The Basics of

Morphology

Supplementary
Readings

Motivating
Morphology

Basic Concepts
and Notation
The Basics of Morphology More Suffixation
Rules

Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
Supplementary Readings Morphology

Supplementary
Readings

Motivating
Morphology

Basic Concepts
The following readings have been posted to the SPARK and Notation
course site: More Suffixation
Rules
◮ Contemporary Linguistics: Chapter 4 (pp. 115-127) Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
Supplementary Readings Morphology

Supplementary
Readings

Motivating
Morphology

Basic Concepts
The following readings have been posted to the SPARK and Notation
course site: More Suffixation
Rules
◮ Contemporary Linguistics: Chapter 4 (pp. 115-127) Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
The following reading (on SPARK) is not essential, but Ambiguity

you might find it helpful/interesting:

◮ Language Instinct; Chapter 5 (119-152)
 The Basics of
The System Thus Far Morphology

The Fundamental Question (for Linguists): Supplementary

Readings
What is the system of rules and mental representations Motivating
that underlies our ability to speak and understand a Morphology
The Mental Lexicon

human language? Words and Rules

Basic Concepts
and Notation

More Suffixation
Rules

Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
The System Thus Far Morphology

The Fundamental Question (for Linguists): Supplementary

Readings
What is the system of rules and mental representations Motivating
that underlies our ability to speak and understand a Morphology
The Mental Lexicon

human language? Words and Rules

Basic Concepts
and Notation
The Answer Thus Far: More Suffixation
Rules
◮ Mental Representations:
Prefixes
◮ A representation stored in memory of the phonemes
Morphological
making up the word. Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
The System Thus Far Morphology

The Fundamental Question (for Linguists): Supplementary

Readings
What is the system of rules and mental representations Motivating
that underlies our ability to speak and understand a Morphology
The Mental Lexicon

human language? Words and Rules

Basic Concepts
and Notation
The Answer Thus Far: More Suffixation
Rules
◮ Mental Representations:
Prefixes
◮ A representation stored in memory of the phonemes
Morphological
making up the word. Structure and
Ambiguity
◮ The Rules:
◮ Rules that alter this ‘phonemic’ representation, and thus
the way that we ultimately pronounce the word.
 The Basics of
The System Thus Far Morphology

The Fundamental Question (for Linguists): Supplementary

Readings
What is the system of rules and mental representations Motivating
that underlies our ability to speak and understand a Morphology
The Mental Lexicon

human language? Words and Rules

Basic Concepts
and Notation
The Answer Thus Far: More Suffixation
Rules
◮ Mental Representations:
Prefixes
◮ A representation stored in memory of the phonemes
Morphological
making up the word. Structure and
Ambiguity
◮ The Rules:
◮ Rules that alter this ‘phonemic’ representation, and thus
the way that we ultimately pronounce the word.
◮ The Syllabification Rule
◮ The Aspiration Rule
◮ The V-Lengthening Rule
◮ (...and a whole bunch more...)
 The Basics of
Towards Morphology Morphology

Supplementary
Readings

Motivating
Observation: Morphology
So far, these rules and representations all concern the sound The Mental Lexicon
Words and Rules
(pronunciation) of the words in the language. Basic Concepts
and Notation

More Suffixation
Rules

Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
Towards Morphology Morphology

Supplementary
Readings

Motivating
Observation: Morphology
So far, these rules and representations all concern the sound The Mental Lexicon
Words and Rules
(pronunciation) of the words in the language. Basic Concepts
and Notation
◮ (Duh, so far all we’ve studied in this class is phonology).
More Suffixation
Rules

Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
Towards Morphology Morphology

Supplementary
Readings

Motivating
Observation: Morphology
So far, these rules and representations all concern the sound The Mental Lexicon
Words and Rules
(pronunciation) of the words in the language. Basic Concepts
and Notation
◮ (Duh, so far all we’ve studied in this class is phonology).
More Suffixation
Rules

Prefixes
Fact: Morphological
These rules and representations also concern the way that Structure and
Ambiguity
words are formed (from smaller, meaningful pieces).
 The Basics of
Towards Morphology Morphology

Supplementary
Readings

Motivating
Observation: Morphology
So far, these rules and representations all concern the sound The Mental Lexicon
Words and Rules
(pronunciation) of the words in the language. Basic Concepts
and Notation
◮ (Duh, so far all we’ve studied in this class is phonology).
More Suffixation
Rules

Prefixes
Fact: Morphological
These rules and representations also concern the way that Structure and
Ambiguity
words are formed (from smaller, meaningful pieces).

Vocabulary:
The study of word formation (word structure) = Morphology
 The Basics of
The Mental Lexicon Morphology

Vocabulary: Supplementary
Readings
The (Mental) Lexicon = the information about words that you
Motivating
store in memory. Morphology
The Mental Lexicon
Words and Rules

Basic Concepts
and Notation

More Suffixation
Rules

Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
The Mental Lexicon Morphology

Vocabulary: Supplementary
Readings
The (Mental) Lexicon = the information about words that you
Motivating
store in memory. Morphology
The Mental Lexicon
Words and Rules
◮ When you learn a language, you need to memorize a
Basic Concepts
whole bunch of words. and Notation

More Suffixation
Rules

Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
The Mental Lexicon Morphology

Vocabulary: Supplementary
Readings
The (Mental) Lexicon = the information about words that you
Motivating
store in memory. Morphology
The Mental Lexicon
Words and Rules
◮ When you learn a language, you need to memorize a
Basic Concepts
whole bunch of words. and Notation

More Suffixation
◮ Also, for each word, you need to memorize a whole bunch Rules
of stuff about that word Prefixes

◮ its phonemic representation (how it’s pronounced) Morphological

Structure and
◮ its meaning Ambiguity
◮ its ‘part of speech’ (noun, verb, adjective, etc.)
◮ what contexts it’s ‘appropriate’ in, etc.
 The Basics of
The Mental Lexicon Morphology

