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Morphology

Basic concepts
1. language is a system of communication which consists of a set of sounds and written symbols
which are used by the people of a particular country or region for talking or writing in
2. linguistics is the science of language
3. language stratum (pl. strata) is a layer of morphological organization
4. stratal theory of morphology is a theory which assumes that word-building proceeds in
several stages and in fixed order; it also assumes that there are different strata of
morphological organization and that the order in which affixes are added to the base is fixed
so that the affixes which belong to one stratum must be added before the affixes from the next
stratum
5. language strata:
a. semantic stratum
b. lexicogrammatical stratum (through syntax, morphology and lexis)
c. phonological (or graphological) stratum (through phonology/graphology)
6. structural units: phoneme, morpheme, word, phrase, sentence, text
7. grammar is the system of rules and procedures formulated as algorithms operating on the
inventory of language units
8. grammar of words is a system of rules in the domain of lexis which can be formulated as
algorithms
9. morphology is a sub-branch of linguistics which deals with the internal structure of words
10. morphology (from Greek the study of form) is traditionally divided into:
a. inflectional morphology is the study of changes in the word-form due to different
contexts
b. word-formation refers either to the variety of morphological word-forming processes
or to the study of such processes
11. contrastive analysis is a detailed synchronic comparison of the structure of a native and a
target language, which can be carried out at different linguistics levels
12. contrastiveness is one of two basic principles on which contrastive analysis is based upon in
the functional approach semantic investigation is directed to the analysis of the difference and
sameness in meaning:
a. polysemic words of different languages are not co-extensive (there is no one-to-one
correspondence between the words and there is the difference in contextual scope):
i. sat in Serbian is both watch and clock in English
ii. head is not always translated as glava: head of bed=uzglalje, head of an
organization=rukovodilac
b. the difference in the lexical meaning of correlated words accounts for the difference of
their collocability in different languages:
i. new=nov but new potatos=mladi krompir
13. contrastive analysis is important in vocabulary study, lexicography, translation, methodology
and automatic language processing

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Morphology

14. minimal pair is a pair of words identical in all respects but one, which is referred to as a
distinctive feature
15. examples of minimal pairs in morphology:
a. heartache locative meaning component & heartbreak no locative meaning
component
b. bottle-washer it has purpose maker & bottle-washer no purpose maker
c. folding-machine agentive meaning component & folding-door no agentive
meaning component
d. candle-lighter agentive meaning component & candle-lighter instrumental
meaning component
e. fly-catcher it has species maker & fly-catcher no species maker
16. syntagmatic relations define the word-meaning through its interrelation with other words in
the flow of speech
17. paradigm is a set of language forms (words or morphemes) which are possible alternatives at
every point of a selection axis of language structure
18. inflectional paradigms refer to all word-forms which share the same grammatical meaning
but differ in their endings
19. lexical paradigms refer to sets of words which share the same root morpheme or which share
the same derivational affix
20. minimal number of members which constitute paradigm
21. two-member paradigms:
toy-toys (number), Nick-Nicks (case)
22. paradigms:
a. lexical:
i. law, lawyer, outlaw, lawful, unlawful, outlaw (v.), lawfully, unlawfully;
ii. like, liking, likely, unlikely, likelihood, unlikelihood;
iii. love, lover, lovable, unlovable, loveless, lovely, loving, love, lovingly;
iv. simplicity, simplification, simple, simplistic, simplify, simply;
v. belief, disbelief, believable, unbelievable, believe, disbelief, unbelievably
vi. mother (n.), mother (v.), motherhood, motherly, mother-in-law
vii. father (n.), father (v.), fatherhood, fatherless, fatherland, father-in-law, fatherly
b. inflectional: toy-toys (number), love-loves (person), Tim-Tims (case)
23. lexical paradigms which include:
a. sleep sleep, sleeper, sleepiness, sleeplessness, asleep, sleepless, sleepy, sleep, sleepily
b. house house (n.), house (v.), housing, housekeeper, housekeep, housekeeping, houseboat,
housebreak, housebreaking, housecoat, houseful, household, householder, housemaid,
housemaster, house-owner, house-party, houseplant, housetrain, housetraining, housewarming,
housewife, housework
c. man man, manhood, mankind, manly, manned, unman, man (v.)
d. tooth tooth, toothless, toothache, toothbrush, toothpaste, toothpick, toothsome, toothy
e. make make (n.), remake (n.), make-up (n.), maker, making, made, make (v.), remake (v.),
makeover, makeshift
f. happy happiness, unhappiness, happy, unhappy, happily, unhappily
24. lexical paradigms which include the following prefixes:
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a. pre- pre-exist, pre-pay, pre-season, pre-war, pre-Columbian, preface, prefabrication,


