Transcript Morphology - Language Technologies Research Centre, IIIT

Morphology: It's Relation with
Phonology, Syntax and Semantics.
Sobha L
AU-KBC Research Centre
MIT Campus of Anna University
Chennai-44
Word- Its Internal Structure
What is a Word?
All right and Alright
The splody cat sat on a mat
What is a Lexeme?
An abstract vocabulary item is Lexeme
He went to the pub for a pint and then pockled off
Pockled, Pockling, Pockling and Pockle are
different realisations of the lexeme POCKLE

Word –Form
Word is not just the abstract vocabulary item
with a common core of meaning, the lexeme.
It has a particular physical realisation of that
lexeme in speech and writing and this is
word-form




Grammatical Word
The word can also be seen as a
representative of a lexeme that is associated
with certain morpho-syntactic properties such
as noun, adjective, verb , gender, number
etc.
Here we call a word as a grammatical word.








3. a Usually I cut the bread on the table
b. Yesterday I cut the bread in the sink
In 3a. Cut is [verb, present, non 3rd person]
Realises the present CUT
In 3b. Cut is cut [verb, past]
Realises the past CUT
3c.John has a cut in his finger
Here Cut is [Noun, singular]



Hence here cut is a separate Lexeme
CUT [Noun] from CUT [Verb] because they
belong to different word-class
The nature of grammatical word is important
in identifying the relationship between words
and sentences and the boundary between
morphology and syntax
Morphology

Morphology is the study of
arrangements in forming words.



morphemes
and
their
the, free, desk, eat--cannot be divided further
Mosquito- cannot be divided into mos and quito
Boys, girls –can be divided into boy, girl and -s
Morphemes, Allomorphs


Morphemes are the smallest linguistic
elements capable of having a meaning or
grammatical function.
They have no internal structure other than
phonological structure. Naturally, the
boundaries between words are also
boundaries between morphemes.

Morphemes are minimal meaningful units
which may constitute words or parts of
words.
e.g. re-, de-, un-, -ish, -ly, -ceive, -mand, tie,
boy, and like
in the combinations
receive, demand, untie, boyish, likely.

Examples of the division of words into morphemes.
His over-estim-at-ion of his friend-s' dis-pleas-ure at
his effort-s led to a severe nerv-ous break-down which
was only cure-d by an electr-ic shock therap-ist.

It is difficult to determine the boundaries between
morphemes.

The element cran-, which only occurs in cranberry.

A second example is the element -sume in the words.
 consume, presume, subsume, resume, assume

In response to certain other morphemes, sume
systematically changes its form.


consumption, presumption, subsumption, resumption,
assumption; consumptive, presumptuous
Notice that the alternation between sume and sump is not
predictable from the phonological laws of English

Thus, it is true that morphemes are the smallest
elements capable of having a meaning or
grammatical function