Vocabulary: Supplementary
Readings
The (Mental) Lexicon = the information about words that you
Motivating
store in memory. Morphology
The Mental Lexicon
Words and Rules
◮ When you learn a language, you need to memorize a
Basic Concepts
whole bunch of words. and Notation

More Suffixation
◮ Also, for each word, you need to memorize a whole bunch Rules
of stuff about that word Prefixes

◮ its phonemic representation (how it’s pronounced) Morphological

Structure and
◮ its meaning Ambiguity
◮ its ‘part of speech’ (noun, verb, adjective, etc.)
◮ what contexts it’s ‘appropriate’ in, etc.
◮ Therefore, part of our ‘linguistic knowledge’ is a big
database of words (mental lexicon).
 The Basics of
The Mental Lexicon Morphology

Vocabulary: Supplementary
Readings
The (Mental) Lexicon = the information about words that you
Motivating
store in memory. Morphology
The Mental Lexicon
Words and Rules
◮ When you learn a language, you need to memorize a
Basic Concepts
whole bunch of words. and Notation

More Suffixation
◮ Also, for each word, you need to memorize a whole bunch Rules
of stuff about that word Prefixes

◮ its phonemic representation (how it’s pronounced) Morphological

Structure and
◮ its meaning Ambiguity
◮ its ‘part of speech’ (noun, verb, adjective, etc.)
◮ what contexts it’s ‘appropriate’ in, etc.
◮ Therefore, part of our ‘linguistic knowledge’ is a big
database of words (mental lexicon).
◮ The word entries are very much like those in a dictionary
 The Basics of
Picture of the Mental Lexicon Morphology

Dog: Supplementary
Readings
◮ Sound: /dAg/ Motivating
Morphology
◮ Part of Speech: Noun The Mental Lexicon
Words and Rules
◮ Meaning: canis familiaris Basic Concepts
and Notation

More Suffixation
Cat: Rules

◮ Sound: /kæt/ Prefixes

Morphological
◮ Part of Speech: Noun Structure and
Ambiguity
◮ Meaning: felis domesticus

Pwn:
◮ Sound: /pown/
◮ Part of Speech: Verb
◮ Meaning: To thoroughly defeat
 The Basics of
Words and Rules Morphology

Key Fact:
Supplementary
Readings
◮ The mental lexicon doesn’t store all the words that we know.
Motivating
◮ There are words we know (the meaning of) which are not stored Morphology
in our mental lexicon. The Mental Lexicon
Words and Rules

Basic Concepts
and Notation

More Suffixation
Rules

Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
Words and Rules Morphology

Key Fact:
Supplementary
Readings
◮ The mental lexicon doesn’t store all the words that we know.
Motivating
◮ There are words we know (the meaning of) which are not stored Morphology
in our mental lexicon. The Mental Lexicon
Words and Rules

Basic Concepts
and Notation
Illustration: More Suffixation
Rules
◮ Suppose I told you that ‘blorking’ is some bit of gamer
Prefixes
jargon
Morphological
◮ ‘blorking’ = joining in a MMORPG while naked and/or drunk Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
Words and Rules Morphology

Key Fact:
Supplementary
Readings
◮ The mental lexicon doesn’t store all the words that we know.
Motivating
◮ There are words we know (the meaning of) which are not stored Morphology
in our mental lexicon. The Mental Lexicon
Words and Rules

Basic Concepts
and Notation
Illustration: More Suffixation
Rules
◮ Suppose I told you that ‘blorking’ is some bit of gamer
Prefixes
jargon
Morphological
◮ ‘blorking’ = joining in a MMORPG while naked and/or drunk Structure and
Ambiguity
◮ Now suppose I said the following to you:
◮ “My roommate is a notorious blorker.”
 The Basics of
Words and Rules Morphology

Key Fact:
Supplementary
Readings
◮ The mental lexicon doesn’t store all the words that we know.
Motivating
◮ There are words we know (the meaning of) which are not stored Morphology
in our mental lexicon. The Mental Lexicon
Words and Rules

Basic Concepts
and Notation
Illustration: More Suffixation
Rules
◮ Suppose I told you that ‘blorking’ is some bit of gamer
Prefixes
jargon
Morphological
◮ ‘blorking’ = joining in a MMORPG while naked and/or drunk Structure and
Ambiguity
◮ Now suppose I said the following to you:
◮ “My roommate is a notorious blorker.”
◮ You would know what I meant, even though you’d never
actually heard the word “blorker” before...
 The Basics of
Words and Rules Morphology

Key Fact:
Supplementary
Readings
◮ The mental lexicon doesn’t store all the words that we know.
Motivating
◮ There are words we know (the meaning of) which are not stored Morphology
in our mental lexicon. The Mental Lexicon
Words and Rules

Basic Concepts
and Notation
Conclusion: More Suffixation
Since you’d never heard the word “blorker” before... Rules

Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
Words and Rules Morphology

Key Fact:
Supplementary
Readings
◮ The mental lexicon doesn’t store all the words that we know.
Motivating
◮ There are words we know (the meaning of) which are not stored Morphology
in our mental lexicon. The Mental Lexicon
Words and Rules

Basic Concepts
and Notation
Conclusion: More Suffixation
Since you’d never heard the word “blorker” before... Rules

◮ The word “blorker” was not to be found in your “mental lexicon”... Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
Words and Rules Morphology

Key Fact:
Supplementary
Readings
◮ The mental lexicon doesn’t store all the words that we know.
Motivating
◮ There are words we know (the meaning of) which are not stored Morphology
in our mental lexicon. The Mental Lexicon
Words and Rules

Basic Concepts
and Notation
Conclusion: More Suffixation
Since you’d never heard the word “blorker” before... Rules

◮ The word “blorker” was not to be found in your “mental lexicon”... Prefixes

Morphological
◮ So, your knowledge of its meaning had to have come from Structure and
somewhere else... Ambiguity
 The Basics of
Words and Rules Morphology

Key Fact:
Supplementary
Readings
◮ The mental lexicon doesn’t store all the words that we know.
Motivating
◮ There are words we know (the meaning of) which are not stored Morphology
in our mental lexicon. The Mental Lexicon
Words and Rules

Basic Concepts
and Notation
Conclusion: More Suffixation
Since you’d never heard the word “blorker” before... Rules

◮ The word “blorker” was not to be found in your “mental lexicon”... Prefixes

Morphological
◮ So, your knowledge of its meaning had to have come from Structure and
somewhere else... Ambiguity

◮ Your knowledge of its meaning had to have come from a rule.

