Morphemes

Morphemes are the smallest units of meaning in a language. They are commonly classified as either free morphemes, which can occur as separate words or bound morphemes, which can't stand alone as words.

a morpheme is a meaningful linguistic unit consisting of a word such as PARROT, or a word element, such as the -s at the end of PARROTS, that can't be divided into smaller meaningful parts.

1) Dependent Morpheme: ‘s’

2) Independent Morpheme: words comprise of meaning

Affix

Affix definition: An affix is an word attachment to a root or stem that gives a word a different meaning.

An affix literally “fix”es itself to a root word or a stem word. An affix changes the meaning of a word.

An affix may be attached to the beginning or the end of a root or stem word. If an affix is attached to the beginning of a word, it is called a prefix. If an affix is attached to the end of a word, it is called a suffix.

Some root or stem words may have both an affix and a suffix or multiple affixes and suffixes in order to make new words and to change the meaning of the root or stem word.

The two most common types of affixes are prefixes and suffixes

Prefixes

Prefixes are a type of affix. Prefixes are “pre” (before) “fix”ed (attached) to a root or stem to create a new word with a new meaning.

Prefixes themselves are not words. They must be attached to a root or a stem in order to create new words.

Examples:

1.dis- (lack of, not)They were displeased.

They were not pleased. un- (not)

His work was unsatisfactory.

His work was not satisfactory

Suffixes

Suffixes are a type of affix. Suffixes are “suf” (under/after) “fix”ed (attached) to a root or stem to create a new word with a new meaning

Suffixes themselves are not words. They must be attached to a root or a stem in order to create new words

Examples:

able (able to)The part is adaptable

The part is able to adapt

less (without)The old television was worthless.

The old television was without worth

Suffixes are of two types: Inflectional & Derivational

Derivational suffixes contain the new word a new meaning, and is usually a different part of speech. But the new meaning is related to the old meaning - it is "derived" from the old meaning. (Conversion)

We can add more than one suffix, as in this example:

derive (verb) + action → derivation (noun) + al → derivational (adjective)

prince – princess the suffix -ess relates princess to prince with a change of meaning indicating gender

You can modify the meaning of any root by adding a derivational suffix. The new root+ suffix compound then acts as if it were a root itself, and can be modified further by adding more derivational suffixes

Nation (n),national(adj), nationalize(v), nationalization (n), internationalise (v)

Specify(v), specification(n)

Derivational paradigm “Is a set of related words composed of the same base morpheme and all the derivational affixes that can go with this base” [Stageberg,1965: ]

E.g.: child: childish, childishly, childishness, childlike, childless, childhood.

Word Formation Techniques

1. Compounding
2. Clipping (Back Clipping, Medial Clipping, Fore Clipping, Complex Clipping)
3. Blending
4. Borrowing
5. Coining
6. Creative Respelling
7. Abbreviation
8. Acronym

Compounding

Compound words are formed when two or more words are put together to form a new word with a new meaning. They can function as different parts of speech, which can dictate what form the compound takes on. For example, the word carry over is an open compound word when it’s used as a verb but it is closed when used as a noun and an adjective. Its possible Sometimes to have a compound word in which a derivational suffix is attached to either of the roots.

Basically there are Three types of compound words:

1. Closed compound words
2. Open compound words
3. Hyphenated compound

Clipping Words: Clipping is the word formation process in which a word is reduced or shortened without changing the meaning of the word. It’s the simple process of forming a new word by clipping off part of an existing word.

Coining or Neologism

A Coining/ neologism is a newly-created word used in expressions, in both writing and speaking. However, all neologisms are not entirely new. Some neologisms are built from new uses of old words, while others are combinations of old and new words

Charles Dickens first introduced the term “doormat” in his novel Great Expectations, Doormat refers to a thick piece of cloth placed on floor in front of the door to clean shoes

Twitter: The onomatopoeic word “twitter” was first used by Geoffrey Chaucer.

Yahoo: Yahoo is one of the most popular terms in today’s internet world. The word first appeared in Jonathan Swift’s novel Gulliver’s Travels