predominant, predominance, prehistory, prehistoric, prejudice, prejudge, premature, prenatal
b. re- react, reaction, reactor, rebuild, remarry, reusable, reenter, reappear, restart, reduplicate,
resend, reread, recount, reelect, rearrange, revisit, reassure, rebirth, recreate
c. de- deforestation, deforest, deform, denationalization, debag, defrost, defroster, de-ice,
deactivate, deactivation, defoliation, defoliate
d. over- overpopulate, overpopulation, overreact, overact, overbalance, overbook, overcrowd,
overcrowded, overdevelop, overcook, overlap, overkill, overlook, overweight, overpower,
overload, overrate, oversee, oversize, oversleep, overspend, overdressed
e. under- underestimate, undertake, underage, undercook, underwear, undercut,
underdeveloped, underdressed, underemployed, undergraduate, undergo, underrate,
underworld
f. dis- disrespect, disagree, disagreement, disappoint, disappointment, disadvantage,
disadvantageous, disabuse, disappear, disable, disability, disapprove, disapproval, dissimilar,
disloyal
25. lexical paradigms which include the following suffixes:
a. -ery trickery, bribery, robbery, misery, refinery, bakery, brewery, jewellery
b. -er singer, swimmer, player, dancer, destroyer, hacker, lover, philosopher, astronomer,
pensioner, Londoner, Berliner, double-decker
c. -ly lively, lovely, happily, deeply, deadly, quickly, carefully, gently, tenderly, weekly,
monthly, daily, personally, loudly
d. -y cheesy, healthy, dirty, salty, catchy
e. -ful beautiful, colourful, powerful, painful, truthful, meaningful, easeful, deathful, sinful,
merciful, wrongful, rightful, hateful, hopeful
f. -less careless, meaningless, friendless, powerless, painless, colourless, spotless, endless,
homeless, thoughtless, toothless, hairless, flawless
g. -able drinkable, countable, avoidable, breakable, washable, movable, admirable, acceptable,
reducable
h. -like childlike, native-like, ladylike, warlike, businesslike, animal-like, ball-like, cabbage-like,
vice-like, snake-like, sportsmanlike, unsportsmanlike
i. -scape landscape, cityscape, seascape, nightscape, moonscape, treescape, urbanscape
j. -oholic alcoholic, shopaholic, chocoholic, workaholic, blogoholic
k. -let armlet, bracelet, anklet, circlet, wristlet
26. lexical paradigms:
a. user-friendly, media-friendly, PR-friendly, ozone-friendly, family-friendly, environmentally-
friendly, eco-friendly, child-friendly
b. postman, milk man, weather man, businessman, he-man, iron man, best man, front man, yes-
man, bogey man, working man, straw man, stunt man, medallion man
c. unhappy, unusual, unsportsmanlike, unattractive, uneducated, unannounced, undone,
unharmed, unpredictable, unlucky
d. irregular, irresponsible, irreversible, irresistible, irreducible, irrepressible, irrational, irrelevant,
irrefutable, irreligious, irreplaceable, irreproachable
e. nationalize, monopolize, humanize, modernize, centralize, capitalize, memorize, maximize,
minimize, motorize
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f. glorify, beautify, purify, notify, justify, simplify, qualify, magnify, acidify, jellify, citify,
cockneyfy

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Morphology

Morphological structure of English words


1. word is the smallest language unit which has a definite morphological structure and meaning
and which can be used in isolation (a rule-of-thumb definition)
2. orthographic word is a unit between the blanks in a written language
a. examples which show that such a definition is problematic:
i. compounds (instability of writing rules): roommate room mate, post office, post-office,
eye patch eye-patch
ii. polysemy and homonymy: railway line, fishing line, washing line, curving line
iii. idioms: out of the blue=suddenly, once in a blue moon=rarely
iv. contracted forms: havent, wont, shant
b. the problem of word-definition based upon writing and pronunciation criteria ad
deficiency of respective definitions has serious repercussions in the field of automatic
speech processing, automatic speech recognition, automatic speech understanding and
automatic translation
3. phonological definition of a word: word is the interrupted sequence of sounds between
potential pauses
a. such a definition is also deficient in that the problem of stops occur:
the occurrence of stops (breaks) need not coincide with the word-boundaries where
one would make a pause in speech can depend on factors which are not at all linguistics
but physiological
4. word can be defined upon the following criterion/principle:
a. orthographic
b. phonological
c. combinatorial criterion (combinatory principle)
d. semantic criterion
e. the criterion of historical continuity
5. languages without words
6. words can be mono-morphemic (=simple) or poly-morphemic (=complex)
7. words are elements which have positional mobility, i.e. they can change their position
within a syntagmatic chain without producing ungrammatical output
a. I do not know this. This I do not know. & However this may not be true. This, however, may
not be true.
b. not all the words have an equal mobility potential:
I do not know this. This I do not know. (not must stand before the verb)
8. the morphemes as word constituents appear in a rigidly fixed sequential order, i.e. they
cannot change their position freely without producing ungrammatical output
a. uneducated: *educatedun, *ededucateun, *eduneducate
b. lovingly: *lyloving, *lovilying, *inglovily, *inglylovi
9. language material can be inserted at word boundaries:

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a. Go home and count your blessings.


Go home immediately and count your blessings.
Go straight home and count your blessings.
b. Im sure he loves kids.
Im quite sure he loves kids.
Im sure he loves his kids.
10. language material cannot be inserted at morpheme-boundaries:
a. blessing *blessering
b. rapidly *rapidlikely
11. idiom is a group of words in fixed order which have a different meaning from what they
would have if their meanings were taken individually
a. idioms are lexically complex but semantically simplex:
i. under the table=secretly (they can be substituted with only one word)
12. word-and-paradigm is an approach to morphology where the concept of paradigm is pivotal;
the word-forms are derived by complex rules which are applied in fixed order
13. word-based morphology is a theory which states that all word-formation processes are
word-based, i.e. word-formation rules are applied to an already existing word
14. lexical/full/content words carry high information content and are syntactically structured by
the grammatical words; these are nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs
a. lexical words are open class their number is potentially unlimited
15. empty/functional/grammatical/morphosyntactic words/functors serve to express
grammatical relationships with other words within a sentence; these are pronouns, articles,
auxiliary verbs, prepositions and conjunctions
a. grammatical words are closed class their number is finite
16. lexeme is an abstract unit of vocabulary arbitrarily chosen to stand for the whole of the
paradigm (lexical or inflectional)
17. arbitrary in reference to a lexeme means conventionally
18. a lexeme appear in a dictionary in its citation form
19. citation form (or lemma) is the form used for talking about the lexeme in general (e.g. in
definitions); in English the citation form of nouns is singular and nominative case, while for
verbs it is present bare infinitive
(Seminar: Issues in Morphology, by A. McIntyre)
20. transparent is a characteristic of a lexeme which refers to a word which can be clearly i.e.
unambiguously analysed into its constituent morphs
a. spillage the action of spilling;
b. leakage the process of leaking
c. washable that can be washed;
d. analyzable that can be analysed;
e. irreplaceable that cannot be replaced;
f. cattery where cats are taken care of while their owners are away
21. opaque is a characteristic of a lexeme which refers to a word which cannot clearly be
analysed into its constituent morphs