Not all morphemes have a meaning or function.
MORPH AND ALLOMORPH
e.g. in- and im- of intolerable and impossible are
allomorphs of the negative morpheme {im}.
/kam-, kan–,kan*-/ of comparable, context, congregate are
allomorphs of a single morpheme.
As their distribution can be stated by phonological
condition, they are called phonologically conditioned
allomorph.
{kam-~ kan- ~kan*-}
Principle 1
If a form ( containing one phoneme or a number of
phonemes ) conveys the same meaning in all its
occurrences, then it is treated as a morpheme.
e.g.
-er of worker, dancer, and filler is a morpheme
-er of wider, broader, smaller, deeper, cleaner is a
different morpheme.
Problem 1
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
nic^oka ‘I cry’
nic^oka? ‘I cried’
nimayana ‘I am hungry’
nimayana? ‘I was hungry’
nimayanaya ‘I was hungry (and may still be)’
timayana ‘you (sg.) are hungry’
nimayanas ‘I will be hungry’
tic^oka ‘you (sg.) cry’
nic^okaya ‘I was crying (and may still be)’
nic^okas ‘I will cry’
Problem 1 (cont.)
11. an’kwake ‘you (pl.) ate’
12. nitehkawi ‘I climb’
13. titehkawi? ‘you (sg.) climbed’
14. nitehkawiya ‘I was climbing (and may still be)’
15. nitehkawis ‘I will climb’
16. nikwake ‘we ate’
Problem 1 (cont.)
17. nimayanati ‘I go to be hungry’
18. nimayanato ‘ I went to be hungry’
19. nimayanaki ‘ I come to be hungry’
20. nimayanako ‘I came to be hungry’
21. nikmayanati ‘I cause him to be hungry’
22. nikmayanati/ ‘I caused him to be hungry’
23. nimicmayanatis ‘I shall cause you (sg.) to be hungry’
AC:BC::AD:BD
walk-ed:talk-ed::walk-ing:talk-ing
nic^oka : tic^coka :: nimayana : timayana
A C
BC
AD
BD
c^oka? : mayana? :: c^okas : mayanas
The morphemes of the problem 1 can be listed as follows:
1. ni- ‘I’
4. mayana ‘to be hungry’
2. ti- ‘you (sg.)’
5. ? - past
3. –c^oka ‘ to cry’ 6. s - future
7. ya – past incomplete
Problem 2
paTittaan ‘he read’
iTittan ‘he pounded’
kaattaan ‘he protected’
paTittaaL ‘she read’
iTittaaL ‘she pounded’
kaattaaL ‘she protected’
paTikkiRaan ‘he is reading’
iTikkiRaan ‘he is pounding’
kaakkiRaan ‘he is protecting’
paTikkiRaaL ‘she is reading’
iTikkiRaaL ‘she is pounding’
kaakkiRaaL ‘she is protecting’
Principle 2
Forms which have a common semantic
distinctiveness but which differ in phonemic form
(i.e. the phonemes or order of the phonemes) may
constitute a morpheme provided the distribution
of formal differences is phonologically definable.
e.g. in- and im- of intolerable, impossible,
impracticable & impersonal bear a partial
phonetic-semantic resemblance and the position
in which they occur are determined by the type of
consonant following.
maram ‘tree’
marattaTi ‘wood of a tree’
marakkiLai ‘branch of a tree’
maraŋkaL ‘trees’
{maram} / maram ~ maraŋ ~ mara/
Problem
1. hk’ab ‘my hand’
1a. k’ab ‘hand
2. kakan ‘my leg’
2a. akan ‘leg’
3. alumal ‘your land
3a. lumal ‘land’
4. awinam ‘your wife’
4a. inam ‘wife’
5. sk’op
‘his language’ 5a. k’op ‘language’
6. yat’el
‘his work’
6a. at’el ‘work’
problem 3
h- ~ k- ‘my’
h occurs before constant-initial stem and k before a vowelinitial stem
a- ~ aw- ‘your
s- ~ y- ‘his’
Principle 3
Forms which have a common semantic
distinctiveness but which differ in phonemic form
in such a way that their distribution cannot be
phonologically defined, constitute a single
morpheme if the forms are in complementary
distribution in accordance with the following
restrictions.
“common semantic distinctiveness” (principle 1& 2)
“but which differ in phonemic form in such a way that their
distribution cannot be phonologically definable” (principle 2)
“complementary distribution”
“restrictions”
1.
Occurrence in the same structural series has
precedence over occurrence in different
structural series in the determination of
morphemic status.
roses , boys, lips, oxen and sleep belong to the
same structural series.
The genitive morpheme /-əz~ -z ~ -s/ is in a
different structural series in that it occurs with
both singular and plural nouns.
man’s, men’s
2. Complementary distribution in different structural
series constitute a basis for combining possible
allomorphs into one morpheme only if there also
occurs in these different structural series a
morpheme which belongs to the same
distribution class as the allomorphemic series in
question and which itself has only one
allomorph
or
phonologically
defined
allomorphs.
Hypothetical Example
Subject Pronouns Object Pronouns
1st person
-na
fi2nd person
-so
ka3rd person
-zo
zo-
Problem
Subject form Agreement marker after Verb stem
naan^ ‘I’
-een
naam ‘we’
-oom
nii
‘you
-aay
avan^ ‘he’
-aan
avaL ‘she’
-aaL
avar ‘he (hon.)’
-aar
atu ‘it’
-atu
3. Immediate tactical environment have precedence over
nonimmediate tactical environments in determining
morphemic status.
in the boys died the immediate tactical environment of –s is
boy-. Any combination of boys such as the boys or the boys
died is the nonimmediate tactical environment of –s.
4.
Contrast in identical distributional environments may be
treated as submorphemic if the difference in meaning of the
allomorph reflect the distribution of these forms.
Show occurs with two “past participle” formation, shown,
showed. The distribution of –n and –ed are not
complementary at this point, i.e they contrast. According to
restriction 4 this contrast is not sufficient to force us to
regard –n and –ed as separate morphemes, since whatever
difference of distribution.
PRINCIPLE 4
An overt formal difference in a structural series constitute a
morpheme if in any member of such a series, the overt
formal difference and a zero structural difference are the
only significant features for distinguishing a minimal unit of
phonetic-semantic distinctiveness.


