The Grammar of Words: An Introduction to Linguistic Morphology (Oxford Textbooks in Linguistics)

This text provides an up-to-date introduction to the morphological analysis of words. Morphology deals with the internal structure of words and how this structure affects their phonological, syntactic and semantic properties. This book covers both inflection (the different forms of a word), and word formation, the ways in which new words can be added to the vocabulary of a language. The enormous variety of morphological operations that we find in natural languages is quite intriguing. The first part of the book gives a cross-linguistic survey of these operations: affixation, compounding, reduplication, and several kinds of phonological operation. The specific properties of word formation and inflection are dealt with in subsequent chapters. The second part of the book focuses on the ways in which the morphological structure of words determines their phonological, syntactic, and semantic properties. These different 'interfaces' are dealt with systematically, again with illustrations from a number of languages. In the last part of the book the reader is introduced to present-day research on the acquisition of morphological knowledge, and on the way in which complex words are processed. This will give insight as to how lexical knowledge is structured and how it is stored in memory. This is an introduction to morphology - the grammar of words. Geert Booij introduces the basic methods of morphological analysis and shows how they can be used to reveal how words are formed, compounded, and inflected in different languages. He describes the relationship of morphology to syntax, phonology, and semantics, and shows how the different aspects of grammar interact to make languages work. Professor Booij examines the universal characteristics of morphology and considers how these may reflect the organization of the mind's language faculty and throw light on the way languages change and are learned. What is linguistic morphology?. 1. Morphology: basic notions. 2. Morphological analysis. Word formation. 3. Derivation. 4. Compounding. Inflection. 5. Inflection. 6. Inflectional systems. Interfaces. 7. The interface between morphology and phonology. 8. Morphology and syntax: demarcation, interaction and interface. 9. Morphology and semantics. Morphology and mind. 10. Morphology and psycholinguistics. 11. Morphology and language change. References. Language index. Subject index. This is an introduction to how words are formed, showing how the component parts of words affect their grammatical function, meaning, and sound. It provides comprehensive coverage for use in undergraduate courses in morphology. It is written with great clarity by a world authority. "This is a basic introduction to how words are formed. It shows how the component parts of words affects their grammatical function, meaning, and sound" --Provided by publisher.