A. Definition of
Morphology and Morphemes
A word Morphology is from Greece “morphe “that has meaning “forms”. It
means the morphology is a science of language that focuses on language and how
that language special word formed.Morphology is the study of the
basic building blocks of meaning in language. Morphology is the study of
how words are put together or “shaped” by using morphemes, which include
prefixes, roots, and suffixes.Knowing the different morphemes in a word allows
one to not only figure out its definition, but also determine whether it’s a
noun, verb, or adjective. The words morphology and morpheme both come from the
Greek root word morph meaning “shape;” morphology is therefore the study of the
“shape” words take, whereas morphemes are those building blocks which “shape”
the word.These building blocks, called morphemes, are the smallest units
of form that bear meaning or have a grammatical function.A morpheme can be
defined as a minimal unit having more or less constantmeaning and more of less
constant form. For example, linguists say that the word buyers is made up of three
morphemes{buy} +{er} +{s}. The evidence for this is that each can occur in
other combinationsof morphemes without changing its meaning. We can find {buy}
in buying, buys, and {er} in seller, fisher, as well as buyer. And {s} can be
found in boys, girls, anddogs. The more combinations a morpheme is found in,
the more productive it is said tobe.
B. Kinds of
Morphemes
1. Free
Morphemes
Free morphemes are those that can stand alone as words. They may
be
lexical morphemes ({serve}, {press}), or grammatical morphemes ({at}, {and}).A
morpheme is free if it is able to appear as a word by itself. It
is bound if it can only appear as part of a larger, multi-morphemic
word. Every morpheme is either free or bound. Free morphemes are also referred
as roots.
2. Bound Morphemes
Bound morphemes can occur only in combination—they are parts of a
word. They may be lexical morphemes (such as {clued} as in include, exclude,preclude)
or they may be grammatical (such as {PLU} = plural as in boys,girls,
and cats).
Bound morphemes
are also referred to as affixes, among which there
areprefixes, infixes, and suffixes.
Lexical and Grammatical Morphemes
Lexical morphemes are those that having meaning by themselves
(moreaccurately, they have sense). Grammatical morphemes specify a
relationshipbetween other morphemes. But the distinction is not all that well
defined.Nouns, verbs, adjectives ({boy}, {buy}, {big}) are typical lexical
morphemes.Prepositions, articles, conjunctions ({of}, {the}, {but}) are
grammatical morphemes.
C. Roots and
Affixes
1) Root
Words (also called stems)
A root is the
irreducible core of a Word, with absolutely nothing else attached to it. It is
the part that is always present, possibly with some modification, in the
various manifestations of a lexical. Many words contain a root
standing on its own. Roots which are capable of standing independently are
called free morphemes.
2) Affixes
(prefixes, suffixes, infixes, and circumfixes)
Affixes are bound
morphemes (meaning they cannot stand alone like words can) that we add to
free morphemes to create new words.
a. Prefixes
Morphemes are the minimal units of meaning in all languages, and many
languages have prefixes and suffixes. But languages may differ in how they
deploy their morphemes. A morpheme that is a prefix in one language may be a
suffix in another language.
b. Sufixes
Suffix is a letter or a group of letters
attached to the end of a word to form a new word or to alter the grammatical
function of the original word. For example, the verb read can be made into the
noun reader by adding the suffix –er; read can be made into the adjective by
adding the suffix – able. Agusmortoyo et al (2012: 3-4)
c. Infixes
Some languages also have infixes, morphemes that are inserted into other
morphemes. An infix is an
affix inserted into the root itself. Infixes are very common in Semitic
language like Arabic and Hebrew. But infixing is somewhere rare in English.
Slat and Taylor (1978) suggest that the only infix that occurs in English
morphology is /-n-/ which is inserted before the last consonant of the
root in a few words of Latin origin, on what appears to be an arbitrary basis.
In fact, in
fixation of sorts still happens in contemporary English.
Example:
- Kalamazu
(places name) → Kalama-goddam-zoo
Instantiate
(verb) →
in-fuckin-stantiate
- Kangaroo →
kanga-bloody-roo
Impossible →
in-fuckin-possible
Guarantee →
guaran-friggin-tee
(Recall that the
arrow → means “becomes” or is “re-written as”.)
d. Circumfuses
Some languages have circumfuses, morphemes that are attached to a base
morphemeboth initially and finally. In Chickasaw, a Muskogean language spoken in Oklahoma,
the negative is formed with both a prefix ik- and the suffix -o. The final
vowel of the affirmative is dropped before the negative suffix is added
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