 The Basics of
Words and Rules Morphology

Key Fact:
Supplementary
Readings
◮ The mental lexicon doesn’t store all the words that we know.
Motivating
◮ There are words we know (the meaning of) which are not stored Morphology
in our mental lexicon. The Mental Lexicon
Words and Rules

Basic Concepts
and Notation
Conclusion: More Suffixation
Since you’d never heard the word “blorker” before... Rules

◮ The word “blorker” was not to be found in your “mental lexicon”... Prefixes

Morphological
◮ So, your knowledge of its meaning had to have come from Structure and
somewhere else... Ambiguity

◮ Your knowledge of its meaning had to have come from a rule.

The Rule:
For any verb V of English, adding “er” to the end of V makes a
noun that means “one who Vs”
(“blorker” = one who ‘blorks’)
 The Basics of
Words and Rules Morphology

Supplementary
Readings

Motivating
Morphology
The Mental Lexicon
Words and Rules
Major Conclusion:
Basic Concepts
Our knowledge of English includes general rules for and Notation

forming words. More Suffixation

Rules

Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
Words and Rules Morphology

Supplementary
Readings

Motivating
Morphology
The Mental Lexicon
Words and Rules
Major Conclusion:
Basic Concepts
Our knowledge of English includes general rules for and Notation

forming words. More Suffixation

Rules

Prefixes

Vocabulary: Morphological
Structure and
The study of the rules of word formation (word structure) in Ambiguity

language = Morphology
 The Basics of
Some Basic Concepts and Notation Morphology

Supplementary
Readings

Motivating
Morphology

Basic Concepts
and Notation
Key Question This Raises: Some Basic Concepts
Some Basic Notation
What are some of the rules and principles of word formation
More Suffixation
(word structure) in English and other languages? Rules

Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
Some Basic Concepts and Notation Morphology

Supplementary
Readings

Motivating
Morphology

Basic Concepts
and Notation
Key Question This Raises: Some Basic Concepts
Some Basic Notation
What are some of the rules and principles of word formation
More Suffixation
(word structure) in English and other languages? Rules

Prefixes

Morphological
... Before we can explore this question in depth, we need to Structure and
Ambiguity
learn some additional concepts and formalisms...
 The Basics of
Vocabulary Time! Morphology

Morpheme:
Supplementary
A sequence of phonemes to which meaning is assigned. Readings
◮ /blOôk/ = to join an MMORPG while naked and/or drunk Motivating
Morphology
◮ /1ô/ = one who performs a given activity
Basic Concepts
and Notation
Some Basic Concepts
Some Basic Notation

More Suffixation
Rules

Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
Vocabulary Time! Morphology

Morpheme:
Supplementary
A sequence of phonemes to which meaning is assigned. Readings
◮ /blOôk/ = to join an MMORPG while naked and/or drunk Motivating
Morphology
◮ /1ô/ = one who performs a given activity
Basic Concepts
and Notation
Some Basic Concepts
Free Morpheme: Some Basic Notation

A morpheme that can ‘stand alone’ as a complete word. More Suffixation

Rules
◮ /blOôk/ “My roommate loves to blork.” Prefixes
◮ /plej/ “My roommate loves to play.” Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
Vocabulary Time! Morphology

Morpheme:
Supplementary
A sequence of phonemes to which meaning is assigned. Readings
◮ /blOôk/ = to join an MMORPG while naked and/or drunk Motivating
Morphology
◮ /1ô/ = one who performs a given activity
Basic Concepts
and Notation
Some Basic Concepts
Free Morpheme: Some Basic Notation

A morpheme that can ‘stand alone’ as a complete word. More Suffixation

Rules
◮ /blOôk/ “My roommate loves to blork.” Prefixes
◮ /plej/ “My roommate loves to play.” Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
Bound Morpheme:
Morpheme that can’t ‘stand alone’ as a complete word.
◮ /1ô/ “My roommate is a real blorker / player / *er.”
 The Basics of
Vocabulary Time! Morphology

Morpheme:
Supplementary
A sequence of phonemes to which meaning is assigned. Readings
◮ /blOôk/ = to join an MMORPG while naked and/or drunk Motivating
Morphology
◮ /1ô/ = one who performs a given activity
Basic Concepts
and Notation
Some Basic Concepts
Free Morpheme: Some Basic Notation

A morpheme that can ‘stand alone’ as a complete word. More Suffixation

Rules
◮ /blOôk/ “My roommate loves to blork.” Prefixes
◮ /plej/ “My roommate loves to play.” Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
Bound Morpheme:
Morpheme that can’t ‘stand alone’ as a complete word.
◮ /1ô/ “My roommate is a real blorker / player / *er.”

