Forms the base of a word

In English grammar, a base is the form of a word to which prefixes and suffixes can be added to create new words. For example, instruct is the base for forming instruction, instructor, and reinstruct. Also called a root or stem.

Put another way, base forms are words that are not derived from or made up of other words. According to Ingo Plag, «The term ‘root’ is used when we want to explicitly refer to the indivisible central part of a complex word. In all other cases, where the status of a form as indivisible or not is not an issue, we can just speak of bases (or, if the base is a word, base words)» (Word-Formation in English, 2003).

Examples and Observations

«In most situations, the user of English has no problem at all recognizing prefixes, bases, and suffixes. For instance, in the sentence, ‘They repainted the old car,’ the complex word repainted obviously has three elements—a prefix, a base, and a suffix: re + paint + ed. The base paint is the word’s semantic core, the starting place for describing what the word is being used to mean in a given utterance. The prefix and suffix add semantic content to that core, the prefix re adding the content ‘again,’ and the suffix ed adding ‘in the past.'» (D. W. Cummings, American English Spelling. JHU Press, 1988)

Base Forms and Word Roots

«[The term base] refers to any part of a word seen as a unit to which an operation can be applied, as when one adds an affix to a root or stem. For example, in unhappy the base form is happy; if -ness is then added to unhappy, the whole of this item would be considered the base to which the new affix is attached. Some analysts, however, restrict the term ‘base’ to be equivalent to ‘root,’ the part of a word remaining when all affixes have been removed. In such an approach, happy would be the base form (the highest common factor) of all its derivations—

happiness, unhappy, unhappiness, etc. This meaning leads to a special use in prosodic morphology to define the portion of the output in correspondence with another portion of the form, especially the reduplicant.» (David Crystal, Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics, 6th ed. Blackwell, 2008)

Citation Forms

«For adjectives, e.g. bad, the base form is the so-called ‘absolute’ form (as against the comparative form worse, or the superlative form worst). For other word classes, e.g. adverb or preposition, where there are no grammatical variants, there is only one form that can be the headword.

«These base forms of words, the headwords of dictionary entries, may be termed the citation forms of lexemes. When we want to talk about the lexeme sing, then the form that we cite (i.e. ‘quote’) is the base form—as I have just done—and that is taken to include all the grammatical variants (sings, singing, sang, sung).» (Howard Jackson, Words and Their Meaning. Routledge, 2013)

Bases in Complex Words

«Another classic problem of morphology [is] the case of a complex word with a recognizable suffix or prefix, attached to a base that is not an existing word of the language. For example, among the -able words are words such as malleable and feasible. In both cases the suffix -able (spelled -ible in the second case because of a different historical origin for the suffix) has the regular meaning ‘be able,’ and in both cases the -ity form is possible (mealleability and feasibility). We have no reason to suspect that able/ible here is not the real suffix -able. Yet if it is, then malleable must be broken down as malle + able and feasible as feas + ible; but there are no existing words (free morphemes) in English such as malle or feas, or even malley or fease. We thus have to allow for the existence of a complex word whose base exists only in that complex word . . ..» (A. Akmajian, R. A. Demers, A. K. Farmer, R. M. Harnish, Linguistics: An Introduction to Language and Communication. MIT, 2001)

Morphology is the study of words and their parts. Morphemes, like prefixes, suffixes and base words, are defined as the smallest meaningful units of meaning. Morphemes are important for phonics in both reading and spelling, as well as in vocabulary and comprehension.

Why use morphology

Teaching morphemes unlocks the structures and meanings within words. It is very useful to have a strong awareness of prefixes, suffixes and base words. These are often spelt the same across different words, even when the sound changes, and often have a consistent purpose and/or meaning.

Types of morphemes

Free vs. bound

Morphemes can be either single words (free morphemes) or parts of words (bound morphemes).

A free morpheme can stand alone as its own word

• gentle
• father
• licence
• picture
• gem

A bound morpheme only occurs as part of a word

• -s as in cat+s
• -ed as in crumb+ed
• un- as in un+happy
• mis- as in mis-fortune
• -er as in teach+er

In the example above: un+system+atic+al+ly, there is a root word (system) and bound morphemes that attach to the root (un-, -atic, -al, -ly)

system = root un-, -atic, -al, -ly = bound morphemes

If two free morphemes are joined together they create a compound word. These words are a great way to introduce morphology (the study of word parts) into the classroom.

For more details, see:
Compound words

Inflectional vs. d​​erivational

Morphemes can also be divided into inflectional or derivational morphemes.

Inflectional morphemes change what a word does in terms of grammar, but does not create a new word.

For example, the word <skip> has many forms: skip (base form), skipping (present progressive), skipped (past tense).

The inflectional morphemes -ing and -ed are added to the base word skip, to indicate the tense of the word.

If a word has an inflectional morpheme, it is still the same word, with a few suffixes added. So if you looked up <skip> in the dictionary, then only the base word <skip> would get its own entry into the dictionary. Skipping and skipped are listed under skip, as they are inflections of the base word. Skipping and skipped do not get their own dictionary entry.

Skip

Another example is <run>: run (base form), running (present progressive), ran (past tense). In this example the past tense marker changes the vowel of the word: run (rhymes with fun), to ran (rhymes with can). However, the inflectional morphemes -ing and past tense morpheme are added to the base word <run>, and are listed in the same dictionary entry.

