention is that if learners can master various forms and meanings of morphemes in English, they will be able to decipher various, cards and later combine words to form larger sequences such as phrases, clauses, sentences and texts.
Inflectional Morphemes
Inflectional morphemes do not change a particular word from its basic word class. They are merely grammatical (or structural morphemes) which ard Clarkers of plurality, comparativeness, superlativeness, third person singular verbs, renses and aspects. Let us consider examples of each of them in turn:
(i) Plurality, e.g., boy – boys (-s); table – tables (-s); mango – mangoes (- es); oxoxen (-en), sheep sheep (Ø); and child – children (-ren)
(ii) Comparativeness and Superlativeness. e.g., big – bigger – biggest; large – larger – largest; thin – thinner -thinnest
(iii) Verb Form Base, e.g., S-form, -ING form, – ED form, – EN form
- go, goes, going, went, gone
- kill, kills, killing, killed
- write, writes, writing, wrote, written
- eat, eats, eating, ate, eaten
In the examples of inflections involving verbs above, the second column refers to the third person singular verb inflection. The third column involves the present participle (-ING) inflection. The fourth column deals with the past (-ED) inflection, while the last column deals with the past participle (- EN) inflection. This shows that tense and aspects are intertwined. Also, we have to note that the inflections in regular and irregular verbs are different from each other (See Quirk & Greenbaum, 1973: 28). You just need to add a -D or -ED as in kick – kicked, kill killed. This is not so with irregular verb inflections which involve vowel change or sometimes vowel and consonant change (Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech, & Svartvik (1985), Quirk & Greenbaum (1973) and Aremo (2004).
Word Formation Processes in English
In this chapter, our explication of the word formation processes in English is basically guided by the presentations in Quirk et al. (1985) and Quirk Greenbaum (1973). The word formation processes in English can be divided into two broad parts, viz. major and minor processes. The major processes include affixation which comprises prefixation and suffixation, conversion, and compounding. The minor processes, however, comprise reduplication, clipping, blending and acronymy.
Affixation
The process can be divided into two, viz. prefixation and suffixation.
Prefixation
This is the process of word formation that involves the addition of prefixes or bound morphemes to the root at the initial part. In other words, the prefixes come before the root. According to Quirk & Greenbaum (1973) and Quirk et al. (1985), prefixes can be semantically classified into the following groups:
a) Negative Prefixes
These prefixes are markers of negation in words formed. They can replace the item ‘not’ in various words in which they appear, e.g., un- in unfair, non-in non-indigene, in- in infinite, dis- in disappoint, disloyal; a- in amoral, algorithm, and il- in illegal.
b) Reversative Prefixes
These are markers of ‘reverse actions’ or deprivation of actions, e.g., un- in untie, de- in deforest, and dis- in dismember, disconnect.
c) Pejorative Prefixes
These are markers of something done wrongly, e.g., mis- in misconduct, mal- in maladministration, pseudo- in pseudopodia (amoeba’s leg), and pseudo-intellectual.
d) Prefixes of Degree or Size
The prefixes are markers of degree or size from the lowest to the highest or from the narrowest to the widest, e.g., arch in archbishop, super- in supermarket, out in outrun, sur in surcharge, surtax, sub- in subhuman, sub- machine gun, over in overact, under- in undersize, hyper- in hyper-inflation, ultra in ultramodem, and mini- in mini-skirt.
e) Prefixes of Attitude
Prefixes are marker’s of attitudes of people to certain phenomena or issues, e.g. pro decocoyote, counter in counteract, anti- in anti-govtena co and pro- in pro-democracy.
f) Locative Prefixes
These prefixes mark the location within and outside, e.g. super- in superstructure, sub- in subway, inter- in international and trans- in transplant.
g) Prefixes of Time and Order
These are markers of time and order such as ‘before’ ‘after’, ‘former’ etc., e.g., fore- in foreknowledge, pre- in pre-independence, post- in post-colonial, post- doctoral, ex- in ex-president, and re- in re-examine.
