Module 1 Concepts: Derivational Morpheme

Morphemes consist of bases and affixes, each of which have meaning. Words can be made up of just a base, or a base plus one or more affixes. Morphemes are divided into derivational morphemes and inflectional morphemes. Examine the differences here. A derivation is the formation of words by adding prefixes and suffixes to existing words and bases. A derivational morpheme is the prefix or suffix used to create one word from another. For example, derivational morphemes can transform a word like friend in the following ways: Nouns

Friendship Unfriendliness Adjectives

unfriendly friendless Verb

befriend As such, there are noun-making morphemes, verb-making morphemes, adjective-making morphemes,, and adverb-making morphemes. Some common noun-making morphemes include the following suffixes: Suffix Meaning Example

-acy

state or quality

privacy

-al

act or process of

refusal

-ance, -ence

state or quality of

maintenance, eminence

-dom

place or state of being

freedom, kingdom

-er, -or

one who

trainer, protector

-ism

doctrine, belief

communism

-ist

one who

chemist

-ity, -ty

quality of

veracity

-ment

condition of

argument

-sion, -tion

state of being

concession, transition

This is only a partial list, of course, but should give you an introduction to how derivational morphemes function. Some common verb-making morphemes include the following suffixes: Suffix Meaning Example

-ate

become

eradicate

-en

become

enlighten

-ify, -fy

make or become

terrify

-ize, -ise

become

civilize

This is only a partial list, of course, but should give you an introduction to how derivational morphemes function. Some common adjective-making morphemes include the following suffixes: Suffix Meaning Example

-able

being 'able'

movable, portable

-al

relating to

global, manual

-en

made of

golden, wooden

-ful

full of

hopeful, wishful

-ic

characteristic of

domestic

-ive

tending to

sensitive, selective

-less

lack of, without

endless, powerless

-ous

full of

enormous, mysterious

-y

state, having

windy, slowly

This is only a partial list, of course, but should give you an introduction to how derivational morphemes function. The most common adverb-making morpheme is the suffix -ly, which primarily changes adjectives to adverbs:

quickly happily fiercely largely usefully equally