Introduction to English Morphology (Textbooks in English Language and Linguistics (TELL, #5))

Morphology is the branch of linguistics that studies the internal structure of words, word-formation mechanisms that give rise to new words, and mechanisms that produce wordforms of existing words. Intended as a companion for students of English language and linguistics at both B.A. and M.A. levels, this textbook provides a comprehensive overview of the entire field of English morphology, including English word-formation and English inflectional morphology. The textbook discusses not only basic introductory issues requiring no prior background in linguistics but also fairly controversial theoretical issues which different linguists treat in a different way. As in the previous volumes of the TELL Series, most of the analyses are illustrated with authentic language data, i.e. examples drawn from language corpora like the Corpus of Contemporary American English and British National Corpus. Preface......Page 7 Table of Contents......Page 9 1.1 What is morphology?......Page 13 1.2.1 Semantics......Page 15 1.2.2 Phraseology......Page 17 1.2.3 Phonetics and phonology......Page 19 1.2.4 Syntax......Page 21 1.2.5 Sociolinguistics......Page 24 1.3 What is a word?......Page 26 1.4 Exercises......Page 33 1.5 Further reading......Page 34 2.1 What is a morpheme?......Page 37 2.2 Morphemes as signs......Page 39 2.2.2 One signified both a root and an affix......Page 67 2.5.4 Typology of affixes......Page 68 2.5.5 Typology of roots......Page 71 2.6 Exercises......Page 72 2.7 Further reading......Page 73 3.1 What is a lexeme?......Page 75 3.2.1 The lex of a lexeme......Page 76 3.2.3 The signified of a lexeme......Page 78 3.2.4 Three-component anisomorphic lexemes......Page 79 3.2.5 Anisomorphic lexemes realized by phrases and sentences......Page 80 3.2.6 How to distinguish between full-, semi-, and quasi-idioms?......Page 82 3.3.1 Relations between members of the same vocable......Page 84 3.4 Lexemes and lexeme families......Page 86 3.5 Exercises......Page 87 3.6 Further reading......Page 88 4.1 Lexeme-formation versus lex-formation......Page 91 4.2.1 Purely semantic mechanisms......Page 92 4.2.2 Purely formal mechanisms......Page 93 4.2.3 Mechanisms involving formal and semantic modifications......Page 95 4.2.4 Diachronic and synchronic perspectives......Page 98 4.2.5 Why do speakers of English create new lexemes?......Page 101 4.2.6 The establishment of new lexemes......Page 104 4.2.7 The non-institutionalization of new lexemes......Page 106 4.2.8 Productivity......Page 111 4.3 Lex-formation......Page 115 4.3.2 Lex-forming suppletion......Page 116 4.3.3 Lex-forming abbreviation......Page 117 4.3.6 Lex-forming affixation......Page 118 4.3.7 Lex-forming syntactics' change......Page 119 4.4 Exercises......Page 120 4.5 Further reading......Page 122 5.1 Semantic change......Page 123 5.1.2 Types of metonymies......Page 124 5.1.3 Types of metaphors......Page 126 5.1.4 Morphological conversion......Page 127 5.1.5 Productivity......Page 136 5.2 Lexeme-manufacturing......Page 139 5.2.1 Productivity......Page 141 5.3 Lexeme-building borrowing......Page 142 5.3.1 Productivity......Page 143 5.4.1 Affixes and their signifieds......Page 145 5.4.2 Affixes and their syntactics......Page 146 5.4.3 Productivity......Page 153 5.5 Lexeme-building apophony......Page 155 5.6 Compounding......Page 157 5.6.1 Compounding as an anisomorphic mechanism......Page 158 5.6.2 The semantics of compounding......Page 160 5.6.3 Endocentric and exocentric compounding......Page 164 5.6.4 Compounding from a formal point of view......Page 168 5.6.5 Compounds and phrases......Page 171 5.6.6 Productivity......Page 174 5.7 Blending......Page 175 5.7.1 Productivity......Page 177 5.8 Idiomatization of phrases and sentences......Page 178 5.8.1 Productivity......Page 179 5.9 Back-formation......Page 180 5.9.1 Productivity......Page 182 5.10 Exercises......Page 183 5.11 Further reading......Page 184 6.1 Grammatical category......Page 185 6.2 Types of grammatical categories......Page 186 6.3.1 Inflectional affixation......Page 188 6.3.3 Grammatical apophony......Page 189 6.3.4 Grammatical suppletion......Page 192 6.3.6 Allowordforms......Page 193 6.3.7 Productivity......Page 194 6.4.1 Why do we need the passive voice?......Page 195 6.4.2 Middle voice in English?......Page 196 6.4.3 What can be passivized?......Page 198 6.4.4 Get-passives......Page 199 6.4.5 Types of cases......Page 200 6.4.6 Cases in English......Page 201 6.4.7 Functions of case......Page 203 6.4.8 Semantic function of case?......Page 204 6.5.1 Typology of temporal meanings......Page 206 6.5.2 No future tense in English......Page 208 6.5.3 Idiomatic uses of temporal wordforms......Page 210 6.5.4 Typology of aspectual meanings......Page 212 6.5.5 Aspects in English......Page 214 6.5.6 Moods in English......Page 217 6.5.7 Person......Page 221 6.5.8 Number......Page 224 6.5.9 Degrees of comparison......Page 226 6.5.10 Numerical qualification......Page 228 6.6 Exercises......Page 230 6.7 Further reading......Page 232 Key to exercises......Page 233 References......Page 237 Index......Page 245 Preface 7 Table of Contents 9 1 Basic concepts 13 1.1 What is morphology? 