Affix:
A bound morpheme that can attach to a free morpheme
◮ /1ô/ “My roommate is a real blorker / player / *er.”
 The Basics of
Vocabulary Time! Morphology

Morpheme:
Supplementary
A sequence of phonemes to which meaning is assigned. Readings
◮ /blOôk/ = to join an MMORPG while naked and/or drunk Motivating
Morphology
◮ /1ô/ = one who performs a given activity
Basic Concepts
and Notation
Some Basic Concepts
Free Morpheme: Some Basic Notation

A morpheme that can ‘stand alone’ as a complete word. More Suffixation

Rules
◮ /blOôk/ “My roommate loves to blork.” Prefixes
◮ /plej/ “My roommate loves to play.” Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
Bound Morpheme:
Morpheme that can’t ‘stand alone’ as a complete word.
◮ /1ô/ “My roommate is a real blorker / player / *er.”

Suffix:
An affix that attaches to the end of a morpheme.
◮ /1ô/ “My roommate is a real blorker / player / *er.”
 The Basics of
Towards Morphological Rules Morphology

Let’s now work carefully towards the morphological rule

Supplementary
for the suffix “-er” in English... Readings

Motivating
Morphology

Basic Concepts
and Notation
Some Basic Concepts
Some Basic Notation

More Suffixation
Rules

Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
Towards Morphological Rules Morphology

Let’s now work carefully towards the morphological rule

Supplementary
for the suffix “-er” in English... Readings

Motivating
Morphology
Observation 1:
Basic Concepts
◮ Clearly, the suffix “-er” can attach to verbs. and Notation
Some Basic Concepts

◮ blorker, player, baker, dancer, etc. Some Basic Notation

More Suffixation
Rules

Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
Towards Morphological Rules Morphology

Let’s now work carefully towards the morphological rule

Supplementary
for the suffix “-er” in English... Readings

Motivating
Morphology
Observation 1:
Basic Concepts
◮ Clearly, the suffix “-er” can attach to verbs. and Notation
Some Basic Concepts

◮ blorker, player, baker, dancer, etc. Some Basic Notation

More Suffixation
Rules
◮ The suffix “-er” cannot attach to other kinds of words Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
Towards Morphological Rules Morphology

Let’s now work carefully towards the morphological rule

Supplementary
for the suffix “-er” in English... Readings

Motivating
Morphology
Observation 1:
Basic Concepts
◮ Clearly, the suffix “-er” can attach to verbs. and Notation
Some Basic Concepts

◮ blorker, player, baker, dancer, etc. Some Basic Notation

More Suffixation
Rules
◮ The suffix “-er” cannot attach to other kinds of words Prefixes
◮ It can’t attach to nouns: Morphological
Structure and
piano *pianoer (one who is a piano?) Ambiguity
book *booker (one who is a book?)
 The Basics of
Towards Morphological Rules Morphology

Let’s now work carefully towards the morphological rule

Supplementary
for the suffix “-er” in English... Readings

Motivating
Morphology
Observation 1:
Basic Concepts
◮ Clearly, the suffix “-er” can attach to verbs. and Notation
Some Basic Concepts

◮ blorker, player, baker, dancer, etc. Some Basic Notation

More Suffixation
Rules
◮ The suffix “-er” cannot attach to other kinds of words Prefixes
◮ It can’t attach to nouns: Morphological
Structure and
piano *pianoer (one who is a piano?) Ambiguity
book *booker (one who is a book?)
◮ It can’t attach to adjectives:
tall *taller (one who is tall?)
angry *angrier (one who is angry?)
 The Basics of
Towards Morphological Rules Morphology

Let’s now work carefully towards the morphological rule

Supplementary
for the suffix “-er” in English... Readings

Motivating
Morphology
Observation 1:
Basic Concepts
◮ Clearly, the suffix “-er” can attach to verbs. and Notation
Some Basic Concepts

◮ blorker, player, baker, dancer, etc. Some Basic Notation

More Suffixation
Rules
◮ The suffix “-er” cannot attach to other kinds of words Prefixes
◮ It can’t attach to nouns: Morphological
Structure and
piano *pianoer (one who is a piano?) Ambiguity
book *booker (one who is a book?)
◮ It can’t attach to adjectives:
tall *taller (one who is tall?)
angry *angrier (one who is angry?)

The Generalization, Part 1:

The suffix “-er” can only attach to verbs.
 The Basics of
Towards Morphological Rules Morphology

Let’s now work carefully towards the morphological rule

Supplementary
for the suffix “-er” in English... Readings

Motivating
Morphology
Observation 2:
Basic Concepts
When “-er” attaches to a verb, the resulting word is a noun. and Notation
Some Basic Concepts
blork the blorker (the one who blorks) Some Basic Notation

play the player (the one who plays) More Suffixation

Rules
dance the dancer (the one who dances)
Prefixes
bake the baker (the one who bakes)
shoot the shooter (the one who shoots) Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
Towards Morphological Rules Morphology

Let’s now work carefully towards the morphological rule

Supplementary
for the suffix “-er” in English... Readings

Motivating
Morphology
Observation 2:
Basic Concepts
When “-er” attaches to a verb, the resulting word is a noun. and Notation
Some Basic Concepts
blork the blorker (the one who blorks) Some Basic Notation

play the player (the one who plays) More Suffixation

Rules
dance the dancer (the one who dances)
Prefixes
bake the baker (the one who bakes)
shoot the shooter (the one who shoots) Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity

The Generalization, Part 2:

The suffix “-er” attaches to verbs, and thereby creates nouns.
 The Basics of
Towards Morphological Rules Morphology

Let’s now work carefully towards the morphological rule

Supplementary
for the suffix “-er” in English... Readings

Motivating
Morphology
Observation 2:
Basic Concepts
When “-er” attaches to a verb, the resulting word is a noun. and Notation
Some Basic Concepts
blork the blorker (the one who blorks) Some Basic Notation

play the player (the one who plays) More Suffixation

Rules
dance the dancer (the one who dances)
Prefixes
bake the baker (the one who bakes)
shoot the shooter (the one who shoots) Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity

The Generalization, Part 2:

The suffix “-er” attaches to verbs, and thereby creates nouns.