h) Number Prefixes
These are markers of numbers in the description of certain phenomena, e.g.. uni- in unimodal, mono- in monocotyledon, bi- in bimodal, bi-annual, bicameral, di- in dicotyledon, tri- in triangle, multi- in multiparty and poly- in polysyllabic.
i) Conversion Prefixes
They are the only set of prefixes whose addition to particular words will automatically change them to another word class.
j) Other Prefixes
Those prefixes that cannot be pigeon-holed into any of the classes of prefixe earlier mentioned can be tagged ‘other prefixes’, e.g., auto- in autobiograph neo- in neoclassical, neo-natal, pan- in pan-African, proto- in proto-type, semi- semi-circle, vice- in vice-president, etc.
Suffixation
Suffixes unlike prefixes alter the word class (or part of speech) to which they are added. They can be classified variously using the word class of their base or using the word class newly formed, or using both. Using the word class of their base, we can classify suffixes into deadjectival suffixes, denominal Suffixes, deverbal suffixes and deadverbial suffixes. This implies that the original words to which suffixes are added are adjectives, nouns, verbs and adverbs respectively.
a) Noun-noun Suffixes
These are markers of occupation, diminutiveness, femininity, status, domain and other variables,
b) Noun/Adjective-noun/adjective Suffixes
These are suffixes that are normally added to a class of nouns or adjectives and with their addition, the resultant words become new nouns or adjectives.
c) Verb-noun Suffixes
These suffixes are deverbal-noun suffixes because their bases are verbs and the resultant new words are nouns, e.g.: -er as in driver, -or as in actor, -ant as in inhabitant, -ee as in employee, -ation as in organisation, -ment as in amazement, ام as in refusal, -ing as in driving, -age as in drainage
d) Adjective-noun Suffixes
These suffixes are de-adjectival noun suffixes and the resultant nouns formed are deadjectival nouns,
e) Verb Suffixes
These suffixes are added to various bases such as nouns and adjectives only to form verbs, e.g.: as in simplify -ify, -ise as in popularise, -en as in deafen
f) Noun to Adjective Suffixes
The bases of the resultant adjectives are nouns. That is to say that the suffixes are denominal-adjective suffixes. The adjectives formed can be called denominal adjectives.
g) Other Adjective Suffixes
These can form various bases such as verbs and nouns and the words formed from them are adjectives, e.g.: -able as in readable, -ible as in forcible, -ish as in youngish, ed as in moneyed
h) Adverb Suffixes
The bases of these adverbs formed can be adjectives, adverbs or nouns and when the adverb suffixes are added to them, the new words are either adverbs of manner or viewpoint adverbs.
Compounds
Compounds are unlike affixes (i.e., prefixes and suffixes) in that they are unis consisting in each case of two or more bases or roots. They can be paraphrased to show the syntactic relation between the words.
We can use two basic criteria (word class and structure) to classify them. First, if we consider the product of the resultant compounds, we can classify them into noun, verb, adjective and adverb compounds. Second, if we use the structure or constituents of the compounds formed, we can then classify them as verb + object compounds, verb + adverbial compounds, etc. We are going to use both criteria in this chapter.
The following are the basic sub-types:
a) Subject + Verb Compounds. Examples of this type are:
- sunrise: The sun rises.
- rattle-snake: The snake rattles.
- dancing-girl: The girl dances.
- hangman: The man hangs (others).
- earthquake: The earth quakes.
- headache: The head aches.
The paraphrasing is done for one to understand the composition and relationship of the words.
b) These compounds have members that are predicator-less in structure. The verbs that are ellipted to form the compounds can be realised when the compounds are paraphrased, e.g.: Windmill, toy factory, blood stain, doorknob, girlfriend, darkroom, frogman, snowflake, ashtray.