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a. carriage, bondage, dosage, barrage, drainage, plentiful, refinery, brewery, bitter, bizarre,
strawberry, bilberry, gooseberry
? duplicated, bilateral
22. morpheme is the smallest two-facet language unit which has both sound-form and meaning;
since it is an abstract unit, we deal with its realizations (which can be phonic or graphic)
referred to as a morph or an allomorph
23. syllable does not have linguistic relevance, since it is not a linguistic unit
24. the difference between a morpheme and a syllable is that morpheme is the smallest linguistic
unit which has meaning, while syllable can be meaningful, but that is not obligatory and that
is not the criterion upon which words are divided into syllables; syllable is the smallest unit
which can be said in a single breath
25. syllables and morphemes can coincide:
un-fortun-ate : un.for.tun.ate (un and ate coincide, while fortun and for.tun do not)
26. the realizations of a morpheme are:
a. morph is a segment of a word-form which represents a particular morpheme
(the realizations of a morpheme can be phonic or graphic)
b. allomorph (or morph variant) is a morph-variant which is phonetically, grammatically
or lexically conditioned
i. phonetically conditioned allomorphs:
/s/, /z/ and /iz/ are allomorphs of the morpheme {present tense 3rd p.sg.} determined
by the final sound in the stem
ii. grammatically conditioned allomorphs:
/haus/ and /hauz/ are allomorphs of the morpheme {house} determined by the
presence of the grammatical markers or singular and plural
/haus/ and /hauzes/
iii. lexically conditioned allomorphs:
the plurals oxen, sheep and children are lexically conditioned because they cannot be
predicted from general knowledge of English morphology or phonology
27. a morpheme is manifested as one or more morphs in different environments; these morphs
are called allomorphs (www.sil.org)
28. ablaut is regular alternation of a word element, especially a vowel, indicating a change in
grammatical function or used in word formation, especially in the process of reduplication
a. inflectional paradigms: sing/sang/sung, ring/rang/rung, swim/swam/swum, sink/sank/sunk
b. criss-cross, tip-top, chit-chat, zig-zag
c. hum-drum, mumbo-jumbo, higgledy-piggledy
29. replacive morph is the replacement of a phoneme or sequence of phonemes in one word-
form with a different phoneme or a sequence of phonemes in corresponding word-form
a. foot-feet, goose-geese, tooth-teeth, man-men
b. ring-rang-rung, sing-sang-sung-song
30. root morphemes do not have grammatical meaning and therefore are not grammatically
marked:
a. man in ten-man expedition is not marked for plural
b. mankind, manhole, manhunt, manslaughter
31. derivational morphemes with the same denotative meaning may differ in connotation only:
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a. womanly (positive conotation), womanish (negative conotation), womanlike (neutral


conotation)
32. suppletion when allomorphs of a morpheme are phonetically unrelated to each other but
have idiosyncratic (i.e. irregular) forms for a particular lexeme
33. suppletive forms are the phonetically unrelated, irregular and idiosyncratic members of the
paradigm
a. good-better-best, bad-worse, little-less-least, ox-oxen, child-children, louse-lice, mouse-mice,
tooth-teeth, brother-brethren
34. portmanteau morph is a single morph which simultaneously represents a bundle of several
different grammatical elements
a. portmanteau means a large case for carrying clothes
b. s in sleeps signals three morphemes simultaneously:
i. {third person}, {singular number}, {present tense}
c. NB! grammatical homonymy:
i. -ed in wanted can mean: {past tense}, {indicative} or {past tense} {subjunctive}
ii. -ed in has wanted can mean: {aspect} or {past participle}
35. discontinuous morph is a morph which is interrupted by some other speech material
(sequence of sounds or letter)
a. have + n in We have taken it.
36. zero morph refers to the situation when there is no overt marker of a particular morpheme
even though there are parallel situations where there are overt markers of that particular
morpheme
a. sheep-sheep, deer-deer, fish-fish nothing indicates plural
b. cut, put, shut, cast nothing indicates past
c. can, might, should nothing indicated 3rd person singular of the present tense indicative
37. exponence is a term for realization; it can be the case that single morphological property is
realized by several morphs or that a number of different morphological properties are
realized in a single morph
38. the morphs are the exponents of the properties: true/false
39. a single morphological property realized by several morphs
40. a number of different morphological properties realized in a single morph:
a. s in sleeps signals three morphemes simultaneously: {third person}, {singular number},
{present tense}
41. markedness is the quality of exhibiting a certain feature reflected in the exponents of the
grammatical categories
42. syncretism refers to the situation where the same form is used to represent distinct
morphological concepts
a. washed as a form of a regular verb represents two different morphological concepts:
past simple and past participle
b. irregular verbs which exhibit no syncretism: see, take, shake
43. two members of a lexical paradigm can be realized by homonymous word-forms:
a. mop noun & verb
b. change difference & money
44. empty morph is a surplus word-building element which does not realise any morpheme
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a. u in factual, sensual, conceptual


b. i in residential, componential, facial, influential
45. unique morph (or cranberry morph) is one which only occurs in a single combination of
morphemes
a. cranberry, bilberry, strawberry, fishmonger, inert, inane, inept, unkempt, disgruntled, umpteen,
affable
46. base (or operand) is any item to which affixes can be added (roots and stems are special
kinds of base)
a. beautifully base: beautiful, root: beauty
47. root (morpheme) is the part of a word-form which remains when all inflectional and
derivational affixes have been removed; it is basic part of a word, elementary and
unanalyzable
a. words consisting two roots (compounds): roommate, sunflower, masterpiece
b. words consisting three roots (compounds): fancy-dress ball
48. stem is a part of a word-form which remains when all inflectional affixes have been removed
a. businessmans:
stem: businessman, base: business, root: business, affix: -man inflectional suffix: -s
49. bound morph is a morph which cannot stand on its own as a word; it forms a word or a
word-form only in combination with some other morph or morphs
50. word-form is a form which is an orthographic or phonological representation of a lexeme
(word-forms = orthographic words in the written language)
51. word family (or word cluster) are lexical groups composed of words with semantically and
phonemically identical root-morphemes
a. door door, doorstep, doorstop, doorway, doorknob, doorbell, doorframe
52. lexical valency (or collocability) is the aptness of a word to appear in various combinations
of words
a. make love, money, friends, an offer, a donation, an arrangement, a loan, a call
53. grammatical valency is the aptness of a word to appear in specific syntactic structures
a. make:
i. make a point (V+O)
ii. make clear (V+Adj.)
iii. make you do something (V+O+Inf.)
iv. make yourself understood (V+O refl.+Past Participle)
54. demarcation problems, language system and language structure, syntactic chain, marker,
overt marker, exponent, semantic markers, stylistic markers (search: stylistic variety)

