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Systemic Linguistics:

Core Linguistics
words are signs
signifier = form = morphology (phonology)
signified = meaning = semantics
(pragmatics)
combination of words = sentence structure =
syntax
Morphology: language types
analytic languages signal grammatical
relationships by word position in the
sentence (= word order)
synthetic languages signal grammatical
relationships by the shape of the words
(=inflectional endings)
1500 years ago, English was much more
synthetic than it is today. It has changed
into a more analytic language
Morphology
definition: morphology studies the smallest
meaningful units, called 'morphemes'

morpheme phoneme (pit vs. bit)


morpheme word (blueberry, autobus)
morpheme syllable (mo-ther)
types of morphemes:

a) free morphemes: may occur on their


own and are used freely according to the
rules of sentence structure, for example
'boy', 'tree', 'church', 'go', 'leave', 'love'.
b) bound morphemes (affixes): cannot
usually stand alone but are attached to a
free morpheme (= 'base'), e.g 're-', '-ed', '-
s'.
types of bound morphemes:

- prefixes (in-, re-)


- suffixes (-dom, -ship)
- infixes (heim-ge-kommen)
- circumfixes (heim-ge-kehr-t)
morpheme, morph and allomorph
morphemes are ideal abstract units,
whereas the corresponding morphs can
show some variation
morphs are concrete manifestations of a
morphome
allomorphs are variations of morphemes
/z/ in "dogs, beds"
/s/ in "cats"
/iz/ in "garages"
overview of the discipline

Morphology

Inflection Word-Formation

Derivation Compounding
types of inflection

a) declension of nouns, adjectives, and


pronouns
b) conjugation of verbs.

derivational morphemes (affixes) are


used for word formation
Word formation
word formation processes
a) derivation
definition: a combination of a free and
bound morpheme(s)

- by far the most common word formation


process in the production of new words
examples of derivation:
derivation: exceptions

Cranberry morph(eme)s are bound


morphemes which occur in only one
derivation (or compound) but nowhere
else: e.g. cranberry, inane, umpteen
similar words (strawberry, inactive,
thirteen) suggest that they are indeed
morphemes
cranberry morphs are relics of words
which have died out in other uses
b) compounding
definition: a combination two or more
free morphemes
German is notorious for long words (e.g.
Weihnachtsbaumschmuckvertriebsorganis
ationshandbuchverkufer), compounds in
English do not usually exceed two units
examples of compounding:
Endocentric compounds: the compound
is an instance of the thing denoted by the
last constituent (e.g. houseboat is a type
of boat, boathouse is a type of house; a
person who is seasick is sick)
Exocentric compounds: the compound
does not refer to an entity denoted by
either constituent (a paleface is not a type
of face, but a person who has a pale face)
examples of exocentric compounds:
paleface, redskin, redneck, skinhead,
bigfoot, pickpocket
Copulative compounds: both
constituents refer to the entity denoted by
the whole compound. An owner-builder is
both an owner of a house and its builder.
e.g. singer-songwriter, bittersweet, deaf-
mute
compounds need to be defined on several
linguistic levels

morphology (free morphemes)


phonology (stress on the first element)
semantics (unity)
minor word formation processes
c) coinage: means the invention of totally
new terms
the most typical cases are invented trade
names for a companys product which
become general terms for any version of
that product (without initial capital letters)
e.g. 'xerox', 'kleenex' or 'aspirin'
d) conversion: involves a change in the
function of a word, e.g. when a noun
comes to be used as a verb (without any
reduction or change)
E.g. to paper a wall (paper) or a must
(from the verb must')
e) acronymy: acronyms are formed from
the initial letters of a set of other words
acronyms are pronounced as single
words, e.g. 'NATO', 'RADAR', 'LASER'
(unlike in the case of 'CD', which is an
initialism)
f) backformation: means a special type of
reduction process: a word of one type
(usually a noun) is reduced to form
another word of a different type (usually a
verb)
E.g. donate (from donation), babysit
(from babysitter) and televise (from
television)
g) blending: means a combination of two
separate forms to produce a single new
term. Blending usually involves taking the
beginning of one word and joining it to the
end of the other word
E.g. smog, brunch and modem
h) clipping: means that a word of more
than one syllable (facsimile) is reduced to
a shorter form

E.g. bus, ad and bra


i) borrowing: refers to the taking over of
words from other languages
English has adopted a great number of
loan-words throughout its history
E.g. yogurt (Turkish) and alcohol
(Arabic)

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