Run

Derivational morphemes are different to inflectional morphemes, as they do derive/create a new word, which gets its own entry in the dictionary. Derivational morphemes help us to create new words out of base words.

For example, we can create new words from <act> by adding derivational prefixes (e.g. re- en-) and suffixes (e.g. -or).

Thus out of <act> we can get re+act = react en+act = enact act+or = actor.

Whenever a derivational morpheme is added, a new word (and dictionary entry) is derived/created.

For the <act> example, the following dictionary entries can be found:

Act

React

Enact

Actor

Teachers should highlight and encourage students to analyse both Inflectional and Derivational morphemes when focussing on phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension.

For more information, see: 

Prefixes, suffixes, and roots/bases

Many morphemes are very helpful for analysing unfamiliar words. Morphemes can be divided into prefixes, suffixes, and roots/bases.

• Prefixes are morphemes that attach to the front of a root/base word.
• Suffixes are morphemes that attach to the end of a root/base word, or to other suffixes (see example below)
• Roots/Base words are morphemes that form the base of a word, and usually carry its meaning.
  • Generally, base words are free morphemes, that can stand by themselves (e.g. cycle as in bicycle/cyclist, and form as in transform/formation).
  • Whereas root words are bound morphemes that cannot stand by themselves (e.g. -ject as in subject/reject, and -volve as in evolve/revolve).

Most morphemes can be divided into:

• Anglo-Saxon Morphemes (like re-, un-, and -ness);
• Latin Morphemes (like non-, ex-, -ion, and -ify); and
• Greek Morphemes (like micro, photo, graph).

It is useful to highlight how words can be broken down into morphemes (and which each of these mean) and how they can be built up again).

For example, the word <unreliability> may be unfamiliar to students when they first encounter it.

If <unreliability> is broken into its morphemes, students can deduce or infer the meaning.

So it is helpful for both reading and spelling to provide opportunities to analyse words, and become familiar with common morphemes, including their meaning and function.

Compound words

Compound words (or compounds) are created by joining free morphemes together. Remember that a free morpheme is a morpheme that can stand along as its own word (unlike bound morphemes — e.g. -ly, -ed, re-, pre-). Compounds are a fun and accessible way to introduce the idea that words can have multiple parts (morphemes). Teachers can highlight that these compound words are made up of two separate words joined together to make a new word. For example dog + house = doghouse

Examples

Example activities of highlighting morphemes for phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension

There are numerous ways to highlight morphemes for the purpose of phonics, vocabulary and comprehension activities and lessons.

Highlighting the morphology of words is useful for explaining phonics patterns (graphemes) and spelling rules, as well as discovering the meanings of unfamiliar words, and demonstrating how words are linked together. Highlighting and analysing morphemes is also useful, therefore, for providing comprehension strategies.

Examples of how to embed morphological awareness into literacy activities can include:

• Sorting words by base/root words (word families), or by prefixes or suffixes
• Word Detective — Students break longer words down into their prefixes, suffixes, and base words
• e.g. Find the morphemes in multi-morphemic words like: dissatisfied unstoppable ridiculously hydrophobic metamorphosis oxygenate fortifications
• Word Builder — students are given base words and prefixes/suffixes and see how many words they can build, and what meaning they might have:
• Prefixes: un- de- pre- re- co- con-
  Base Words: play help flex bend blue sad sat
  Suffixes: -ful -ly -less -able/-ible -ing -ion -y -ish -ness -ment
• Etymology investigation — students are given multi-morphemic words from texts they have been reading and are asked to research the origins (etymology) of the word. Teachers could use words like progressive, circumspect, revocation, and students could find out the morphemes within each word, their etymology, meanings, and use.

​

Root and Affixes

Affixation is the most common word formation process in English. Words are formed by adding affixes to roots.

Roots can be free or bound morphemes. They cannot be further analyzed into smaller parts. They form the base forms of the words.

1. Free roots are free morphemes. They can stand alone to function as words.

   Examples:

   re

   collect

   , bi

   lingual

   , un

   easy

   , mis

   lead

   ,

   hard

   ly,

   attract

   ive

2. Bound roots are bound morphemes. They cannot stand alone to function as words because they are no longer used in Modern English.

   Examples:

Affixes are bound morphemes. They can be classified into prefixes and suffixes in English.

1. A prefix is an affix added to the beginning of other morphemes to form a word.

   Examples:

   dis

   like,

   de

   activate,

   in

   adequate,

   im

   mobile,

   mis

   leading,

   un

   accountable

   en

   durable,

   under

   achieve,

   over

   developed,

   pre

   requisite,

   post

   graduate,

   re

   cycle

2. A suffix is an affix added to the end of other morphemes to form a word.

   Examples:

   admirable, fruitful, ambitious, enjoyment, eagerness, standardize, cowardly,

   younger, processing, McDonald‘s, assignments, decides, decided

Can you tell the different functions of the red suffixes and the blue suffixes?