Stated as Rule:
A noun can be created by taking a verb and adding “er” after it.
 The Basics of
A Formal Notation for Rules Morphology

Supplementary
Readings

Motivating
The Rule (Informally Stated): Morphology

A noun can be created by taking a verb and adding “er” after it. Basic Concepts
and Notation
Some Basic Concepts
Some Basic Notation

More Suffixation
Rules

Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
A Formal Notation for Rules Morphology

Supplementary
Readings

Motivating
The Rule (Informally Stated): Morphology

A noun can be created by taking a verb and adding “er” after it. Basic Concepts
and Notation
Some Basic Concepts
Some Basic Notation

A Formal Notation for Morphological Rules: More Suffixation

Rules
N → V + /1ô/
Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
A Formal Notation for Rules Morphology

Supplementary
Readings

Motivating
The Rule (Informally Stated): Morphology

A noun can be created by taking a verb and adding “er” after it. Basic Concepts
and Notation
Some Basic Concepts
Some Basic Notation

A Formal Notation for Morphological Rules: More Suffixation

Rules
N → V + /1ô/
Prefixes

◮ N = “a noun” Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
◮ → = “can be created from”
◮ V = “a verb”
◮ + = “combined with”
 The Basics of
A Notation for Morphological Structure Morphology

The morphological composition of a word can be

Supplementary
diagrammed by a “tree structure”. Readings

Motivating
Morphology

The Morphological Structure of “Player” Basic Concepts

and Notation
N Some Basic Concepts
Some Basic Notation

More Suffixation
Rules
V /1ô/
Prefixes

Morphological
/plej/ Structure and
Ambiguity

(“Player” is a noun formed from the V “play” and the suffix “1ô”)
 The Basics of
More Suffixation Rules of English Morphology

Supplementary
Readings

Motivating
Morphology

Basic Concepts
and Notation

More Suffixation
Rules
Let’s now look at some more suffixes of English, to get a The Suffix “-Ness”
The Suffix “-Able”

flavor for how these rules work... The Suffix “-Ing”

Another Suffix “-Er”

Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
The Suffix “-Ness” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
happy happiness
Motivating
sad sadness Morphology

blue blueness Basic Concepts

and Notation
round roundness More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
The Suffix “-Able”
The Suffix “-Ing”
Another Suffix “-Er”

Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
The Suffix “-Ness” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
happy happiness
Motivating
sad sadness Morphology

blue blueness Basic Concepts

and Notation
round roundness More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
Observations: The Suffix “-Able”
The Suffix “-Ing”
◮ The words on the left are adjectives. Another Suffix “-Er”

Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
The Suffix “-Ness” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
happy happiness
Motivating
sad sadness Morphology

blue blueness Basic Concepts

and Notation
round roundness More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
Observations: The Suffix “-Able”
The Suffix “-Ing”
◮ The words on the left are adjectives. Another Suffix “-Er”

◮ The words on the right are nouns. Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
The Suffix “-Ness” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
happy happiness
Motivating
sad sadness Morphology

blue blueness Basic Concepts

and Notation
round roundness More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
Observations: The Suffix “-Able”
The Suffix “-Ing”
◮ The words on the left are adjectives. Another Suffix “-Er”

◮ The words on the right are nouns. Prefixes

Morphological
◮ The words on the right are just like the words on the left, except Structure and
that they end with “-ness”. Ambiguity
 The Basics of
The Suffix “-Ness” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
happy happiness
Motivating
sad sadness Morphology

blue blueness Basic Concepts

and Notation
round roundness More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
Observations: The Suffix “-Able”
The Suffix “-Ing”
◮ The words on the left are adjectives. Another Suffix “-Er”

◮ The words on the right are nouns. Prefixes

Morphological
◮ The words on the right are just like the words on the left, except Structure and
that they end with “-ness”. Ambiguity

◮ For each of these Adj/N pairs, the N means “state of being Adj”
 The Basics of
The Suffix “-Ness” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
happy happiness
Motivating
sad sadness Morphology

blue blueness Basic Concepts

and Notation
round roundness More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
Observations: The Suffix “-Able”
The Suffix “-Ing”
◮ The words on the left are adjectives. Another Suffix “-Er”

◮ The words on the right are nouns. Prefixes

Morphological
◮ The words on the right are just like the words on the left, except Structure and
that they end with “-ness”. Ambiguity

◮ For each of these Adj/N pairs, the N means “state of being Adj”

Hypothesis:
English morphology contains the following rule:
N → A + /nEs/
(A noun can be formed from an adjective, followed by the suffix /nEs/)
 The Basics of
The Suffix “-Ness” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
happy happiness
Motivating
sad sadness Morphology

blue blueness Basic Concepts

and Notation
round roundness More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
Hypothesized Rule: N → A + /nEs/ The Suffix “-Able”
The Suffix “-Ing”
Another Suffix “-Er”

Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
The Suffix “-Ness” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
happy happiness
Motivating
sad sadness Morphology

blue blueness Basic Concepts

and Notation
round roundness More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
Hypothesized Rule: N → A + /nEs/ The Suffix “-Able”
The Suffix “-Ing”
Another Suffix “-Er”

Prefixes
Confirmation, Part 1:
Morphological
Structure and
◮ Suppose I told you gamers have an adjective “grug” that Ambiguity
means lame.
 The Basics of
The Suffix “-Ness” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
happy happiness
Motivating
sad sadness Morphology

blue blueness Basic Concepts

and Notation
round roundness More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
Hypothesized Rule: N → A + /nEs/ The Suffix “-Able”
The Suffix “-Ing”
Another Suffix “-Er”

Prefixes
Confirmation, Part 1:
Morphological
Structure and
◮ Suppose I told you gamers have an adjective “grug” that Ambiguity
means lame.
◮ The following would probably make sense to you:
“The grugness of this game is undeniable.”
 The Basics of
The Suffix “-Ness” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
happy happiness
Motivating
sad sadness Morphology

blue blueness Basic Concepts

and Notation
round roundness More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
Hypothesized Rule: N → A + /nEs/ The Suffix “-Able”
The Suffix “-Ing”
Another Suffix “-Er”