“An overt formal difference” means a contrast which is indicated
by difference in phonemes or in the order of phonemes.
e.g. The distinction between foot /fut/ and feet /fiyt/ is an overt
difference.
The contrast between the singular sheep /Siyp/ and the plural
sheep /Siyp/ consists of a zero and is covert.
A member of a structural series may occur with a zero structural
difference and an overt formal difference
Problem
1.
Walked
2.
Played
3.
Ran
4.
Hit
5.
Met
6.
Worked
7.
Fought
8.
Jumped
9.
Pounded
10.
Cut
11.
Split
12.
Spit
13.
Sang
14.
Bled
15.
Kept
16. meant
17. rang
18. swan
19. rode
20. slept
21. bought
Principle 5
Homophonous forms are identifiable as the same or
different morphemes on the basis of the following
conditions.
1. Homophonous forms with distinctly different meanings
constitute different morphemes.
e.g. pair, pare and pear
2.
Homophonous forms with related meanings constitute a
single morpheme if the meaning classes are paralleled by
distributional differences.
e.g.
run in the expressions they run and their run
PRINCIPLE 6
A morpheme is isolable if it occurs under the following
conditions:
1.
In isolation
2.
In multiple combination in at least one of which the unit with
which it is combined occurs in isolation or in other
combinations.
3.
In a single combination provided the element with which it
is combined occurs in isolation or in other combinations
with nonunique constituents.
PRINCIPLE 6
Condition 1
On the basis of the first condition of isolatability we may
identify as morphemes such forms as boy, cow, run, jump,
up, he this, and touch, since it is possible to utter all these
forms in isolation.
Condition 2
Certain morphemes never occur in isolation.
e.g. the –er in such words as dancer, worker, jumper, and
provider.
Nevertheless, we can identify –er as a morpheme, since the
elements with which it occurs may be found in isolation.
e.g. dance, work, jump and provide
PRINCIPLE 6

The second condition of isolatability does not require that
all combining elements have an independent occurrence,
but only that at least one form in any such structural series
have the capacity of occurrence in isolation or in other
combinations.

The prefix con- occurs in combinations, e.g. conceive,
consume, contain, condense, but the form dense occurs in
isolation. This provides justification for considering con- a
morpheme.
Added evidence is available in the fact that the stem form
occur in other combinations.
e.g. perceive, resume, detain