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A. morpheme

The smallest meaningful unit in a language. A morpheme cannot be divided without altering or destroying its meaning. For example, the English word kind is a morpheme. If the d is removed, it changes to kin, which has a different meaning. Some words consist of one morpheme, e.g. kind, others of more than one. For example, the English word unkindness consists of three morphemes: the STEM1 kind, the negative prefix un-, and the noun-forming suffix -ness. Morphemes can have grammatical functions. For example, in English the –s in she talks is a grammatical morpheme which shows that the verb is the third-person singular present-tense form.

B. allomorph

any of the different forms of a MORPHEME. For example, in English the plural morpheme is often shown in writing by adding -s to the end of a word, e.g. cat /kæt/ – cats /kæts/. Sometimes this plural morpheme is pronounced /z/, e.g. dog /díg/ – dogs /dígz/, and sometimes it is pronounced /Iz/, e.g. class /klæs/ – classes /`klæsız/. /s/, /z/, and /Iz/ all have the same grammatical function in these examples, they all show plural; they are all allomorphs of the plural morpheme.

C. root

also base form

a MORPHEME which is the basic part of a word and which may, in many languages, occur on its own (e.g. English: man, hold, cold, rhythm). Roots may be joined to other roots (e.g. English: house _ hold → household) and/or take AFFIXes (e.g. manly, coldness) or COMBINING FORMs (e.g. biorhythm).

D. base form

another term for ROOT OR STEM1.

For example, the English word helpful has the base form help.

E.   stem1

also base form

that part of a word to which an inflectional AFFIX is or can be added. For example, in English the inflectional affix -s can be added to the stem work to form the plural works in the works of Shakespeare. The stem of a word may be:

a.  a simple stem consisting of only one morpheme (ROOT), e.g. work

b.  a root plus a derivational affix, e.g. work _ -er _ worker

c. two or more roots, e.g. work _ shop _ workshop.

Thus we can have work _ -s _ works, (work _ -er) _ workers, or

(work _ shop) _ -s _ workshops.

F.   Stem versus roots

       STEM and ROOT are used to refer to the ‘base’ of a word. The part to which affixes attach. The distinction between them is based on the distinction between inflectional and derivational.

      Consider a word like ‘kickers’, it contains two suffixes, one derivational (-er), the other inflectional (-s). strip both affixes off and you are left with kick, which we call a ROOT. Add back on the derivational suffix –er and you get kicker, we call the STEM.

More generally, a root is any single morpheme which is not an affix. Normally, you can find a root by removing all the affixes (both derivational and inflectional) from a word. The stem of a word, on other hand, is found by removing all the inflectional affixes, but leaving any derivational affixes in place.

       A root is always a single morpheme. A stem on the other hand, may consists of more than one morpheme. Many stems, like cat consists of only a single root. The stem and the root are identical.

other stems consists of two or more roots, as in view-point. Neither view nor point is an affix and both are single morphemes. So they are both considered to be roots.

a stem containing more than one root is called a COMPOUND STEM or simply a COMPOUND; the process of forming such stems is called COMPOUNDING.

      Compounding may, in some cases, involve derivational affixes too, as in rabble-rouser-r; this stem consists of two roots plus a derivational suffix.

and stem may contain more than one derivational affix, as in interlinearizer (a type of computer program that is used by linguists for inserting interlinear word-by-word or morpheme-by-morpheme glosses in a text)

thus, a stem consist of one or more roots, plus zero or more derivational affixes. A root, in contrast, is always a single morpheme.

      All stems serve as the base to which inflectional affixes attach. So, for example, all the nouns mentioned above have plural forms.

a.   cat-s

b.   kicker-s

c.   viewpoint-s

d.   rabble-rouser-s

e.   interlinearizer-s

virtually all roots are also stems and the simplest stems (those consisting of only one morpheme) are also roots.

This process involves morphological processes (then formation of words through combinations of morphemes together with other different processes.

The process of word formation may involve the process whereby roots or stems received inflectional or derivational element (affixes) in order to form the new words.

NB: The roots, stems inflectional or derivational elements are all technique termed as morphemes

                            


MORPHOLOGY

This is a component of grammar (sub branch) of linguistics which deals with the study of morphemes and their difference forms (Allomorphs) and how these units combine together in the formation of words. It also studies the structure and arrangement of words in the dictionary i.e. Morphology is the study of word formation and dictionary use.

DEFINITIONS OF KEY  WORDS

1. Morpheme

This is the smallest grammatical or lexical unit in the structure of a language which may form a word or part of a word

E.g. nation — national 

                     International  

                     Internationally
                      Nationalization
        Kind —  kindness

                   Unkind
                   Unkindness
        Take — takes

                   Taken
                   Taking

        Discuss —  discussion

              Discussions
        A morpheme may represent the lexical meaning or grammatical function.

2. Word

This is the minimal or smallest unit in the structure of a sentence in any language which may constitute on utterance or sentence on its own.

The word is usually formed by either one or several morphemes out it is the smallest unit in the sentence structure.

E.g. Yesterday I met him at Tabata- 6 words

        We can words in a sentence and morphemes in a word

3. Stem

Is that part of a word that is in existence before any inflectional affixes have been added. 

Or, Is that part of the word that inflectional affixes can be attached to.