13 1.2 Morphology and other branches of linguistics 15 1.2.1 Semantics 15 1.2.2 Phraseology 17 1.2.3 Phonetics and phonology 19 1.2.4 Syntax 21 1.2.5 Sociolinguistics 24 1.3 What is a word? 26 1.4 Exercises 33 1.5 Further reading 34 2 The internal structure of English words 37 2.1 What is a morpheme? 37 2.2 Morphemes as signs 39 2.2.1 One signifier -> more than one signified 40 2.2.2 One signified both a root and an affix 67 2.5.4 Typology of affixes 68 2.5.5 Typology of roots 71 2.6 Exercises 72 2.7 Further reading 73 3 Analyzing English lexemes 75 3.1 What is a lexeme? 75 3.2 The structure of a lexeme 76 3.2.1 The lex of a lexeme 76 3.2.2 The typology of lexes 78 3.2.3 The signified of a lexeme 78 3.2.4 Three-component anisomorphic lexemes 79 3.2.5 Anisomorphic lexemes realized by phrases and sentences 80 3.2.6 How to distinguish between full-, semi-, and quasi-idioms? 82 3.3 Lexemes and vocables 84 3.3.1 Relations between members of the same vocable 84 3.4 Lexemes and lexeme families 86 3.5 Exercises 87 3.6 Further reading 88 4 Word-formation: basic issues 91 4.1 Lexeme-formation versus lex-formation 91 4.2 Lexeme-formation 92 4.2.1 Purely semantic mechanisms 92 4.2.2 Purely formal mechanisms 93 4.2.3 Mechanisms involving formal and semantic modifications 95 4.2.4 Diachronic and synchronic perspectives 98 4.2.5 Why do speakers of English create new lexemes? 101 4.2.6 The establishment of new lexemes 104 4.2.7 The non-institutionalization of new lexemes 106 4.2.8 Productivity 111 4.3 Lex-formation 115 4.3.1 Lex-forming clipping 116 4.3.2 Lex-forming suppletion 116 4.3.3 Lex-forming abbreviation 117 4.3.4 Lex-forming borrowing 118 4.3.5 Lex-forming apophony 118 4.3.6 Lex-forming affixation 118 4.3.7 Lex-forming syntactics' change 119 4.3.8 Lex-forming orthographic modification 120 4.4 Exercises 120 4.5 Further reading 122 5 Lexeme-building mechanisms 123 5.1 Semantic change 123 5.1.1 Mechanisms of semantic change 124 5.1.2 Types of metonymies 124 5.1.3 Types of metaphors 126 5.1.4 Morphological conversion 127 5.1.5 Productivity 136 5.2 Lexeme-manufacturing 139 5.2.1 Productivity 141 5.3 Lexeme-building borrowing 142 5.3.1 Productivity 143 5.4 Lexeme-building affixation 145 5.4.1 Affixes and their signifieds 145 5.4.2 Affixes and their syntactics 146 5.4.3 Productivity 153 5.5 Lexeme-building apophony 155 5.5.1 Productivity 157 5.6 Compounding 157 5.6.1 Compounding as an anisomorphic mechanism 158 5.6.2 The semantics of compounding 160 5.6.3 Endocentric and exocentric compounding 164 5.6.4 Compounding from a formal point of view 168 5.6.5 Compounds and phrases 171 5.6.6 Productivity 174 5.7 Blending 175 5.7.1 Productivity 177 5.8 Idiomatization of phrases and sentences 178 5.8.1 Productivity 179 5.9 Back-formation 180 5.9.1 Productivity 182 5.10 Exercises 183 5.11 Further reading 184 6 Inflectional morphology 185 6.1 Grammatical category 185 6.2 Types of grammatical categories 186 6.3 Wordform-building mechanisms 188 6.3.1 Inflectional affixation 188 6.3.2 Analytic formation 189 6.3.3 Grammatical apophony 189 6.3.4 Grammatical suppletion 192 6.3.5 Signifier-sharing 193 6.3.6 Allowordforms 193 6.3.7 Productivity 194 6.4 Syntactic grammemes in English 195 6.4.1 Why do we need the passive voice? 195 6.4.2 Middle voice in English? 196 6.4.3 What can be passivized? 198 6.4.4 Get-passives 199 6.4.5 Types of cases 200 6.4.6 Cases in English 201 6.4.7 Functions of case 203 6.4.8 Semantic function of case? 204 6.5 Semantic grammemes in English 206 6.5.1 Typology of temporal meanings 206 6.5.2 No future tense in English 208 6.5.3 Idiomatic uses of temporal wordforms 210 6.5.4 Typology of aspectual meanings 212 6.5.5 Aspects in English 214 6.5.6 Moods in English 217 6.5.7 Person 221 6.5.8 Number 224 6.5.9 Degrees of comparison 226 6.5.10 Numerical qualification 228 6.6 Exercises 230 6.7 Further reading 232 Key to exercises 233 References 237 Index 245