PRINCIPLE 6
Condition 3
There are some morphemes which occur in only one
combination.
e.g. cran- in cranberry
rasp- in raspberry
cray- in crayfish
Morphemes
Morphemes (Smallest meaningful unit)
Free Morphs
E.g.: girl, time
Bound Morphs
E.g.: -s, -ive
Morphs which have different forms are called allomorphs.
Allomorph
Phonologically
Conditioned
Lexically
Conditioned
Plural forms in English
Plurals
sheep, oxen
(each one has a
different form and
cannot be
predicted)
|s| hits
|iz| sneezes
|z| dogs
Morphologically
Conditioned
The choice of
allomorphs –ceive,
-cept is systematically
determined by the
morpheme added to
them) Receiver,
deceiver
Suppletion
is an extreme form of
allomorph in which two
completely different roots
realize the same morpheme.
Examples are
go | went
Be | is| was | were | am
Good | better | best
Bad | worse | worst
One | first
Two | second
Suppletion is an extreme form of allomorph in
which two completely different roots realize the
same morpheme.
Examples are
go | went
Be | is| was | were | am
Good | better | best
Bad | worse | worst
One | first
Two | second

Word Building Elements

Roots


Root is the irreducable core of a word-walk
Function words

Functional words signals the grammatical
information or logical relation in a sentence



Articles-a, the; demonstratices: this ,that etc
Stems-Bases are called stem only in the
context of inflectional morphology
Bases- All roots are bases
Morphology
Inflection
Derivation
(affixation)
Word-formation
Compounding
(more than one root)
Class-maintaining Class changing Compound Compound Compound
Nouns
Verbs
Adjectives
INFLECTION








Inflection is the outer layer of the morphology and
derivation is the inner layer.
steward stewardesses
motorbike motorbikes
painter
painters
*stewards-esses
*motorsbike
*paintser
Root
paint
Affixes
re-(paint)-ed
Stem
repaint(-ed)
Morphemes
AGAIN-PAINT-PAST
INFLECTION
• Inflectional categories such as tense, voice,
and number play an important role in
syntax and are called morphosyntactic
categories.
For example case inflections show the
relation between nouns and verbs.
ex.
avan naay-aik kamp-aal aTi-tt-aan
he
dog_ACC stick_INS beat_PAST-3PS
INFLECTION
• Inflectional
productive.
morphemes
are
generally
Ex.
The inflectional morphemes of PLURAL, PAST,
etc. are productive.
boy-s, toys, etc.
walk-ed, talk-ed, cook-ed, etc.
Where as derivative morphemes are not
productive
(selective,
*wantive;
construction, *talkion)
INFLECTION
• Inflectional morphemes are semantically
more regular than derivational ones.
Ex.
Books, bags, girls – The inflectional suffix -s
denotes plurality regularly.
Construction, destruction, instruction, etc. –
The meaning conveyed by the derivative
suffix –ion is not regular. The predictability
of meaning is absent.
INFLECTION
• Inflections create full conjugations and
declensions for verbs and nouns. Derivation
usually produce gaps.
arrive
Inflection
Derivation
arrived
arrival
Dispose disposed
disposal
Improve improved
*improval
TYPES OF INFLECTION
Suffixes
walk-ed
walk-s walk-ing
cook-ed
cook-s
cook-ing
va-nt-aan COME-PAST-THIRD PERSON MASCULEINE SINGULAR
Prefixes
un-fortunate
im-possible
Portmanteau
Latin noun ANNUS ‘year’
Singular
Plural
Nominative ann-us
ann-i:
Vocative
ann-e
ann-i:
Accusative ann-um
ann-o:s
Genitive
ann-i:
ann-o:rum
Dati
ann-o:
ann-i:s
Ablative
ann-o:
ann-i:s
Circumfixes
 A prefix and a suffix act together to surround
a base
German:
film-en ‘to film’ ge-film-t ‘filmed
frag-en ‘ to ask
ge-frag-t ‘asked’
lob-en ‘to praise’ ge-lob-t ‘parised’
zeig-en ‘to snow’ ge-zeig-t ‘shown’
*ge-film, etc. do not occur.
Infixes
 Inflixes create discontinuous bases.
Charau, a language of Vietnam
sulat ‘write’
s-um--ulat ‘wrote
s-in-ulat ‘was written’
Interfixes
Transfixes
A special kind of infix involves not only discontinuous
affixes but also discontinuous bases.
Egyptian Arabic
k-t-b ‘write’ - base
‘katab ‘he wrote’
‘jiktib ‘he will write’
mak’tuub ‘written’
d-r-s ‘study’ -base
‘daras ‘ he studied’
‘jidris ‘ he will study’ ; mad’ruus ‘studied’
Reduplication
 Using some part of the base (which may be the entire
base) more than once in a word.
 If the entire base is reduplicated, reduplication
resembles compounding.
Indonasian Languages (complete reduplication)
kursi ‘chair
- kursikursi ‘chairs’
lalat ‘house-fly’ - lalatlalat ‘house-flies’
ibu ‘mother’
- ibuibu ‘mothers’
Tagalog language (partial reduplication)
bill ‘buy’
- bibill ‘he will buy’
inom ‘drink’
- ininom ‘he will drink’
sulut ‘write’
- susulat ‘he will write’
DERIVATION