For example:

— «cat» can take inflectional morpheme-‘S’

— «Worker» can take inflectional morpheme-‘S’

— «Winne» can take inflectional morpheme-‘S’

— «Short» can take inflectional morpheme-‘er’

— «friendship» can take inflectional morpheme-‘S’  

This is a basic part of a word which normally carries lexical meaning corresponding to the concept, object or idea and which cannot be split into further parts
Roots in many languages may also be joined to other roots or take affixes or combing forms
E.g. Man   manly,  house hold, big

      6. Affix

This is a morpheme, usually grammatical which is attached to another morpheme (stem) in the formation of a new word which may change the meaning, grammatical category or grammatical form of the stem.

E.g. Beautiful   Mismanagement Disconnect

The affix maybe added either before, with or after the stem thus are three types of affixes.

i.    Prefix

This is the affix which is added before the stem

E.g.   Disconnect

          Illogical

          Unhappy

Empower

ii.   Infix

This is the affix that is added within the stem. Thus type of affix is rare to be found in English words

E.g. meno   —  meino

iii.  Suffix

This is the affix that is added after the stem.

                        E.g.  Mismanagement
                                Beautiful
                                Dismissal
                                Kingdom

7.      Allomorph

This refers to any of the difference forms of the same morpheme root they all represent the past participle (grammatical function)

The morphemes are classified into several categories basing on several factor such as:-

Occurrence, meaning and function

There are two major types of morphemes

(i)   Free morpheme

This is the morpheme that can stand or occur alone (on its own) as a separate word in the structure of a sentences in any language.

The free morpheme includes all parts of speech i.e. Nouns, Verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, interjections, articles

The free morpheme is further divided into two categories

(a) Lexical morpheme

This is the type of frees morpheme which occurs on its own and carries a content of the message being conveyed i.e. It is the free morpheme which represents the actual lexical meaning of the concept, idea, object or action.

The lexical morphemes include the major word classes such as Noun, verbs (main verb), adjective and adverb.

E.g.      House

             Attend

             Large

            Tomorrow

(b)  Functional morpheme / grammatical morpheme

This is the free morpheme which can stand alone as a separate word in a sentence but does not represent the actual lexical meaning of the concept, idea, object or action – it has little meaning when used alone and thus it usually occurs together with the lexical morpheme in order to give the lexical meaning

The functional morphemes includes the minor word classes such as pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, interjections and articles, auxiliary verbs etc

(ii)   Bound morpheme

This is the morpheme which can not normally stand alone as a separate word in the sentence structure as it is attached to another morpheme (lexical) free morpheme in the formation of the new word.

The Bound morpheme represents grammatical function such as word category tense aspect, person, number, participle, comparison etc.

Example ment, ism represents a noun, aly represent.

Adverb

Tense – ed, d, voice, number

Person – es

Aspect – ing – progressive aspect

Comparison – er, est

The Bound morpheme is farther divided in to two categories.

(a)   Derivation morpheme

This is the bound morpheme which is used to form or make new words with different meanings and grammatical categories or class from the stem i.e. It is the morpheme which when added to the stem it changes the meaning and / or the word class of grammatical category of stem/ base Example unhappy, illogical, impossible, empower

National – noun to adjective

Derivation morpheme may occur either before or after or both before and after the stem in the formation of the new words i.e. they may occur either as prefixes or affixes example management, mismanage, mismanagement.

The derivation morpheme may also change the sub classification of the same word class such as concrete noun into abstract noun e.g. Kingdom, friendship, leadership, membership

Deviation morphemes are also used as indicators of word category example simplicity, modernize dare indicators of verb by indicator of adverbs.

(b)  Inflectional morpheme

This is the type of bound morpheme which is not used to produce or form different words with different meaning but rather it is used to change grammatical form of the state i.e. Inflectional morpheme doesn’t change the meaning or word class but it only changes grammatical form of the sentence which represent grammatical function such as to mark the verb for tense aspect, participle voice etc

Example finished, Lorries, oxen

Past tense – finished

Past participle – proven

Number – Lorries, oxen, children

Inflectional morpheme also marks nouns and number.

They mark adverb and adjectives for comparison

E.g. smaller, smallest

FUNCTION OF MORPHEMES

The morphemes are analyzed as having three major functions that are directly linked with their types.

The following are the functions of morphemes:-

E.g. Tree, after, along

2. The morphemes (derivation bound morphemes) are used to change the lexical meaning and / or the grammatical category of the stem. 
This function is called derivation function

3. The morphemes (inflectional morphemes) are used to change the grammatical form or function of the stem without changing the meaning or word class.

This function is known as inflectional function

TASK

Read the following passage and answer the following question 

A thick vegetation cover,  such as tropical forests ,   acts as protection  against physical weathering and also helps to slow the  removal   of the  weathered layer  in deserts and  high mountains the absence of the vegetation   accelerates the rate of weathering plants and animals, however,   play a significant part in rock destruction, notably  by  chemical decomposition through the action of  organic acidic solution the acids develop  from water percolation through party decayed vegetation and animal matter.

Question

1. Identify

I. 7 lexical  morphemes

II. 5 derivation  morphemes

III. 2 inflectional morphemes

PROCESSES OF WORD FORMATION IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE

The formation of words in English language is archived in several processes or ways. These processes fall into two major categories

(i)   The major processes which includes affixation compounding, Conversion and reduplication.