Prefixes
Confirmation, Part 1:
Morphological
Structure and
◮ Suppose I told you gamers have an adjective “grug” that Ambiguity
means lame.
◮ The following would probably make sense to you:
“The grugness of this game is undeniable.”
◮ You could only understand the noun “grugness” if you had
a rule like the one above.
 The Basics of
The Suffix “-Ness” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
happy happiness
Motivating
sad sadness Morphology

blue blueness Basic Concepts

and Notation
round roundness More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
Hypothesized Rule: N → A + /nEs/ The Suffix “-Able”
The Suffix “-Ing”
Another Suffix “-Er”

Prefixes
Confirmation, Part 2:
Morphological
If we try to combine the suffix “-ness” with something other Structure and
than an adjective, the result is not well-formed or sensible. Ambiguity

Verbs Nouns
*walkness *chairness
*stealness *treeness
*scrapeness *hatness
 The Basics of
The Suffix “-Able” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
ride rideable
Motivating
do doable Morphology

see seeable Basic Concepts

and Notation
like likeable More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
The Suffix “-Able”
The Suffix “-Ing”
Another Suffix “-Er”

Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
The Suffix “-Able” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
ride rideable
Motivating
do doable Morphology

see seeable Basic Concepts

and Notation
like likeable More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
Observations: The Suffix “-Able”
The Suffix “-Ing”
◮ The words on the left are verbs. Another Suffix “-Er”

Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
The Suffix “-Able” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
ride rideable
Motivating
do doable Morphology

see seeable Basic Concepts

and Notation
like likeable More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
Observations: The Suffix “-Able”
The Suffix “-Ing”
◮ The words on the left are verbs. Another Suffix “-Er”

◮ The words on the right are adjectives. Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
The Suffix “-Able” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
ride rideable
Motivating
do doable Morphology

see seeable Basic Concepts

and Notation
like likeable More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
Observations: The Suffix “-Able”
The Suffix “-Ing”
◮ The words on the left are verbs. Another Suffix “-Er”

◮ The words on the right are adjectives. Prefixes

Morphological
◮ The words on the right are just like the words on the left, except Structure and
that they end with “-able”. Ambiguity
 The Basics of
The Suffix “-Able” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
ride rideable
Motivating
do doable Morphology

see seeable Basic Concepts

and Notation
like likeable More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
Observations: The Suffix “-Able”
The Suffix “-Ing”
◮ The words on the left are verbs. Another Suffix “-Er”

◮ The words on the right are adjectives. Prefixes

Morphological
◮ The words on the right are just like the words on the left, except Structure and
that they end with “-able”. Ambiguity

◮ For each of these V/Adj pairs, the Adj means “able to be V-ed”
 The Basics of
The Suffix “-Able” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
ride rideable
Motivating
do doable Morphology

see seeable Basic Concepts

and Notation
like likeable More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
Observations: The Suffix “-Able”
The Suffix “-Ing”
◮ The words on the left are verbs. Another Suffix “-Er”

◮ The words on the right are adjectives. Prefixes

Morphological
◮ The words on the right are just like the words on the left, except Structure and
that they end with “-able”. Ambiguity

◮ For each of these V/Adj pairs, the Adj means “able to be V-ed”

Hypothesis:
English morphology contains the following rule:
A → V + /@bl/
(An adjective can be formed from a" verb, followed by the suffix /@bl/)
"
 The Basics of
The Suffix “-Able” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
ride rideable
Motivating
do doable Morphology

see seeable Basic Concepts

and Notation
like likeable More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
Hypothesized Rule: A → V + /@bl/ The Suffix “-Able”
" The Suffix “-Ing”
Another Suffix “-Er”

Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
The Suffix “-Able” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
ride rideable
Motivating
do doable Morphology

see seeable Basic Concepts

and Notation
like likeable More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
Hypothesized Rule: A → V + /@bl/ The Suffix “-Able”
" The Suffix “-Ing”
Another Suffix “-Er”

Prefixes
Confirmation, Part 1:
Morphological
Structure and
◮ Suppose I told you gamers have a verb “croob” that Ambiguity
means destroy.
 The Basics of
The Suffix “-Able” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
ride rideable
Motivating
do doable Morphology

see seeable Basic Concepts

and Notation
like likeable More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
Hypothesized Rule: A → V + /@bl/ The Suffix “-Able”
" The Suffix “-Ing”
Another Suffix “-Er”

Prefixes
Confirmation, Part 1:
Morphological
Structure and
◮ Suppose I told you gamers have a verb “croob” that Ambiguity
means destroy.
◮ The following would probably make sense to you:
“That fortress is totally croobable.”
 The Basics of
The Suffix “-Able” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
ride rideable
Motivating
do doable Morphology

see seeable Basic Concepts

and Notation
like likeable More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
Hypothesized Rule: A → V + /@bl/ The Suffix “-Able”
" The Suffix “-Ing”
Another Suffix “-Er”

Prefixes
Confirmation, Part 1:
Morphological
Structure and
◮ Suppose I told you gamers have a verb “croob” that Ambiguity
means destroy.
◮ The following would probably make sense to you:
“That fortress is totally croobable.”
◮ You could only understand the adjective “croobable” if you
had a rule like that above.
 The Basics of
The Suffix “-Able” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
ride rideable
Motivating
do doable Morphology

see seeable Basic Concepts

and Notation
like likeable More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
Hypothesized Rule: A → V + /@bl/ The Suffix “-Able”
" The Suffix “-Ing”
Another Suffix “-Er”

Prefixes
Confirmation, Part 2:
Morphological
If we try to combine the suffix “-able” with something other than Structure and
an verb, the result is not well-formed or sensible. Ambiguity