- the wind (powers) the mill
- the factory (produces) toys
- blood (causes) the stain
- the door (has) a knob
- the girl (is) a friend
- the room (is) dark
- the man (imitates) a frog
- the snow (produces) flakes
- the tray (contains) ashes
Bahuvirihi Compounds
Bahuvirihi compounds name the entire thing by specifying some features, e.g. paperback the book has a paperback. They are of two basic types: Noun + noun type, e.g., block head, hunchback and pot-belly; Adjective + noun type, e.g., fathead, loudmouth, and paleface.
Adjectival Compounds
The product of the words forming the compound is functionally adjectives The constituents or units of the adjectives can be of the following kinds:
(i) Verbs + object compounds, e.g.. man-eating as in X eats men (man-eating leopard). Other examples under verb and object adjective compounds are: breath-taking, heart-breaking, and jaw breaking
(ii) Verb + adverbial compounds, e.g., ocean-going (X goes across oceans). Others are: law-abiding, mouth-watering, heartfelt, handmade, and quick-frozen
Verbless Compounds
The syntactic composition of this compound is noun + adjective or adjective + adjective. Their distribution in sentences does not allow any verb in between. They can be used either as attributive adjective compound or predicative adjective compound, e.g.:
(a) The lady is class-conscious. (predicative)
(b) I phoned the class-conscious lady yesterday. (attributive)
(c) She comes here at duty-free hours. (attributive)
(d) She is duty-free. (predicative)
Other examples are: homesick, grass-green, British American, bitter-sweet, and deaf-mute
Verb Compounds
The products of these compounds are functionally predicators while the constituents in each case are noun + verb. They can be paraphrased, e.g.. sight see X sees sights; lip read – X reads lips; and sleep-walk – X walks in his/her sleep. Other examples are house-hunt, spring-clean, and baby-sit.
Conversion
Conversion as a process of word formation does not involve the use of suffixes, yet words are converted from a certain part of speech to the other, e.g., from verb to noun, adjective to noun, etc. In other words, certain words are added to zero suffixes to arrive at new words.
(i) drive (verb) + drive (noun), e.g.:
(a) He drives slowly.
(b) He has a good drive.
(ii) walk (verb) + walk (noun), e.g.:
(a) She walks slowly to school every day.
(b) She has a walk every day.
Various classes of conversion are the following:
(i) Verb to Noun Conversion
- doubt (v) + doubt (n), e.g.:
(a) He doubts the sincerity of the girl.
(b) He has a doubt of the girl’s sincerity.
- laugh (v) + laugh (n), e.g.:
(a) He laughs louder than others.
(b) Her laugh is a mockery.
- bore (v) + bore (n), e.g.:
(a) He bores the pupils.
(b) The teacher is a bore.
Others are: cover, throw, walk, retreat, turn, etc.
(ii) Adjective to Noun Conversion : In the examples below, the initial word is an adjective qualifying the word following it to make it a compound such as daily newspaper. When the noun is chopped off as we have in the examples below, it remains an adjective, e.g daily, but now functioning as a noun.
(a) daily (newspaper) now becomes daily
(b) monthly (magazine) now becomes monthly
Others are weekly, annual, etc.
(iii) Nouns to Verb Conversion
- bottle (n) + bottle (verb), e.g.:
(a) I took a bottle of Trophy.
(b) We bottle Trophy in Ilesa.
Others are: corner, coat, skin, brake, knife, nurse, referee, cash, cripple, etc.
(iv) Adjective to Verb Conversion
calm (adj) += calm (verb), e.g.:
(a) The sea is calm. (adj)
(b) We calm the wife down. (verb)
Minor Processes of Word-formation
The following are the minor processes of word formation, viz:
a) Reduplication : These are compounds that:
(i) imitate sounds, e.g., tick-tock (of clock);
(ii) to suggest alternative movement, e.g., seesaw,
(iii) to suggest instability, nonsense, insincerity, e.g.: Higgledy- piggledy, wishy-washy
(d) to intensify, e.g., tip-top.
b) Clipping : The term, clipping, implies the subtraction of one or more syllables from a word. The subtraction may be at the initial, final or both parts. For example, the word phone is the remaining part after tele- has been clipped from telephone. Also, photo is the remaining part of the word photograph when the final part has been clipped off. Lastly, flu is the resultant word after the first and the last parts in and enza have been clipped off from the word influenza.
c) Blends : In blends, there is the merger of two words but their parts are chopped off to arrive at new words, e.g., br(eakfast + 1) unch = brunch; mo (tor + ho) tel = motel; sm (oke + f) og = smog; and trans (fer + re) sistor = transistor. All the chopped-off parts are put in brackets.