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Morphology

Morphological processes
1. suffix is an obligatory bound morpheme which does not realize a lexeme and which follows
the base
2. inflectional suffixes in English (8):
a. 2 used with adjectives:
i. -er comparative
ii. -est superlative
b. 2 used with nouns:
i. -s plural
ii. -'s possessive
c. 4 used with verbs:
i. -s 3rd person singular
ii. -ed past tense
iii. -en past participle
iv. -ing present progressive
3. class-changing suffixes are suffixes which shift a word to another category:
a. er player, singer, dancer, lover
b. en darken, blacken, sweeten, loosen
c. dom freedom, wisdom
d. ness happiness, sadness, selfishness, kindness, nervousness
4. class-maintaining suffixes are suffixes which do not change the word-class of a word:
a. -ery adultery, machinery, documentary
b. -ship partnership, friendship, relationship, dictatorship, leadership
c. -ette maisonette, kitchenette, cigarette, diskette, bachelorette
d. -ess lioness, tigress, duchess, baroness, princess
5. according to their origin suffixes can be:
a. native: -ish, -dom, -ly, -y, -man, -smith, -wood
b. foreign: -ation, -able, -ous, -ette, -phobia
6. suffixes can be:
a. monosemous -ent (reference to a person or thing that performs the action or that
experiences the process described by the original verb)
i. absorbent, different, insistent, persistent
b. polysemous
i. ful amounts and measurement (in mouthful, teaspoonful, armful, handful) &
characteristics and qualities (in cheerful, deceitful, flavourful, tactful)
ii. -dom state or condition (in wisdom, freedom, boredom, martyrdom) & realm or
territory (in kingdom, princedom)
7. classification of suffixes according to the part of speech formed:
a. noun-forming suffixes:
i. -er dancer, worker, singer
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ii. -dom wisdom, freedom


iii. -ness whiteness, darkness, blackness
iv. -ee appointee, interviewee, trainee
v. -ance/-ence resemblance; violence, performance
b. adjective-forming suffixes:
i. -able washable, deniable, reliable
ii. -less flawless, spotless, meaningless, friendless
iii. -ful hateful, helpful, colourful, painful, powerful, beautiful
iv. -ic diplomatic, pathetic, scenic, economic
v. -ous mysterious, courageous, dangerous, ambitious
c. verb-forming suffixes:
i. -en darken, blacken, sweeten, loosen
ii. -ify glorify, purify, beautify, petrify
iii. -ize legalize, monopolize
d. adverb-forming suffixes:
i. -ly nicely, lovely, merely, sadly, hopefully
ii. -ward homeward, forward, inward, leftward, southward, backward
iii. -wise clockwise, counterclockwise, lengthwise
8. -dom (state/condition or realm/territory)
a. boredom, kingdom, freedom, dukedom, stardom, martyrdom
9. -hood (the names for members of a family; state/condition; period of time in which
something is experienced)
a. childhood, motherhood, fatherhood, girlhood, parenthood, unlikelihood, knighthood, womanhood,
manhood, livelihood, gangsterhood
10. -ship (words ending in-er/-or)
a. lordship, ladyship, championship, relationship, apprenticeship, professorship, leadership,
hardship, chairmanship, editorship, membership, traineeship, ambassadorship, fellowship,
internship, craftsmanship, comradeship, partnership, scholarship
11. -ness is highly productive in making new abstract words from adjectives:
a. aggressiveness, awareness, attractiveness, bitterness, boldness, carelessness, drunkenness,
foolishness, illness, openness, sadness, sickness, weakness, whiteness, blackness
b. y i emptiness, happiness, loneliness, loveliness, ugliness
12. ness denotes state, quality or measure of the adjective: happiness, idleness, gentleness,
weakness, blindness, kindness, youthfulness, consciousness, madness
a. NB! -ness in the following nouns have a different meaning: business, witness, likeness,
forgiveness
13. suffixation in -ness is so productive that many abstract words are formed in this way despite
the fact that there are already existing words with the same meaning but different
morphological shape (humble humility, humbleness)
a. possible combinations: beautifulness (beauty), courageousness (courage), generousness
(generosity), certainness (certainty), braveness (bravery), highness (height), difficultness
(difficulty), dangerousness (danger), proudness (pride), newness
14. suffixes -th and -t are no longer productive

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a. high - height, wide - width, strong - strength, long - length, dead - death, wide - width, give -
gift, dry - draught, deep - depth, wide - weight, true - truth, see - sight, grow - growth, warm -
warmth, hot - heat
15. -er (also -or, -ar) suffix can be added to almost any base and may have various meanings:
a. (+ verbs) person or thing that (does the action indicated by verb)
i. reader, cooker, cheese-cutter, snow-boarder, diner, commander, counter, computer, high
jumper, backhander
b. (+ noun denoting an occupation) person whose occupation is
i. astrologer, cricketer, trumpeter, baker, commissioner, potter
c. species marker
i. wood-pecker
d. (+ number, measurement or noun denoting a quantified set) person or thing ranked by
(the number) or having (the measurement or quantified set)
i. sixer, six-footer, three-wheeler, first grader, triple-jumper, two-seater, teen-ager
e. (+ proper noun) denoting a resident or inhabitant
i. New Yorker, Londoner
f. denoting residency in or around a district, area, or region
i. highlander, East-Ender, West-Ender, islander
g. person or thing connected with
i. danger, butler
16. -er (also -or, -ar) suffix can be added to almost any base: noun, numeral, phrasal verb,
compound, syntactic phrase
17. -er, -or, -ar:
a. beggar, liar
b. liberator, narrator, sailor, governor, donator, orator
c. baker, maker, singer, murderer, lawyer
18. -ist, -an, -ian (also used to form nouns associated with people):
a. abortionist, motorist, botanist, zoologist, pianist, violinist, scientist, neurologist, psychologist,
psychiatrist, economist, cartoonist, terrorist, artist, extremist, idealist, elitist, racist, novelist,
typist, judoist, dietist
b. European, African, Austrian, Australian
c. Algerian, politician, physician, Christian, Italian, Parisian, Hungarian, theologian, historian,
Syrian, beautician
19. -ee divorcee, addressee, appointee, deportee, refugee, referee, trainee, interviewee, employee,
examinee, detainee, trustee, absentee
20. -eer mountaineer, engineer, profiteer, auctioneer
21. the ways in which femininity is indicated:
a. suffix -ess baroness, lioness, duchess, actress, tigress, princess, waitress, pantheress,
stewardess, countess, goddess, heiress, hostess, conductress, murderess, Negress, manageress,
authoress, priestess
b. suffix -e fiance
c. suffix -ienne comedienne, magicienne