(ii) The minor processes which includes clipping Blending, Acronym, Borrowing, Back formation, Onomatopoeia, Coining/ coinage

I)   The major processes of word formation

(a) AFFIXATION

The process of word formation whereby new words are formed by attaching or adding the affixes (prefix, infix or suffix) to the stem.

E.g.      Shortly – suffix

            Unusual – prefix

            Belonging – suffix

            Inhuman – prefix

            Dismissal — suffix

(I) Prefixation
This is the process of forming new words by adding affixes before the stem/root. For example dislike , unhappy, amoral, decolonise, redo.

Classification of Prefix

Prefix are classified into several categories basing on the meaning they give when added to the stem   

i.  Negative prefixes

These give the meaning of “NOT” “the opposite of” or “lack of”

                  Impossible – illegal

                  Immobile – illogical

                  Irregular – disobey

                  Disadvantage — amoral

                  Apolitical

ii.     Restorative prefixes

    These give the meaning of “Reverse an action”

          E.g  Undress – deforest

                  Uncover – depopulate

                  Disconnect – devalue

                  Disorganized

                  Decolonize

iii.   Pejorative prefixes

These give the meaning of “unless. False, fake, unimportant. Wrong, badly or bad”

E.g. Malnutrition – pseudo name

      Malpractice – pseudo intellectual

      Misconduct – pseudo scientists

      Mismanage

      Misbehave

iv.   Prefixes of degree or size
These express degree or size in terms of quality or quantity.

E.g. Arch (supreme or highest in rank)

      Super (above or better)

      Sir (over and above) e.g. Sir name

      Sub (lower or less than) e.g. Substandard, subconscious

Over (too much) e.g. Over doss, over it, over confident

Under (too little) e.g. under paid, under look, under cook

Hyper (extremely or beyond) e.g. Hyper actives, Hyper sensitive

Ultra (extremely or beyond) e.g. Ultra modern, ultrasound

Mini (small) e.g. Mini bus, mini skirt

 v.  Prefixes of altitude

These include “Co-“(with or joined)                               

E.g. Co-operate, co- education, co- exist. “Counter” (in opposition to”) e.g. Counter attack, counter- revolution, and counter act

“Anti” (against) e.g. Antivirus, anticlockwise, anti body

“Pro” (instead of or on the side of) e.g. Pronoun, pro capitalism, Pro multiparty.

vi. Locative prefixes

These indicate location

E.g. Super (over or above) superstructure, super building, super imposed

Inter (between or among) international, inter school

Trans (across) Trans Saharan, trans plant, Trans Atlantic

vii.   Prefixes of time and order

These include “fore” (before, front, first) e.g. Foreground, fore legs, fore knowledge, fore head

Pre – (before) e.g.  Pre-mature                

                               Pre- independence

                               Pre- form one

                               Pre- National

                               Pre- judge

                               Pre- war

Post – (after) e.g.   Post- graduate

                              Post – independence
                              Post-election

                Ex – (former) e.g. Ex – president
                                             Ex – wife
                                             Ex – husband
                                             Ex – soldier

                 Re – (again or back) e.g.Re – write

                                                         Re call

                                                         Re evaluate

viii.   Number prefixes

These show number

Uni-/ Mono – (means one) e.g.Uni- cellular

                                                 Mono party

                                            Monolingual

                                       Monocotyledon

                                             Monosyllabic

Bi -/ Bi – (means two, double or twice) e.g. Bilingua

                                                                     Bicycle
                                                                     Ditransitive
                                                                     Dicotyledon
                                                                      Bi- annual

Tri (three) e.g. Triangle

                         Tricycle
                         Trilateral

Multi/ poly (many) e.g. Polyandry 

                                     Polygamy
                                     Multi lingua
                                     Multiparty
                                      Multi disciplinary

ix.    Conversion prefixes

Prefixes used to change a word from noun/adjective to verb

En – (make or become) 

e.g. Enslave

  Enlarge

  Ensure

  Enforce

  Enrich

        Enlightened

Be – (make or become) 

e.g. Befriend

       Be calm

       Be witch

-A- (be or become) 

e.g. a live

       A sleep 

       A rise

x.  Other prefixes   

—   Auto (self) – Auto biography

              Autograph

               Autocracy

— Neo (new or revived) e.g. Neo- colonialism

                                           Neo-man
                                                                 

-Pan (all or worldwide) e.g. Pan-africanism

-Proto (original) e.g. Proto Bantu

                                 Proto language
                                  Proto type

-Semi (half) e.g. Semi-circle

                                           Semi- hemisphere
                                           Semi- final
                                           Semi-model

TASK

1. Provide the meaning of the following prefixes and provide three examples of words/roots/stem which can be use these prefixes.
 i) Sur —
ii) Proto —
iii) Hyper —
iv) Dis —
v) Neo —

2. With examples differentiate between pejorative prefixes and locative prefixes.
3. Use appropriate prefix(es)in each of the following words
       i) Charge
       ii) Type
       iii) possible
       iv) Navigation
       v) Ability

4. i) Give three examples of reversative prefixes
    ii) Write three examples of the prefix poly_
    iii) What is the difference of the prefix «Un» in unhappy, unkind and in uncover, untie

(II) Suffixation

Is the process of adding morphemes after a system/root. So as to form new word. Unlike prefixation, suffixes frequently alter the word class of a root/stem.