Derivation is the reverse of the coin of
inflection.
New Inflection occur only very slowly over time
New derivational affixes seem to occur from
time to time.
e.g.
sputnik, beatnik, refusenik
alcocholic, workacholic, radioholic
DERIVATION
 Derivational affixes produce new words
 There
function
is
not
to
express
morphosyntactic categories but to make new
words.
 They are somewhat erratic in meaning and
distribution.
[arrive]+al > arrival
[dispose] +al > disposal
[brute]+al > brutal
[option]+al > optional


Derivational affixes vary in their productivity.
hood : boyhood, childhood
ig-: ignoble (ig- is not productive)
-ose : jocose (-ose is not productive)
ist: communist, Marxist, linguist, atheist,
rationalist, etc. (-ist is productive)
Derivational affixes are nearer to the root.
DERIVATION

Class changing Vs Class Maintaining Process
[computer]N+ize > [computerize ]V
[child]N+hood > [childhood]N
Derivation
Class-maintaining and Class changing derivation


A class-maintaining process of derivation produces
lexemes which belong to the same form class as the
base.
ex. king+dom> kingdom
un+friendly> unfriendly
lion+ness>lioness
A class changing-process of derivation produces
lexemes which belong to a form class other than the
form class of the base.
ex. king+ly>kingly,
friend+ly>friendly
DERIVATION
Word Building using affixes
Suffixes
 Suffixes are used for all purposes in morphology.
They are used derivationally as
constitut-ion-al-ity
 When both inflectional and derivational suffixes cooccur in the same word-form, the general rule is that
the derivational suffixes precede the inflectional ones.
construct-ion-s
paTu-kkai-il ‘lie-NOM-LOC’
DERIVATION
Prefixes
 They are rarer than suffixes.
 They are used derivationally as
dis-en-tangle
un-thank-ful
re-think-s
Tamil
a-naakariikam ‘not pertaining to culture’
a-niiti ‘not in accordance with justise’
DERIVATION
Infixes

Infixes create discontinuous base.

Relatively rare in use.

Infixes can co-occur in the word-form with prefixes
and suffixes.
Charau a language of Vietnam
voh ‘know’ v-an-oh ‘wise
cah ‘remember’ c-an-ah ‘left over’
DERIVATION
Transfixes

Another special kind of infix involves not only
discontinuous affixes but also discontinuous bases.

These are affixes which occur throughout the base,
and they are thus termed transfixes.
Egyptian Arabic Data
k-t-b ‘write’
mak’taba ‘book
kaatib ‘clerk’
d-r-s ‘study
mad’rasa ‘school’
dars ‘lesson
mu’daris ‘teacher’
DERIVATION
Interfixes
Another special kind of infix can be found, for example, in
may of the Germanic languages, where there is a linking
element which appears between the two elements of a
compound
Element1 Element2 Compound
Gloss
auge
arzt
auge-n-arzt
‘eye doctor
tag
Reise
tag-e-reise
‘day’s journey’
uhr
kasten
uhr-en-hasten
‘clock case’
The linking element in the compound is an affix which only
comes between two other forms. It is therefore sometimes
termed as interfix.
DERIVATION
Reduplication

Reduplication is using some part of the base more
than once in the word.