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d. woman or lady put before the noun woman-writer, woman-dentist, woman-singer,


woman-cook, woman-teacher, woman-speaker, woman-governor, woman-mayor, woman-
violinist
e. woman or lady put after the noun policewoman, mailwoman, postwoman, chairwoman,
cleaning lady
22. -ful indicates quantity: pocketful, mouthful, spoonful, teaspoonful, tablespoonful, houseful, dishful,
basketful, saucerful, cupful, bucketful, boxful, roomful, armful, bagful, bottleful, glassful, panful,
plateful, sackful, bowful handful
23. noun + -ful = adjectives indicates characteristic and quality
a. beautiful, boastful, cheerful, deceitful, delightful, forceful, graceful, harmful, joyful, merciful,
painful, shameful
24. -ion (common spelling variations: -ation, -ition, -sion, -tion) it refers to the state or process
described by the verb
a. action, division, contemplation, investigation, addition, simulation, prevention, explanation,
codification, presentation, formation, contribution, creation, decision, completion, imagination,
information, consumption, complication, realization, liberation, reduction, definition
25. the following examples do not belong to the -ion group describer in the preceding question:
affection, attention, disposition, mission
26. -ism denotes beliefs or behaviour related to such beliefs:
a. Thatcherism, Marxism, communism, feminism, alcoholism, Catholicism, Buddhism,
consumerism, extremism, heroism, hooliganism, patriotism, nationalism, realism, symbolism,
terrorism, vandalism
27. verb-forming suffixes:
a. -en strengthen, lengthen, deepen, sharpen, thicken, harden, loosen, darken
b. -(i)fy simplify, intensify, justify, clarify, falsify, solidify, horrify, stupify
c. -ate activate, elaborate, abbreviate, motivate, concentrate, collaborate
d. -ize hospitalize, commercialize, familiarize, immunize, tranquillize, equalize, plasticize,
regularize, sympathize, minimize, maximize, legalize
28. adjective suffixes -y and -ly (having the quality of or appearance of what is specified in the
base):
a. -y bloody, bulky, tasty, dirty, dusty, itchy, sexy, stony, smoky, sunny, worthy, thirsty, bushy,
flowery, greasy, hairy, fatty, yellowy
b. -ly leisurely, manly, womanly, worldly, saintly, brotherly, greenly, pinkly
29. derogatory means showing strong disapproval and not showing respect
a. -ish can be derogatory suffix manly - mannish, womanly - womanish, childlike - childish,
old maid - old-maidish
30. less common adjective suffixes:
a. -like (resembling or in the manner of) Godlike, warlike, childlike, mouselike , doglike,
catlike, ladylike, businesslike, lifelike, seamanlike
b. -some (attributes or characteristics or causing someone to feel a particular emotion)
quarrelsome, fearsome, awesome, troublesome, lonesome, bothersome, burdensome, flavoursome,
loathsome, venturesome, adventuresome, noisome
c. -worthy (worthy of) trustworthy, praiseworthy, blameworthy, respectworthy
31. -able (-ible):
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a. possibility: machine-washable, acceptable, admirable, imaginable, agreeable, considerable