Classification of suffix

The suffixes are classified according to the class of the new word formed after the addition of the suffixes.

There are four major types of suffixes

    i)      — Noun suffixes

   ii)      — Adjective suffixes

  iii)       — Adverb suffixes

  iv)       — Verb suffixes-let (small)

Noun Suffixes   

are the suffixes added to the stem or bases of different word classes in the formation of the new word that are noun by category.

This falls into four categories;

(a) Noun to noun suffixes

— star (engaged in or belongs to)

       E.g. – Young –star

                  Gang-star

— eer (engaged in or belongs to)

      E.g. Engineer

             Profiteer

             Racketeer

— let (small)

E.g. Booklet

        Leaflet

        Piglet

— ette (small)

      E.g. Kitchenette

             Cigarette

             Statuette

— ess (small) e.g. Lioness

                        Actress

                        Princess

— hood (in the state or status of) e.g. Brotherhood

                                                         Manhood

                                                         Neighborhood

                                                         Youth hood

                                                         Adulthood

— Ship (in the state or status of) E.g. Friendship

                                              Relationship

— Dom (in the condition) E.g. Kingdom

                         Freedom

                         Boredom

                         Wisdom

— cracy (system of government) E.g. Bureaucracy

                                              Democracy

— ery (behavior of or place an ac

E.g. Slavery

             Machinery

             Peasantry

             Carpentry

                      Concrete – Abstract

(b) Noun to Adjective suffixes are the suffixes added to

— ist (member of) e.g.  Socialist

                                 Idealist

                                 Capitalist

                                 Ratio list

— ism (attitude or political movement)

      E.g. Idealism

             Communism

— ness (quality) or state

      E.g. Happiness

             Cleverness

— ity (state or quality) e.g. Stupidity                           

                                       Ability

                                      Salinity

(c) Verb to Noun suffixes

— er (instrumental or a genitive) e.g. Player

                                                   Reader

                                                   Writer

                                                    Farmer

                                                    Leader

— or (“ ) e.g.    Actor

                     Investigator

                     Incubator

                     Insulator

— al (action of) e.g. Arrival

                           Dismissal

                           Withdrawal

                           Proposal

— age (an activity or)

                  E.g.     Drainage

                              Marriage

                              Passage

                              Leakage

— ment (state or action of)

                  E.g.   Government

                           Treatment

                            Achievement

                            Improvement

— ant (instrumental or adjective) E.g.  Assistant

-ee (passive receiver) e.g. Employee

                                           Payee
                                           Trainee
                                             Appointee
                                            Interviewee

— (a) tion (state or action)

E.g. organization

                   Examination

                   Discussion

                   Globalization

                   Penetration

(ii) Adjective suffixes

They are used to change the bases of different word classes such as noun or verbs in order to form the new words that are Adjective by class.

(a) Verb to Adjective suffixes

— ive (which) e.g. Active

                         Respective

                         Comparative

                         Collective

— able /-ible  E.g.  Manageable

                          Sensible

                          Movable       

                          Honorable 

Noun to Adjective suffixes

— al (of or with)  e.g. National

                              Accidental

                              Criminal

                              Historical

— (ii) an (member of) e.g. Tanzanian

                                         Canadian

— ful (having or with)

      E.g.  Beautiful

              Wonderful

— less (without)

      E.g.      Childless

                  Speechless

                  Harmless

                  Hopeless

                  Useless

— ly (having a quality of)

      E.g.      Manly

                  Friendly

                  Cowardly

— ish (belong to or having the character of)

      E.g.      Selfish

                  Turkish

                  Irish

                  Swedish

— ous (with or worth) e.g. Dangerous

                                        Famous

— ese (a member or citizen of)

      E.g.      Chinese

                  Congolese

                  Japanese

— y (like, with or cover with)

      E.g.      Sandy

                  Muddy

                  Sugar

                  Healthy

                  Creamy

                  Hairy

— like (having a quality or behavior like)

E.g.      Childlike

             Fingerlike

(iii) Verb suffixes

These are the suffixes added to the stems or roots of Noun or adjectives to from the new words which are verbs by class.

These are three types of verb suffixes

-ify (cause or make) e.g. Identify

                                         Simplify
                                          Notify
                                           Classify
                                            Purify

-en (cause or make) e.g. Widen   lengthen

                                         Sharpen    strengthen
                                          Weaken
                                           Sadden
                                           Threaten

-ize/ — ise ( “  ) e.g.  Apologize

                               Colonize
                               Socialize
                               Formalize

(iv)  Adverb suffixes

These are the suffixes which when added to the roots or stems they produce a new word which is an adverb by class

-ly (in the manner of) e.g. quickly

                                          Slowly
                                          Quietly
                                           Happily
                                           Gradually

-ward (in the manner of or in the direction of)

                                    E.g. Backward
                                            Onwards
                                            Inwards
                                            Downwards
                                            Upwards   

 -wise (as far as or in the manner of)

                                       E.g.   Education wise
                                                Clockwise
                                                Cultural wise
                                                Political wise
TASK
1. Form verbs from the following words; family, type, popular, clear.
2. Form adjectives from the following words;expression, problem, progress, crime, courage.
3. With examples differentiate prefixes from suffixes

(b)  COMPOUNDING

This is the process of words formation whereby two or more lexical morphemes are joined or combined together to form a new single word.