Adjectives Nouns
*happyable *chairable
*sadable *treeable
*blueable *hatable
 The Basics of
The Suffix “-Ing” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
bore boring
Motivating
tire tiring Morphology

excite exciting Basic Concepts

and Notation
annoy annoying More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
The Suffix “-Able”
The Suffix “-Ing”
Another Suffix “-Er”

Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
The Suffix “-Ing” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
bore boring
Motivating
tire tiring Morphology

excite exciting Basic Concepts

and Notation
annoy annoying More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
Observations: The Suffix “-Able”
The Suffix “-Ing”
◮ The words on the left are verbs. Another Suffix “-Er”

Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
The Suffix “-Ing” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
bore boring
Motivating
tire tiring Morphology

excite exciting Basic Concepts

and Notation
annoy annoying More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
Observations: The Suffix “-Able”
The Suffix “-Ing”
◮ The words on the left are verbs. Another Suffix “-Er”

◮ The words on the right are adjectives. Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
The Suffix “-Ing” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
bore boring
Motivating
tire tiring Morphology

excite exciting Basic Concepts

and Notation
annoy annoying More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
Observations: The Suffix “-Able”
The Suffix “-Ing”
◮ The words on the left are verbs. Another Suffix “-Er”

◮ The words on the right are adjectives. Prefixes

Morphological
◮ The words on the right are just like the words on the left, except Structure and
that they end with “-ing”. Ambiguity
 The Basics of
The Suffix “-Ing” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
bore boring
Motivating
tire tiring Morphology

excite exciting Basic Concepts

and Notation
annoy annoying More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
Observations: The Suffix “-Able”
The Suffix “-Ing”
◮ The words on the left are verbs. Another Suffix “-Er”

◮ The words on the right are adjectives. Prefixes

Morphological
◮ The words on the right are just like the words on the left, except Structure and
that they end with “-ing”. Ambiguity

◮ For each of these V/Adj pairs, the Adj means “tends to V people”
 The Basics of
The Suffix “-Ing” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
bore boring
Motivating
tire tiring Morphology

excite exciting Basic Concepts

and Notation
annoy annoying More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
Observations: The Suffix “-Able”
The Suffix “-Ing”
◮ The words on the left are verbs. Another Suffix “-Er”

◮ The words on the right are adjectives. Prefixes

Morphological
◮ The words on the right are just like the words on the left, except Structure and
that they end with “-ing”. Ambiguity

◮ For each of these V/Adj pairs, the Adj means “tends to V people”

Hypothesis:
English morphology contains the following rule:
A → V + /iN/
(An adjective can be formed from a verb, followed by the suffix /iN/)
 The Basics of
The Suffix “-Ing” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
bore boring
Motivating
tire tiring Morphology

excite exciting Basic Concepts

and Notation
annoy annoying More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
Hypothesized Rule: A → V + /iN/ The Suffix “-Able”
The Suffix “-Ing”
Another Suffix “-Er”

Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
The Suffix “-Ing” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
bore boring
Motivating
tire tiring Morphology

excite exciting Basic Concepts

and Notation
annoy annoying More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
Hypothesized Rule: A → V + /iN/ The Suffix “-Able”
The Suffix “-Ing”
Another Suffix “-Er”

Prefixes
Confirmation, Part 1:
Morphological
Structure and
◮ Suppose I told you gamers have an adjective “drass” that Ambiguity
means to make angry.
 The Basics of
The Suffix “-Ing” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
bore boring
Motivating
tire tiring Morphology

excite exciting Basic Concepts

and Notation
annoy annoying More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
Hypothesized Rule: A → V + /iN/ The Suffix “-Able”
The Suffix “-Ing”
Another Suffix “-Er”

Prefixes
Confirmation, Part 1:
Morphological
Structure and
◮ Suppose I told you gamers have an adjective “drass” that Ambiguity
means to make angry.
◮ The following would probably make sense to you:
“That part of the game is really drassing.”
 The Basics of
The Suffix “-Ing” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
bore boring
Motivating
tire tiring Morphology

excite exciting Basic Concepts

and Notation
annoy annoying More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
Hypothesized Rule: A → V + /iN/ The Suffix “-Able”
The Suffix “-Ing”
Another Suffix “-Er”

Prefixes
Confirmation, Part 1:
Morphological
Structure and
◮ Suppose I told you gamers have an adjective “drass” that Ambiguity
means to make angry.
◮ The following would probably make sense to you:
“That part of the game is really drassing.”
◮ You could only understand the adjective “drassing” if you
had a rule like that above.
 The Basics of
The Suffix “-Ing” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
bore boring
Motivating
tire tiring Morphology

excite exciting Basic Concepts

and Notation
annoy annoying More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
Hypothesized Rule: A → V + /iN/ The Suffix “-Able”
The Suffix “-Ing”
Another Suffix “-Er”

Prefixes
Confirmation, Part 2:
Morphological
If we try to combine the suffix “-ing” with something other than Structure and
an verb, the result is not well-formed or sensible. Ambiguity

Adjectives Nouns
*happying *chairing
*sadding *treeing
*blueing *hatting
 The Basics of
Another Suffix “-Er” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
happy happier
Motivating
sad sadder Morphology

blue bluer Basic Concepts

and Notation
bad badder More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
The Suffix “-Able”
The Suffix “-Ing”
Another Suffix “-Er”

Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
Another Suffix “-Er” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
happy happier
Motivating
sad sadder Morphology

blue bluer Basic Concepts

and Notation
bad badder More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
Observations: The Suffix “-Able”
The Suffix “-Ing”
◮ The words on the left are adjectives. Another Suffix “-Er”

Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
Another Suffix “-Er” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
happy happier
Motivating
sad sadder Morphology

blue bluer Basic Concepts

and Notation
bad badder More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
Observations: The Suffix “-Able”
The Suffix “-Ing”
◮ The words on the left are adjectives. Another Suffix “-Er”