It is far more common across languages than the
rarer type of affixation illustrated above.

Reduplication can also form types of affix .

The part of the word which is repeated may be
added to the end or the beginning of the base
DERIVATION: Reduplication
Affikaans Data
Motu, a language of Papua New Guinea
mero ‘boy’ mero.mero ‘little boys
memeromemero ‘little boys’
Maori
aahua ‘appearance’
aahua.hua ‘resemble
hiikei ‘step’
hiikei.kei ‘step’
Tamil
Type1
kaTakaTa (enRu)
‘very fast’
paTapaTa (enRu)’
‘fast’
Type2
veekaveekamaaka
‘very fast’
mellamella
‘very slowly’
Type3
pulikili
‘tiger like’
kaappikiippi
‘coffee like’
DERIVATION
Cases involving shortening base
Substractive morph?
French
Masculine
Feminine
Gloss
movE
movEz
‘bad’
lõ
lõg
‘long’
pəti
pətit
‘little’
blã
blãS
‘white’
fo
fos
‘false’
DERIVATION: Cases involving shortening base
BACK FORMATION
The formation of new lexeme by the deletion of actual or
supposed affixes in longer words.
editor > edit
liaison > liaise
lecher
> lech
CLIPPING
The process by which a lexeme is shortened, while still
retaining the same meaning and still being a member of
the same classes.
mimeograph > mimeo
aeroplane > plane
Laboratory > lab
DERIVATION
By modification of the base

Where affixes are not used for creating new words, the most
common method is to make some kind of change to the
base.

The change may be segmental or suprasegmental .

The terminology surrounding the various types of change is
complex.
A change from a voiceless fricative to a voiced fricative.
Noun
Verb
Mouth [mauθ]
mouth [mauð]
Thief [θi:f]
thieve [θi:v]
DERIVATION: By modification of the base
Change in superfixes
Noun
Verb
‘discount
dis’count
‘importim’port
‘insult
in’sult
With no change of form (COVERSION)
Adjective
Verb
Better empty
Round round
DERIVATION
Acronym formation
The formation of words by making used of initial letters of
words.
radio, lazer, ram, aids
Tamil
timuka, pjeepi
DERIVATION
Blending
When a new word is formed by the meaning and also the sounds
of two words, the process is know as blending.
1.
First part blended with terminal part
Oxford + Cambridge > oxbridge
smoke + fog > smog
motorists + hotel > motel
2. Overlapping
slang + language > slanguage
guess + estimate > guesstimate
DERIVATION
Word manufacture
kodak, quark, Finnegans Wake
Multi formation

New word by two process of word-formation
(Clipping followed by derivation)
Handkerchief > hanky
Comfortable > comfy
Pinafore > pinny
Nightgown > nighty
Tamil
tanjaavuur > tanjai, koyamputtuur > koovai
Derivation vs Inflection


Derivation changes the meaning of the word. Inflections does
not,
 if it, it changes its feature which is the grammar rather than the
vocabulary.
Inflection is added at the edge of the word.



i.e., outside derivation
Piglets
Derivation changes the syntactic category of the word
[boyr] ish]
N Adj
While inflection preserves the category. They are always
attached to the root
[[boy] s]
N pl

Inflection is nearly always semantically regular, while derivation is
characterised by idiosyncrasies.