            E.g.   Classroom
                      Earth quake
                      Girlfriend
                      Tea spoon
                      Table mat
                      Easy-going
                      Washing-machine
NB:  The new words formed as a result of the process of compounding are technique known as compound words or compounds.

Classification of compound words

The compound words are classified basing on two aspects;

i)  The way they are written
ii) According to the meaning

  i)  The way they are written

— Solid/closed compound

These are the compound words that are written without leaving any space or gap between the bases.

            E.g.  Classroom
                    Teaspoon
                    Earthquake
                    Wallpaper
                    Textbook
                    Payphone

                 
— Hyphenated compounds

These are the compound words that the written with the hyphen separating the two bases.

E.g. Fire-escape
                   High-grade
                   Colour-blind
                   Brother-in-law   
                   Machine-gun

— Open Compounds

These are the compound words that are written by leaving the space (gap) between the two bases.

E.g.  Sewing machine 
                     Town planning
                     Tape measure 
                     Baking powder
                    Washing machine

ii)   According to the meaning

Transparent compounds

These are the compound whose meanings reflect the meaning of separate bases i.e. the compounds whose meanings are directly derived or related to the meaning of the separate bases which make them up.

           E.g.  Classroom
                    Girlfriend  
                    Earthquake
                    Teaspoon 
                    Washing machine

Opaque Compounds

These are the compounds whose meanings differ from the meanings of separate bases i.e. the compounds whose meanings are not derived or not directly related with the meanings of separate bases which make up

E.g. Honey moon                              wide spread
        Daily word                                blue berry
        Pass word                                  call right
        Sweet heart                                cow boy
         Hot cake
        Home sick
        Sugar mummy
        Day dream

Bahrain

These are the compound words whose meanings reflect the physical features or appearance of a person or object being reflected to.

E.g.    Blackboard
                     White fluid
                     Block head
                     Feature weight
                     Red – eyed

Identification of the compound words

There are three ways of identifying the compound words

i. Through the entry in the dictionary 

i.e. any compound word should occupy its own entry in the dictionary. It should be regarded as an independent word in the dictionary.

E.g. Bedroom

Classroom

National park

ii.  Through the word class or category 

i.e. Each compound word has its own class different from other word classes of the words constituting the compound

E.g. play boy – Noun

     Play -Verb

     Boy – noun

Madman – noun

Mad – adjective

Man – noun

Colour blind – adjective

Colour — noun

Blind — adjective

Well – known – adjective

Well – adverb

Known – verb

Through the meaning i.e. some words retain their original meaning after the combination but some of the words convey the meaning that are totally different from the meaning of the original word

E.g. Green fly, Sweet heart, Pass word

(c) CONVERSION

This is the process of word formation (derivation process) whereby a base is assigned a new word category (class) without an addition or reduction of any affix. I.e. it is the process whereby a new word is formed by the change of one class into another without the addition or reduction of affix or syllable such as noun into verb adjective – noun and vice – verse

E.g. Love (N) Love is blind.

                 Love (V) I love you.

Walk (N) The walk to Kilimanjaro was fantastic.

Walk (V) We usually walk on foot to school.

Drink (N) We didn’t get any drink at chalinze.

Drink (V) My parents drink beer daily.

Help (N) I need help.

Help (V) I used to help him.

Work (N) My brother has gone to work.

Work (V) They work day and night.

Doubt (N) I did not have any doubt on her.

Doubt (V) I doubt his ability.

Lower (V) May you please lower your voice?

Lower (Adj) He usually speaks in a lower voice.

Ship (N) She traveled by ship.

Ship (V) Slave traders ship travel to America every year.

Poor (N) we need to help the poor.

Poor (Adj) That poor person has been killed.

NB: There some words which change from noun into verb by either voice in the final consonant or by stress shift

(N) Use /just/

(V) Use /just/

Advice (N) I gave him advice.

Advice (V) I advised him.

Object – (N) give me that object.

Object – (V) why do you object?

Conduct – (N) he didn’t show as any good.

Conduct – (V) conduct discussion.

Protest (N) — The protest was between government and student of Dodoma University.

Protest (V) – The groups of women took to the streets to protest against the arrest.

Present (N) Adj – I was present.

      —   He has brought a nice present.

Present (V) — Present your work.TASK
1. Construct two sentences in each of the following words showing how they can be used in a different word classes without any affixation process
        i) Water
        ii) Import
        iii) Produce
        iv) Class
        v) Cleaning

 2. Write new sentences by changing each of the words in capital in to noun

      I.  What  you PRESENT  to day will automatically affect your future

     II.   We except to  PRODUCE enough crops this year because there is enough rain

    III.   The names of evils doers were BLACKLISTED

    IV.    For the language to develop, it must borrow some vocabularies from other language.

(d) REDUPLICATION

This is the process of word formation where by new words are formed through the repetition of the same or almost the same sounds i.e. It is the process whereby the new word are formed by repeating sound which are either similar or slightly different

E.g.      Hush – hush

            Sing – song

            Tip – top

            Tick – tock

            Ding – dong

            Zig – zag

 Criss – cross

 Poor – poor

 Goody – goody

 See – saw

 Tom – tom

 Bow – Bo

NB: The new words that are formed as a result of reduplication process are known as reduplicative