Acronyms
There are two types of acronyms, namely:
(a) Those pronounced as sequences of letters, otherwise known as alphabetism, e.g..
(i) CO.D. – Cash on Delivery
(ii) U.N. – The United Nations
(iii) O.AU. – Obafemi Awolowo University
(iv) T.V. – Television
(v) GHQ – General Headquarters
(vi) NNPC – Nigerian National Petroleum Company
(b) Some acronyms are pronounced as words otherwise known as lexicalisation, e.g.:
(i) ECOWAS: Economic Community of West African States
(ii) UNESCO: United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation
(iii) RADAR: Radio Detecting and Ranging
(iv) AWOL: Absent Without Official Leave
Problem Areas
There are some problem areas in accounting for morphemes in English, e.g in words such as sheep (plural), fish (plural), gossip (someone who gossips). cheat (someone who cheats), broke (past form of break), men (plural of man), swam (past form of swim), the verb BE, the verb HAVE, and the verb DO. All these words can be analysed using item and process theory as follows: sheep as sheep + plural, fish as fish + plural, gossip as gossip + noun, cheat as cheat + noun, broke as break + past, men as man + plural, swam as swim + past. The verb BE has eight forms, namely am, is, are, was, were, be, being and been. The verb HAVE has three forms: have, has and had, while verb DO has three forms: do, does and did. All the last three should be presented to learners as they agree with their subjects.
Conclusion
In this chapter, we have discussed various types of morphemes and morphological processes in English. We need to clear the air about the use of the term ‘word,’ as it can be used in two senses, namely in basic-vocabulary that is, as a lexical or derivational item (noun, verb, adjective and adverb), or rather in grammatical sense in which case we consider words with different inflections as different words (e.g., go, goes, going, went, gone). In the basic vocabulary sense, all the examples in the brackets belong to one single vocabulary word (i.e., verb) but in the grammatical or inflectional sense, we can say we have five grammatical words. It is realised that efforts should be made on the part of curriculum planners, teachers and course book writers to pay proper attention to the presentation of vocabulary and word parts. The knowledge of word parts or morphemes will enable Nigerian learners to internalise word spellings and use words correctly in various contexts.
Exercise
Read the following passage carefully. Then, identify and explain the morphemes in the words italicised. The first two of the italicised words have been analysed as samples; do the rest in the same manner.
1. Barring some last minute hitches, nine cities in Nigeria are warming up to play host to this year’s Under-17 World Cup from October 24 to November 15.
2. It will be exactly one decade after Nigeria ’99, a FIFA Under-20 championship that took place in Nigeria in 1999.
3. Nigeria has been awarded the hosting right for the global football governing body, FIFA since she has the ability to host the events satisfactorily.
4. Apart from providing first rate facilities, an impeccable organisational ability is an inevitable part of what the world governing body will consider before a final nod is given.
5. For this reason, FIFA officials are already in the country, led by the Vice-President, Mr. Jack Warner, to carry out the final inspection of facilities. (The Punch ‘Editorial’, Tuesday May 19, 2009).
The two words to be analysed as examples are hitches and warming. Hitches can be broken into hitch+-es or hitch + plural. Warming can be broken into warm (verb) +ING (verb inflection) showing progressive aspect.
Attempt to identify and explain the morphemes in Under-17, FIFA, awarded, hosting, global, governing, satisfactorily, providing, organisational, officials, Vice-President, inspection, and facilities.
