Morphological structure of English words.

The morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit of form. Morphemes cannot be segmented into smaller units without losing their constitutive essence, i. e. two-facetedness — association of a certain meaning with a certain sound-pattern.

Morphemes may be classified from the semantic point of view and from the structural point of view.

Semantically morphemes fall into two types: 1) root-morphemes and 2) non-root morphemes.

Root-morphemes (or radicals) are the lexical nucleus of words(remake, glassful, disorder the root-morphemes -make, glass- and -order are understood as the lexical centres of the words). Non-root morphemes include inflectional morphemes (or inflections) and affixational morphemes (or affixes). Inflections carry only grammatical meaning.. Lexicology is concerned only with affixational morphemes. Affixes are divided into prefixes and suffixes. A prefix is a derivational morpheme preceding the root-morpheme and modifying its meaning. ). A suffix is a derivational morpheme following the root and forming a new derivative in a different part of speech or a different word class. A free morpheme is defined as one that coincides with the stem or a word form. For example, the root-morpheme friend- of the noun friendship. A bound morpheme occurs only as a constituent part of a word. Affixes are bound morphemes for they always make part of a word. For example, the suffixes -ness, -ship, -ize in the words darkness, friendsh ip, to activize. Semi-bound (semi-free) morphemes are morphemes that can function in a morphemic sequence both as an affix and as a free morpheme. According to the number of morphemes words are classified into:

1) monomorphic;

2) polymorphic.

Monomorphic or root-words consist of only one root-morpheme (small, dog, make). Polymorphic words according to the number of root-morphemes are classified into

a) monoradical (one-root morpheme) and b) polyradical (words consisting of two or more roots).

Monoradical words fall into three subtypes:

a) Radical-suffixal words(acceptable,acceptability b) r adical-prefixal words(outdo, unbutton) c} prefixo-radical-suffixal words(disagreeable, misinterpretation) Polyradical words fall into two subtypes:

1) polyradical words which consist of two or more roots with no affixational morphemes (e.g. book-stand, lamp-shade)',

2) polyradical words which contain at least two roots and one or more affixational morphemes (e.g. safety-pin, light-mindedness, pen-holder)

21.Affixation. Affixation is one of the most productive ways of word-building throughout the history of English. It consists in adding an affix to the stem of a definite part of speech. Affixation is divided into suffixation and prefixation.

The main function of suffixes in Modern English is to form one part of speech from another, the secondary function is to change the lexical meaning of the same part of speech. There are different classifications of suffixes:

1. Part-of-speech classification. a) noun-forming suffixes: -er (criticizer), -dom, -ism. b) adjective-forming suffixes -able, less, -ous (prestigious).c) verb-forming suffixes -ize (computerize), -ify.

d) adverb-forming suffixes: -ly (singly), -ward.e) numeral-forming suffixes -teen (sixteen), -ty. 2. Semantic classification. a) the agent of the action -er (experimenter), -ist, -ent.b) nationality-ian (Russian), -ese, -ish c) collectivity,-dom, -ry (peasantry, -ship, -ati.d) diminutiveness -ie (horsie), -let (booklet), -ling, -ette.e) quality, -ness (copelessness), -ity

3. Lexico-grammatical character of the stem. Suffixes which can be added to certain groups of stems are subdivided into: a) suffixes added to verbal stems: -er (commuter), -ing, - able, -ment (involvement), -ation.b) suffixes added to noun stems: -less, ful (roomful), -ism, -ster, -nik, -ish.c) suffixes added to adjective stems, such as: -en (weaken), -ly, -ish, -ness. 4. Origin of suffixes. a) Native (Germanic) -er,-ful, -less, -ly, ness, ing, dom, hood, ship, th, let,wise,b) Romanic: -tion, -ment, -able, -eer,-age,- ard,-ate,- ee, -ess, c) Greek: -ist, -ism, -ize.d) Russian: -nik. 5. Productivity. a) productive: -er, -ize, --ly, -ness, ation, ance, ry,able, ize,ifyb) semi-productive: -eer, -ette, -ward. c) non-productive: -ard (drunkard), -th (length), full,ous.

Prefixation is the formation of words by means of adding a prefix to the stem.. Prefixes can be classified according to the nature of words in which they are used: prefixes used in notional words and prefixes used in functional words. Prefixes used in notional words are proper prefixes, which are bound morphemes, e.g. un- (unhappy). Prefixes used in functional words are semi-bound morphemes because they are met in the language as words, e.g. over- (overhead). The main function of prefixes in English is to change the lexical meaning of the same part of speech. But the recent research showed that about twenty-five prefixes in Modern English form one part of speech from another (rebutton, interfamily, postcollege etc).

Classification: 1. Semantic classification:a) prefixes of negative meaning: in- (invaluable), non- (nonformals), un- (unfree).b) prefixes denoting repetition or reversal actions: de-, re-, dis- (disconnect).c)prefixes denoting time, space, degree relations: inter- (interplanetary), hyper- (hypertension), ex- (ex-student), pre-, over- (overdrugging) etc.