The reduplication have the following basic uses

1.      To imitate sound

E.g. Ding – dong (sound of the bell)

Ha ha — (sound of laughter)

Bow – bow (dog barking)

Tick – tock (Clock sound)

2.      To make things took more intense than they are.

(To intensify adjectives)

E.g. Tip – top – (top most)

Goody – goody (very good)

3.      To suggest a state of disorder, instability, non-sense

E.g. Niggled – pigged (Un orderly/ mixed up)

Lodge – podge (disorganized)

Wishy – washy (weak)

Locus – pocus (Trickery)

Tick – tacky (cheap an of low quality)

Pool – pool (not working)

4. To suggest alternative movement of things

II.    Minor processes of word information

(e) CLIPPING

This process of word formation whereby one of the syllables are omitted or subtracted from a word and the remaining syllables are regarded as a new word

This occurs when a word of more than one syllable is reduced to a shorter form which is regarded as a new word.

NB: The removal or emotion of a syllable may take place either at the beginning at the end of the word or both.

(f) BLENDING

This is the process of word formation whereby two or more parts, fragments or elements of two or more different words are put or joined together to form a new.

I.e. it is the process of talking only the beginning part of one word and joining it to (with) the beginning or the end of another word.

Example: 

breakfast + lunch = Bruch

Motorist + hotel =motel

Cellular + telephone = cell phone

Mobile + telephone = mobile

Television + Broad cast = telecast

International + police = Interpol

Transfer + resister = transistor

Information + entertainment = infotainment

Gasoline + alcohol = gas

International + network = internet

Television + marathon = telethon

Motor + pedal = moped

Electronic + mail = email

Smoke + fog = smog

Helicopter + airport = heliport

Parachute + troops = paratroops

Travel + catalogue = travelogue

Binary + Digit = bit

(g) ACRONYM

This is the process of word formation whereby the initial or first letters of different words are put together as a new word.

The words that are formed from the initial letter are technique termed as acronyms.

There are two types of acronyms      

i.     Acronyms pronounced as a sequence of letter

E.g.      C.O.D – cash on delivery

            CID – Criminal Investigation Department

            FBI – Federal bureau

            UN – United Nations

            IPA – International Phonetic Alphabet

            CUF – Civil United Front

            CPU- central processing unit

ii.   Acronyms pronounced as words

E.g.     NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organization

TANESCO – Tanzania electricity Supply Company

UNO – United Nations Organization

UNESCO – United nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

AIDS – Acquired immune Deficiency and Syndrome

CUF – Civil United Fronts

TANU – Tanganyika African National Union

TAMWA – Tanzania Media Women Association

(h) BACK FORMATION

This is the process of word formation whereby new words are created or formed by the removal of some parts (affixes) from an existing word.

i.  A conflict

(i)    ………………………………………………………………………………………………….

(ii)   …………………………………………………………………………………………………..

ii.    Abuse

(i)    …………………………………………………………………………………………………..

(ii)   …………………………………………………………………………………………….

iii.  Insult

(i)      ……………………………………………………………………………………………………

(ii)   ……………………………………………………………………………………………………

iv.  Narrow

(i)     ……………………………………………………………………………………………………

(ii)     ……………………………………………………………………………………………

v.    Reject

(i)   ……………………………………………………………………………………………………

(ii)    …………………………………………………………………………………………..

3. Name the word formation processes involved in the formation of the words in brackets

       I.   Mwakifulefule had a  (jacket less)  book

       II.   Mayasa  (parties)  every Saturday night

      III.  Everybody must fight against (aids)

      IV.   Mufungwa  has just got a new (car phone)

      V.    Kagaruki wants  to be a (footballer)

 
NECTA  2012

1.  Read the following complex sentence and then answer the questions that follow.
Tanzania government has been using teacher in trying to transform education system which was inherited from the colonialism in order to match it with its own new goals, aspirations and concepts of development.
Identify the following from the above given sentence.
a. Five stems
b. From 5 stems in part (a) show the roots
c. 5 derivation morphemes
d. 5 inflectional morpheme

2.  a) Provide the adjectival forms the following words and write one Sentence for all
     b)  explain the process involved in the formation of the following groups of words

                        i.     Alcohol, boos, piano, zebra

                        ii.    Loan word, waste basket, water – bird, finger print

                        iii.   Facsimile – fax, cabriolet – cab, advertisement – ad

                        iv.   Telecast, hotel, heliport, brunch

  vi.     Telecast – television, opt- option, enthuse – enthusiasm, emote – emotion

Answers for question 1 & 2 (necta 2012)

1a.       Government
            Education
            Colonialism
            Aspiration
            Development

  b.     Govern
          Educate
          Colony
          Spice
          Develop      

   c.      meant
           ion
           ism
           ion
           met

  d.       -ing
            -en
             -s
             -ed

          
2. a) Breakable
        My pen is breakable.
   b. Measurable
        Ojiki’s thing is measurable
  c.   Mental
        She visited the mental clinic
  d.    Memorable
         Her birthday was a memorable event
  e.    Medical
         She is a medical student 
b)  (i)    Borrowing
     (ii)   Compounding
     (iii)  Clipping
     (iv)   Blending
     (v)    Back formation