b. having certain qualities: valuable, comfortable, amiable, honourable, miserable, sociable
c. meaning neither of that: profitable, preferable, capable, tolerable, considerable, knowledgeable
32. -ful and -less can be said to have opposite meaning:
a. -ful : -less pairs painful : painless, harmful : harmless, colourful : colourless, hopeful :
hopeless, powerful : powerless, careful : careless, purposeful : purposeless, fruitful : fruitless,
characterful : characterless, needful : needless, helpful : helpless, thoughtful : thoughtless, restful :
restless, tasteful : tasteless
b. only -ful: playful, beautiful
c. only -less: speechless, penniless, timeless, airless, lifeless, breathless, childless, nameless,
senseless, sleepless, heartless
33. -ly can form both adjectives and adverbs:
a. adjectives lively, brotherly, lonely, costly, fatherly, heavenly, earthly, leisurely, northerly
b. adverbs badly, equally, quickly, naturally, cheaply, clearly, easily, exactly, normally,
properly, perfectly, rigidly, rapidly, slowly, finally, frequently, kindly
c. both deadly
34. neologism is any word or set expression formed according to the productive word-formation
rules of English or, less frequently, on the basis of the structural pattern of another language
(=calques), or they are borrowed from another language (=loan words); all these words are
new coinages and are felt by the speakers as something new, so that this feeling of newness is
essential to the definition of neologism
35. the traditional suffixes used in recent word production (neologisms) are: -able, -ac, -aceous, -
age, -aire, -(al)ly, -(i)ana, -ate, -ation, -cide, -dom, -ectomy, -ed, -ee, -eer, -eering, -er, -(e)ry, -ese, -
esque, -ette, -eur, -euse, -ey, -fication, -fy, -grapher, -graphy, -ian, -iatrics, -ic, -ical, -ics, -ie, -in, -ing, -
ion, -ish, -ism, -ist, -ite, -ity, -ium, -ive, -ization, -ize, -latry, -less, -let, -logist, -logy, -ly, -ment, -
metrician, -ness, -oid, -or, -osis, -phile, -phobe, -ster, -stress, -tomy, -wise, -y
36. some of the new suffixes used in recent word production (neologisms) are:
a. -itis (the suffix denotes obsession; used to refer to an illness, e.g. appendicitis, bronchitis)
consumeritis, relationitis, weddingitis, auctionitis, campaignitis, distincitis
b. -genic (the suffix changed its meaning and now it means good as a subject for
photography) telegenic, photogenic, radiogenic, mediagenic
c. -nik discothequenik
d. -ateer pamphleteer (writer or publisher of pamphlets)
e. -burger fishburger, cheeseburger, shrimpburger
f. -thon (formed by decomposing the word marathon) jokethon, talkathon, walkathon
g. -gate (formed by decomposing the word Watergate) Zippergate, Irangate, Monicagate
h. -flation taxflation
i. -cast shortcast
j. -mobile bloodmobile
k. -wich duckwitch, spamwish, turkeywich
l. -naut aquanaut, hydronaut, Reganaut
m. -rama futurama
n. -tron positron
o. -happy trigger-happy
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37. nonce words are coined ad hoc to meet some immediate purpose and are unlikely to become
a permanent part of the vocabulary
a. verb red-card (The football player was red-carded.)
38. stunt words are special kind of nonce words which are highly idiosyncratic and jocular
a. chop-o-holics (hairstylists who love short hair-cuts)
39. from the point of view of stylistic reference suffixes can be:
a. stylistically neutral: -er in worker, -ous in dangerous
b. stylistically marked:
i. -ish in childish, womanish, show-offish
ii. -let in princelet, kinglet
iii. -ling in weakling, lordling
40. English suffixes that have derogatory force:
a. -ish (childish : childlike, womanish : womanlike, boastful : show-offish)
b. -let (princelet, kinglet)
c. -ling (weakling, lordling)
41. diminutive means pertaining to or productive of a form denoting smallness, familiarity,
affection, or triviality
a. -let in froglet, piglet, starlet, booklet, tablet, bracelet, eaglet, droplet, cutlet
b. -ette in maisonette, cigarette, kitchenette
c. -ling in duckling, gosling, fingerling, suckling, nestling, seedling
d. -ie in sweetie, piggie, Lizzie
e. -y in piggy, deary, hanky, baby, dolly, Tommy
f. -kin in lambkin, catkin, pumpkin, bodkin, devilkin
g. -ock in hillock, bullock, haddock
42. smallness can be expressed by the use of suffixes but it can also be implied:
a. kid, cottage, pocket, hamlet, globule, molecule, particle, chicken, maiden, kitten, freckle
43. the following words indicate small quantities:
a. a crumb of bread, a drop of rain/blood, a speck of dirt/soot, a grain of wood/sand, a
pinch of salt, a blade of grass/paper, a breath of air/wind/snow, a morsel of
meat/information, a fragment of pottery/fossilized bone, a scrap of cloth, a puff of a
cigarette/wind, a lock of hair, a chip of fossilized bone
44. declension is the inflection of nouns, pronouns and adjectives to indicate number (singular
and plural), case (nominative or subjective, genitive or possessive) and gender
45. conjugation is the creation of derived forms of a verb from its principal parts by inflection; in
English it may be affected by person, number, tense, aspect, mood and voice
46. grammaticalization refers to the state or process or an instance of the process whereby the
words as parts of a syntagmatic string acquire morphological signals (inflection suffixes
or/and functional words) which mark their mutual relations
47. markres of grammatical relations can be inflectional suffixes, functional words and word
order
a. case is signaled by:
i. inflectional suffix s in Tims leg hurts.
ii. functional word of in Something is wrong with the leg of the table.
iii. word order in Summer time reminds me of childhood.
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48. dichotomy: marked - unmarked


a. inflectional paradigm: love - unmarked, loves - marked for 3rd person sg.
b. lexical paradigm: baron - unmarked for gender, baroness - marked for gender
49. grammatical categories (or morphological categories) in English (10):
person, number, degree, case, gender, definiteness, tense, modality, aspect, voice
50. grammatical category is a superordinate to morphological features which realize it
51. different grammatical categories operate within different word-classes (parts of speech):
a. person verbs (both full and auxiliary), pronouns (personal, reflexive, emphatic and
possessive), possessive determiners
b. number nouns, pronouns, verbs
c. degree adjectives, adverbs
d. case nouns, pronouns, determiners
e. gender nouns, pronouns, determiners
f. definiteness nouns
g. tense verbs
h. modality verbs
i. aspect verbs
j. voice verbs
52. the inflectional suffixes mark:
a. in nouns plural number and possessive case
b. in verbs 3rd person singular and past tense
c. in adjectives and adverbs comparative and superlative degree
53. the functional words mark:
a. in pronouns person, number, gender and case
b. in determiners person and number
c. in nouns definiteness
d. in adjectives and adverbs degree
e. in verbs modality
54. inflectional suffix together with functional words mark aspect and voice in verbs
55. grammatical category of person refers to the distinction between:
a. the speaker (1st person)
b. the person(s) spoken to (2nd person)
c. what is neither speaker nor addressee (3rd person)
56. the grammatical category of person is:
a. inherent in pronouns and determiners
i. I, me, you, he, him, she, her, it, they, them
b. overtly marked in verbs (only in the present tense the 3rd person singular)
i. loves, steals, kills
57. Modern English is virtually free from personal inflexions and the survivals of personal
distinctions in verbs are:
a. the -s in the 3rd person singular of most verbs
b. -t and -st in the 2nd person with the old pronoun thou (dost, art, wilt, mayst)
58. in other verb-forms the category of person is suggested by context, i.e. by the agreement of
verbs with pronouns or nouns by which they can be substituted in a paradigm
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59. the exponents of the grammatical morpheme meaning 3rd person in writing are:
a. -es if the preceding letter is s, x, z, ch, sh
b. -s in all other cases
60. the grammatical morpheme meaning 3rd person has three allomorphs:
a. /iz/ if the final sound in the base is /s/, /z/, //, //, /t/, /d/
b. /z/ after the vowels and voiced consonants
c. /s/ after voiceless consonants
61. generic person is used for what can be said to compromise all persons and in English one is
used in this sense (one can never know)
62. grammatical category of number in English distinguishes between singular and plural
63. grammatical expression of number can be found in most nouns, in some pronouns and some
verbs, but never in adjectives and participles
64. the exponents of plural number in nouns:
a. in writing -s and -es
b. in pronunciation /s/, /z/, /iz/
65. the exponents of plural number in nouns in writing are:
a. -es if the preceding letter is s, x, z, ch, sh (and most words ending in -o)
b. -s in all other cases
c. after a consonant a letter -y changes so that the ending is -ies
d. the ending -f in most nouns changes to -ves
66. the grammatical morpheme meaning plural in nouns has three allomorphs:
a. /iz/ if the final sound in the base is /s/, /z/, //, //, /t/, /d/
b. /z/ after the vowels and voiced consonants
c. /s/ after voiceless consonants
67. some plurals have meanings which are not found in singulars:
airs (put on airs), colours (flags), customs (duties), letters (learning, literature), pains (take
pains), spirits (alcoholic drinks), writings (written books)
68. plural invariables (=pluralia tantum) they have a plural marker but no singular
counterpart, they are plural in meaning and they take plural verbs
a. binoculars, glasses, knickers, pants, scissors, scales
69. singular invariables (=singularia tantum) they have a plural marker and no singular
counterpart, they are uncountable and they take singular verbs
a. news, linguistics, physics, Athens, Brussels, Wales, measles, darts
70. generic number refers to the whole class and equally to each and every member of the class;
it is expressed by:
a. every, any, all
b. the singular without any article (Man is mortal.)
c. the singular with the indefinite article (A dog is an animal.)
d. the singular with the definite article (the beautiful)
e. the plural with no article (Dogs are domestic animals.)
f. the plural with the definite article (the rich and the poor)
71. the writing rules of the number suffix in verbs:
a. -es if the preceding letter is s, x, z, ch, sh (and -y preceded by a consonant letter)
b. -s in all other cases
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72. the pronunciation rules of the number suffix in verbs:


a. /iz/ if the final sound in the base is /s/, /z/, //, //, /t/, /d/
b. /z/ after the vowels and voiced consonants
c. /s/ after voiceless consonants
73. modals do not encode the category of number
74. in preterit there is just one example which encodes number:
a. was (singular) : were (plural)
75. degree is the grammatical category which expresses the relative intensity of the features
inherent in modifiers as well as the link between the modifiers and the words modified
76. the category of degree is represented by unmarked forms, comparatives and superlatives
77. the exponents of comparative degree are:
a. the inflectional suffix -er and the functional words more and less
78. the exponents of superlative degree are:
a. the inflectional suffix -est and the functional words most and least
79. comparison by inflection:
a. monosyllabic adjectives normally form their comparison by inflection
i. hot - hotter - hottest, thin - thinner - thinnest
ii. exceptions: real - more real - most real, right - more right - most right
b. disyllabic adjectives
i. disyllabic adjectives normally form their comparison by inflection
ii. some disyllabic adjectives have both inflected and periphrastic forms which can be
used alternatively
(friendly, gentle, common, handsome, polite, quiet, wicked)
iii. some disyllabic adjectives form their superlative by inflection and their comparative
by periphrasis (correct, solid, stupid)
80. inflectional degree suffixes are realized in writing in the following way:
a. as -er, -est if the stem does not end in -e (warm, warmer, warmest)
b. as -r, -st if the stem ends in -e (nice, nicer, nicest; wide, wider, widest)
81. pronunciation rules:
a. the comparative suffix is always pronounced // no allomorphs
b. the superlative suffix is always pronounced /ist/ no allomorphs
82. the grammatical category of case is the relation in which one noun, pronoun or adjective
stand to some other word or words in the syntagmatic string or the form of the noun,
pronoun or adjective which shows that relation
83. in English the category of case relates to the following word classes: nouns, pronouns and
determiners
84. case relations can be shown by case endings:
a. s Marks (genitive)
85. from the point of view of morphological marking English nouns have a two-case system:
a. the unmarked common case (Mark)
b. the marked genitive (or possessive) case (Marks)
86. the genitive inflection is written in two ways: as -s or apostrophe ()
a. -s in singular forms of regular nouns (sisters, agents)
b. apostrophe () after the plural -s ending (sisters, agents)
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c. in case of irregular plural noun not ending in -s -s is added to the end of it (childrens)
d. if the nouns are linked by and the -s is put after the second noun (Mark and Irmas
apartment)
e. if one wants to say that each person named possesses something, both their names have
-s (mothers and fathers best qualities)
f. after a name ending in -s the genitive ending can be either () or -s (St James park or St
Jamess park)
g. in case of compound nouns the -s is added to the last item in the compound (father-in-
laws hat)
h. -s can be added to abbreviations and acronyms (BBCs reporter, MPs voters)
87. there are three allomorphs in of the genitive morpheme:
a. /iz/ if the final sound in the base is /s/, /z/, //, //, /t/, /d/
b. /z/ after the vowels and voiced consonants
c. /s/ after voiceless consonants
88. as for pronouns in English they usually have two cases (somebody, somebodys),
but there is a set of pronouns and determiners which have three cases:
a. subjective case I, we, you, he, she, it, they, who
b. objective case me, us, him, her, them, whom
c. genitive my/mine, our/ours, your/yours, his, her/hers, its, their/theirs, whose
89. gender is a grammatical category which refers to a set of classes of nouns, membership in a
particular class being shown by the form of the noun itself or by the form or choice of words
that modify, replace or otherwise refer to the noun
90. in English gender can be: masculine, feminine and neuter
91. gender in nouns can be represented by:
a. lexical opposition or formally unrelated words
i. lord - lady, bride - groom, boy - girl, father - mother, king - queen, monk - nun, brother - sister,
bull - cow, wizard - witch
b. lexical opposition of formally related words with overt morphological gender markers
i. poet - poetess, waiter - waitress, baron - baroness, fianc - fiance, hero - heroine, god -
goddess, giant - giantess, policeman - policewoman
92. nouns with dual gender: artist, cook, writer, criminal, doctor, enemy, fool, foreigner, friend, guest,
inhabitant, musician, neighbour, novelist, parent, person, speaker, professor, servant, speaker, student,
teacher
93. gender distinctions in English are also expressed by pronouns and determiners; personal,
possessive, reflexive and emphatic pronouns and possessive determiners for 3rd person
singular show feminine - masculine - neuter gender oppositions
a. he, she, it; him, his, himself, her, hers, herself, its, itself
94. referring gender is a kind of gender which is principally a matter of the choice of one of the
three personal or possessive pronouns of the 3rd person singular to refer to a preceding noun
a. sports car can be referred to as it or she depending on the context and attitude of the
speaker
95. definiteness is a grammatical category realized by the following members: unmarked,
indefinite and definite
96. definiteness denotes:
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a. a non-determined scope Most frogs feed on insects.