2. Origin of prefixes:a) Native (Germanic): un-, over-, under-, be, mis, un, over.b) Romanic: in-, de-, ex-, re-, ultra, pre, extra, en, emc) Greek: sym-, hyper-, anti, sym, syn.

22. Conversion. Is also called affixless derivation or zero-suffixation.Conversion is treated by different scientists(Smirnitsky treats conversion as a morphological way of forming words.)Conversion is the main way of forming verbs in Modern English.Verbs can be formed from nouns of different semantic groups and have different meanings because that:a) verbs have instrumental meaning if they a re formed from nouns denoting parts of human body(to finger,to elbow),tools,machine(to hammer,to nail).b)verbs can denote an action characteristic of the living being denoted by the noun from which they have been converted(to crowd,to wolf).c)verbs can denote acquisition,addition or deprivation if they are formed nouns denoting an object(to fish,to dust). D)verbs can denote an action performed at the time denoted by the noun from which they have been converted(to winter).e) verbs can denote an action performed at the place denoted by the noun from which they have been converted(to park,to bottle).Verbs can also converted from adjectives(to become or make time).Nouns can also be formed by means of conversion from verbs.a)instant of an action(a jump)b)process or state(sleep)c)agent of the action expressed by the verb from which the noun has been converted(a help)d)object or result of the action expressed by the verb from which the noun has been converted(a burn)e) olace of the action expressed by the verb from which the noun has been converted(a drive).

23.Word-composition, types of compound words. Composition is the way of word building when a word is formed by joining two or more stems to form one word. Classification of compounds:

1. According to the parts of speech compounds are subdivided into: a) nouns: baby-moon, globe-trotter.b) adjectives: free-for-all, power-happy,c) verbs: to honey-moon, to baby-sit, to henpeck,d) adverbs: downdeep, headfirst,e) prepositions: into, within,f) numerals: fifty-five.2. According to the way components are joined together compounds are divided into: a) neutral, which are formed by joining together two stems without any joining morpheme(ball-point, to windowshop)b) morphological where components are joined by a linking element: vowels «o» or «i» or the consonant «s», («astrospace», «handicraft», «sportsman»).c) syntactical where the components are joined by means of form-word stems(here-and-now, free-for-all., do-or-die)3. According to their structure compounds are subdivided into: compound words proper which consist of two stems(to job-hunt, train-sick, go-go, tip-top) derivational compounds, where besides the stems we have affixes(ear-minded, hydro-skimmer), compound words consisting of three or more stems (cornflower-blue, eggshell-thin) compound-shortened words( boatel, tourmobile).

24.Main problems of word composition The structural unity of a compound word depends upon: a) the unity of stress, b) solid or hyphenated spelling, c) semantic unity, d) unity of morphological and syntactical functioning. Eng compounds have one uniting stress (usually on the first component), e.g. hard-cover. We can also have a double stress in an English compound, with the main stress on the first e.g. blood-vessel. The third pattern of stresses is two level stresses, e.g. snow-white. Spelling in English compounds is not very reliable as well because they can have different spelling even in the same text, e.g. war-ship, blood-vessel can be spelt through a hyphen and also with a break, insofar, underfoot can be spelt solidly and with a break. All the more so that there has appeared in Modern English a special type of compound words which are called block compounds, they have one uniting stress but are spelt with a break, e.g. air piracy, cargo module, coin change, penguin suit etc.

The semantic unity of a compound word is often very strong. In such cases we have idiomatic compounds where the meaning of the whole is not a sum of meanings of its components, e.g. to ghost write, skinhead, brain-drain etc. In nonidiomatic compounds semantic unity is not strong, e. g., airbus, to blood transfuse, astrodynamics etc.

English compounds have the unity of morphological and syntactical functioning. There are two characteristic features of English compounds: a) Both components in an English compound are free stems that are they can be used as words with a distinctive meaning of their own. The sound pattern will be the same except for the stresses, e.g. «a green-house» and «a green house». b) English compounds have a two-stem pattern, with the exception of compound words, which have form-word stems in their structure, e.g. middle-of-the-road, off-the-record, up-and-doing etc.

25. Shortenings. There are two main types of shortenings: graphical and lexical.

Graphical abbreviations are the result of shortening of words and word-groups only in written speech while orally the corresponding full forms are used. They are used for the economy of space and effort in writing.Groups of them:a) days of the week(Mon – Monday)b) names of months(Apr – April)c) names of counties in UK, (Yorks – Yorkshire)d) names of states in USA,(Ala – Alabama)e) names of address(Mr., Mrs.)f) military ranks(capt. –captain)g) scientific degrees, e.g. B.A. - Bachelor of Arts).h) units of time, length, weight, e.g. f. / ft -foot/feet).

Initialisms are the bordering case between graphical and lexical abbreviations. There are three types of initialisms in English:a) initialisms with alphabetical reading(UK, BUP, CND)b) initialisms which are read as if they are words(UNESCO).c) initialisms which coincide with English words in their sound form, such initialisms are called acronyms. Some scientists unite groups b) and c) into one group which they call acronyms.

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