Thus, -s nearly always indicates the plural of a noun, while the
semantic effects of -ion on its base are unpredictable (profess/
profession).
Inflection is much more productive within a syntactic category than
derivation (i.e. inflection can apply to more members of the category,
and does not show accidental gaps like *doglet.
COMPOUNDING (COMPOSITION)
 Two
or more words combine into a
morphological unit.
marshland, Blackbird,
 Combination of two free forms, or words, or
words that have an otherwise independent
existence.
bed room, bath room, wind mill
 They function to all intents and purposes like
single words.
old bathroom - *bath old room
Compounding (Composition)
 Like single words they will be spoken with only
one stress.
 Any inflectional suffixes will occur at the end of
the whole unit.
 They occupy full, single grammatical slots in
sentences, unlike idioms, which can be whole
clause.
 Compounds may contain more than two free
roots
wastepaper basket
Composition (Compounding)
 In some languages may contain in excess
of half a dozen free roots.
student film society
student film society committee
student film society committee scandal
student film society committee scandal
inquiry
Compounding (Composition)
Compounds can be studied at least from
five points of view:





Based on the grammatical categoies of
words which constitute compounds
Based on the semantic classes
Based on the possible linking elements
Based on the deep structure
Based on the morphophonology
Compounding (Composition)
Compounds are often divided into four
semantic types:
1. Endocentric
2. Exocentric
3. Appositonal
4. Dvandva
Endocentric compound
Ex. Beehive, armchair, House boat, Boat house
 The
compound is a hyponym of the
grammatical head
 The second element is the grammatical head
word and the first modifier.



A beehive is a kind of hive, an arm chair is a kind of
chair.
House boat, a type of boat
Boat house, a type of house
Endocentric





[N N]N coffee table, book self
[V N]N cry baby, scrub woman
[A N]N black bird, dry dock
[particle/preposition N]N out house, out
growth, off paint
[N A]N pain free, blood thirsty
Exocentric



[N N]N pale face, red skin
[V N]N pick pocket, spoil sport, kill joy
[N particle]N hand out, put down
Composition (Compounding)
Exocentric compound (Bahuvrihi compound)
Ex. redskin, highbrow, Pale face
 The compound is is a hyponym of some other
unexpressed semantic head.
 The compound is not a hyponymy of the
grammatical head.
 Redskin is not a type of skin, nor a highbrow is
not a type of brow.
 Person who has pale face
Compounding (Composition)
Appositional Compound
Ex. Maidservant
 The compound is a hyponym of both maid and
servant .
 A maid servant is a type of maid and also a
type of servant.
Composition (Compounding)
Dvandva or copulative compound
Ex.
Alsace-Lorraine, Rank-Hovis
ceeracoozhapaaNTiyar ‘Cheras, Cholas and
Pandiyas’
ceTikoTikaL ‘plants and creepers’

Here it is not clear which element is the grammatical
head and the compound is not a hyponymy of either
element, but the elements name separate entities
which combine to form the entity denoted by
compound.
WORD –FORMATION


There are ten processes by which new words are formed in
English:
1. Compound formation
2. Duplication
3. Derivation
4. Back-formation
5. Conversion
6. Clipping
7. Acronymy
8. Blending
9.Word-manufacture
10. Multiple-function
Most of these are applicable to Indian Languages. There a few
new types of formations too.
Productivity in word formation


What is productivity
Constrains in productivity
Universal Grammar (UG)




It is modular in structure
Consists of various sub-systems of Principles
Many principles consists of Parameters
The modules of UG which are inter-related




Lexicon and Morphology
Syntax
Phonetic Form
Logical form
Place of Morphology in
generative grammar
Morphology-Phonology
Morphology Syntax
Shortened
Verb
Verb
Suffix
Adj
Suffix
Short
{en}
{Past}
Teachers
Noun
Noun
Verb
Teach
Suffix
Suffix
{er}
{Plural}
Unenjoyable
Adj
Prefix
Adj
Verb
Un
{enjoy}
Suffix
{able}
Unethical
Adj
Prefix
Adj
Noun
{Un}
{ethics}
Suffix
{al}
Unhappiest
Adj
Adj
Prefix
{Un}
Suffix
Adj
{happy}
{est}
Unreadable
Adj
Prefix
Adj
Verb
{Un}
{read}
Suffix
{able}