b. not specifically determined scope A butterfly has wings.
c. specifically determined scope The insect which bit him was a wasp.
97. exponents of definiteness are the definite and indefinite articles (while unmarked members
of definiteness paradigm have zero marker, i.e. zero article)
98. allomorphs:
a. the indefinite article has two allomorphs // and /n/ (if the following word begins in
a vowel sound)
b. the definite article has two allomorphs // and /i:/ (if the following word begins in a
vowel sound)
99. some words in English are inherently marked for definiteness:
a. some kinds of pronouns and determiners:
i. me, my, him, her definite
ii. oneself, whichever, whoever indefinite
b. personal and geographical names are all definite:
i. Robert, Belgrade, Thames definite
100. tense as a grammatical category is the linguistic expression of time relations indicated in
verb forms: thus, one form indicates present time, another form indicates past time, still
another form indicates the future time
101. the tenses in English can be simple or compound depending on whether they consist of one
or more words
102. the realizations of the -s suffix in writing are:
a. -es if the preceding letter is s, x, z, ch, sh and -i derived from -y preceded by a
consonant letter
b. -s in all other cases
103. the pronunciation rules of the -s suffix in verbs:
a. /iz/ if the final sound in the base is /s/, /z/, //, //, /t/, /d/
b. /z/ after the vowels and voiced consonants
c. /s/ after voiceless consonants
104. writing rules which regulate the realization of the past tense marker (conventionally
represented as {ed}) in regular verbs:
a. -d if preceded by the letter -e (face - faced, love - loved)
b. -ed in all other cases (play - played, lift - lifted)
105. the allomorphs of {ed} past tense marker are the following:
a. /id/ after the sounds /t/ and /d/ (guide - guided)
b. /d/ after vowels and voiced consonants (kill - killed, warm -warmed)
c. /t/ after voiceless consonants (push - pushed, pack - packed, laugh - laughed)
106. modality is a grammatical category expressed primarily by the modal verbs, a subclass of
auxiliary verbs whose main representatives are: can, may, must, shall, and will
107. two types of modality can be distinguished:
a. epistemic modality is found in expressions of will, belief, intention, possibility,
probability and necessity (He may come. meaning perhaps he will come)
b. deontic modality is found in expressions of permission, obligation and requirement (He
may come. meaning he is allowed to come)
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108. modality features traditionally covered by the term mood are: wishes, prayers, attitudes,
uncertainty, hesitation, negative conditions implying improbability or unreality etc.
109. the English verb has three moods: indicative, subjunctive and imperative
110. aspect is a grammatical category which concerns the manner in which the verbal action is
experienced or regarded (e.g. as completed or in progress)
111. major distinction within the category of aspect is made between perfective and
imperfective (durative) aspect; the distinction between these two aspects can be illustrated
by the following pairs of examples where contrasting structures are accusative with participle
(imperfective aspect) and accusative with infinitive (perfective aspect)
a. I saw the two men fighting and later I saw them get into the get-away car.
b. I heard him coming upstairs and then I heard him turn the key in the lock.
112. in English the progressive aspect is marked with the auxiliary verb be plus the main verb
with the -ing inflection (is making, was singing); the inflected form of the verb is traditionally
called present participle
113. the {ing} is realized in writing as -ing regardless of the orthographic shape of the stem
114. the {ing} is pronounced /i/ without exception
115. the changes that occur in writing when the stem and inflectional suffix are joined together
can be the following:
a. final -e drops before the ending (glide - gliding) with the exception of the verbs ending in
-ee, -ye, -oe, -ge (agree - agreeing, dye - dyeing, hoe - hoeing, singe - singeing)
b. final consonant of a monosyllabic accented verb gets doubled before the ending (sip -
sipping, win - winning)
c. in some varieties of English (e.g. British English) the letters l, m, p are doubled before
the inflection (travel - travelling, program - programming, worship - worshipping)
d. in stems ending in -ie the -ie is replaced by -y before the -ing inflection (die - dying, tie -
tying, lie - lying)
116. the progressive aspect is bound by verbal meaning so that it occurs only in dynamic verbs:
a. activity verbs (ask, call, eat, help, listen, play)
b. process verbs (change, grow, broaden, mature, process, brew)
c. sensation verbs (ache, feel, hurt, itch)
d. repetition verbs (hop, jump, bounce, knock, nod, tap, pat)
117. the progressive aspect never occurs in static verbs indicating perception and cognition
(desire, like, dislike, hate, prefer, understand, know)
118. the rules governing the realizations of the {ed} inflection as part of the verb form called past
participle are the same as those governing the realizations of the inflectional suffix {ed} with
the grammatical meaning of the past tense:
a. writing rules (in regular verbs):
i. -d if preceded by the letter -e (face - faced, love - loved)
ii. -ed in all other cases (play - played, lift - lifted)
b. the allomorphs of {ed}:
i. /id/ after the sounds /t/ and /d/ (guide - guided)
ii. /d/ after vowels and voiced consonants (kill - killed, warm -warmed)
iii. /t/ after voiceless consonants (push - pushed, pack - packed, laugh - laughed)

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119. voice is a grammatical category featured through the opposition active - passive and
found in transitive verbs
120. the exponents of passive voice are constructions involving the verb be and past participle
(is being built, will be seized)
121. passive is used with verbs which are transitive and those which are primarily intransitive
but which may get converted to transitive ones and therefore can be used as causatives
a. walk is primarily intransitive but it may be used transitively as in: He walked me back
home.
122. agreement happens when a word changes form depending on the other words to which it
relates
123. agreement is the term which is superordinate to concord and government:
a. concord refers to the situation when two or more lexemes are obligatory marked for the
same morphological categories (this boy, these boys); concord means formal agreement in
person, number, gender or tense (or more than one of these simultaneously) between
two or more lexemes or parts of a sentence
b. government means that one element in a sentence determines which morpheme is
added to another element:
i. the agreement between the preposition and the noun or pronoun in about whom, from
whom, to whom, about me

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