English Morphological Process : Affixation (part 3)

1.  Derivational Morphology

          Derivational morphology is concerned withone kind of relationship between lexemes. Derivational Morphology is an affix that’s added to a word to create a new word or a new form of a word. Derivational morpheme can change the grammatical category ( or part of speech) of a word.

Ex : beautyà beautiful

        Help à  helpful

In English there are some rule using of suffix, such as :

The suffix –ize attaches to nouns or adjective to form verb.

Ex :  central + ize = centralize

The suffix –ation attaches to verb to form nouns

Ex: inform+ ation =  information

      Confirm+ ation = confirmation

The suffix –al  attaches to nouns to form adjective

Ex: universe + al = universal

Language frequently have affixes that fall into common semantic categories. Among those categories are :

a)     Personal affixes are affixes that create ‘ people nouns’ either from verb or from nouns . among the personal affixes are :

-         The suffix –er in agent. Ex: work+er= worker, write + er= writer

b)    Negative and Privative affixes

·        Negative affixes add the meaning ‘not’ to their base.  The prefixes in negative such as :

·        Un- : un+ happy= unhappy

·        In - : in + attentive=  inattentive

·        Non- : non+functional= non functional

·        Dis- : dis+ like = dislike

·        Privative affixes add the meaning ‘ without’ to their base. Affixes in privative are :

o   The suffix –less . Ex: hope +less = hopeless

o   The prefix de-  . ex: de+bug= debug, de+bone= debone

c)     Prepositional and Relational affixes often convey notions of space and or time . prefix in prepositional and relational such as :

o   Over- : over+fill= overfill

o   Out-             : out+ trun= outtrun

d)    Quantitative affixes are affixes that have something to do with amount. In English have affixes like :

o   –ful : hand+ful= handful

o   Multi- : multi+talent= multitalent

o   Re- : re+read= reread

e)     Evaluative affixes consist of :

1)    Diminutives is affixes that  signal a smaller version of the base. Diminutives often convey affection or endearment. The suffix such as :

-let: drop+let= droplet

       Book+let= booklet

2)    Augmentatives is affixes that signal a bigger version of the base. Augmentatives sometimes have pejorative overtunes. The prefix such as:

Mega- : mega+store= megastore

             Mega+bite  = megabite

Conversion (zero Derivation)

        Conversion is one of the processes available in derivational morphology. Conversion is word formation can new word without adding an affix. Zero derivation or conversion is the cange meaning and form without adding affixes.

      I.            Nouns derived from nouns

          Not all derivational processes change word class. English has derivationalprocesses that yield nouns with meanings such as ‘small’, ‘female’, ‘inhabitant’, ‘state of being an X’ and ‘devotee of orexpert’. Here are some examples – though by no means a completelist, either of the affixes or of their possible meanings:

(1) ‘small’: -let, -ette, -ie

e.g. droplet, booklet, cigarette, doggie

(2) ‘female’: -ess, -ine

e.g. waitress, princess, heroine

(3) ‘inhabitant’: -er, -(i)an

e.g. Londoner, New Yorker, Texan, Glaswegian

(4) ‘state of being an X’: -ship, -hood

kingship, ladyship, motherhood, priesthood

(5) ‘devotee of or expert on X’: -ist, -ian

e.g. contortionist,, Marxist, logician, historian

   II.            Adjectives derived from adjectives

In this category, prefixes predominate. The only suffix of note is -ish,meaning ‘somewhat’.Ex: greenish, smallish, remotish. By contrast, the prefix un- meaning ‘not’ is extremely widespread: Ex: unhappy, unsure. For the present, it is worth

noting the existence of pairs of more or less synonymous adjectives,one of which is negated with un- and the other with in- or one of itsallomorphs:

example:

 eatable/uneatable                                       edible/inedible

readable/unreadable                                    legible/illegible

lawful/unlawful                                           legal/illegal

touchable/untouchable                                tangible/intangible

III.            Adjectives derived from members of other word classes

Some of the processes that derive adjectives from verbs straddle the

divide between derivation and inflection in a way that we have not yet

encountered. the suffixes -ed, -en and -ing, andvowel change, in passive and progressive participle forms of verbs.

However, such forms in italics can also be adjectives:

a. a not very interesting book

b. The party-goers sounded very drunk.

c. The car seemed more damaged than the lamp-post.

IV.            Verbs derived from verbs

 Most prominent are re- and the negative or ‘reversive’ prefixesun-, de- and dis-, as in the following examples:

paint, enter                                                 repaint, re-enter

tie, tangle                                                    untie, untangle

compose, sensitise                                                decompose, desensitize

 entangle, believe                                        disentangle, disbelieve