◮ The words on the right are also adjectives. Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
Another Suffix “-Er” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
happy happier
Motivating
sad sadder Morphology

blue bluer Basic Concepts

and Notation
bad badder More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
Observations: The Suffix “-Able”
The Suffix “-Ing”
◮ The words on the left are adjectives. Another Suffix “-Er”

◮ The words on the right are also adjectives. Prefixes

Morphological
◮ The words on the right are just like the words on the left, except Structure and
that they end with “-er”. Ambiguity
 The Basics of
Another Suffix “-Er” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
happy happier
Motivating
sad sadder Morphology

blue bluer Basic Concepts

and Notation
bad badder More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
Observations: The Suffix “-Able”
The Suffix “-Ing”
◮ The words on the left are adjectives. Another Suffix “-Er”

◮ The words on the right are also adjectives. Prefixes

Morphological
◮ The words on the right are just like the words on the left, except Structure and
that they end with “-er”. Ambiguity

◮ For each of these pairs, ‘Adj+er’ means “more Adj”

 The Basics of
Another Suffix “-Er” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
happy happier
Motivating
sad sadder Morphology

blue bluer Basic Concepts

and Notation
bad badder More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
Observations: The Suffix “-Able”
The Suffix “-Ing”
◮ The words on the left are adjectives. Another Suffix “-Er”

◮ The words on the right are also adjectives. Prefixes

Morphological
◮ The words on the right are just like the words on the left, except Structure and
that they end with “-er”. Ambiguity

◮ For each of these pairs, ‘Adj+er’ means “more Adj”

Hypothesis:
English morphology contains the following rule:
A → A + /1ô/
(An adjective can be formed from an adjective, followed by suffix /1ô/)
 The Basics of
Another Suffix “-Er” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
happy happier
Motivating
sad sadder Morphology

blue bluer Basic Concepts

and Notation
bad badder More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
The Suffix “-Able”
But Wait!: The Suffix “-Ing”

Didn’t we already see that “-er” is a suffix that (i) combines with Another Suffix “-Er”

Prefixes
Vs, (ii) produces Ns, and (iii) means “one who Vs”?
Morphological
play player Structure and
Ambiguity
dance dancer
bake baker
shoot shooter
call caller
 The Basics of
Another Suffix “-Er” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
happy happier
Motivating
sad sadder Morphology

blue bluer Basic Concepts

and Notation
bad badder More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
The Suffix “-Able”
Homophonous Morphemes The Suffix “-Ing”
Another Suffix “-Er”
◮ There are often pairs of words that (i) sound exactly the Prefixes
same, but (ii) mean two totally separate things:
Morphological
red read Structure and
Ambiguity
blue blew
shed (hair) shed (a building)
bank (river) bank (financial institution)
 The Basics of
Another Suffix “-Er” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
happy happier
Motivating
sad sadder Morphology

blue bluer Basic Concepts

and Notation
bad badder More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
The Suffix “-Able”
Homophonous Morphemes The Suffix “-Ing”
Another Suffix “-Er”
◮ There are often pairs of words that (i) sound exactly the Prefixes
same, but (ii) mean two totally separate things:
Morphological
red read Structure and
Ambiguity
blue blew
shed (hair) shed (a building)
bank (river) bank (financial institution)
◮ The word for such pairs of words is homophones.
 The Basics of
Another Suffix “-Er” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
happy happier
Motivating
sad sadder Morphology

blue bluer Basic Concepts

and Notation
bad badder More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
The Suffix “-Able”
The Conclusion: The Suffix “-Ing”
Another Suffix “-Er”
Just as with words (free morphemes), it is possible for
Prefixes
affixes (bound morphemes) to be homophones. Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
Another Suffix “-Er” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
happy happier
Motivating
sad sadder Morphology

blue bluer Basic Concepts

and Notation
bad badder More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
The Suffix “-Able”
The Conclusion: The Suffix “-Ing”
Another Suffix “-Er”
Just as with words (free morphemes), it is possible for
Prefixes
affixes (bound morphemes) to be homophones. Morphological
Structure and
◮ There is an “-er” suffix that combines with Vs to make Ns. Ambiguity
(N → V + /1ô/)
 The Basics of
Another Suffix “-Er” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
happy happier
Motivating
sad sadder Morphology

blue bluer Basic Concepts

and Notation
bad badder More Suffixation
Rules
The Suffix “-Ness”
The Suffix “-Able”
The Conclusion: The Suffix “-Ing”
Another Suffix “-Er”
Just as with words (free morphemes), it is possible for
Prefixes
affixes (bound morphemes) to be homophones. Morphological
Structure and
◮ There is an “-er” suffix that combines with Vs to make Ns. Ambiguity
(N → V + /1ô/)
◮ There is also a separate, homophonous “-er” suffix that
combines with As to make As.
(A → A + /1ô/)
 The Basics of
Introducing Prefixes Morphology

Supplementary
Readings

Motivating
Morphology

Basic Concepts
Suffix: and Notation
An affix that attaches to the end of a morpheme. More Suffixation
Rules

Prefixes
The Prefix “Re-”
The Prefix “Un-”
Another Prefix “Un-”

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
Introducing Prefixes Morphology

Supplementary
Readings

Motivating
Morphology

Basic Concepts
Suffix: and Notation
An affix that attaches to the end of a morpheme. More Suffixation
Rules

Prefixes
Prefix: The Prefix “Re-”
The Prefix “Un-”

An affix that attaches to the beginning of a morpheme. Another Prefix “Un-”

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
Introducing Prefixes Morphology

Supplementary
Readings

Motivating
Morphology

Basic Concepts
Suffix: and Notation
An affix that attaches to the end of a morpheme. More Suffixation
Rules

Prefixes
Prefix: The Prefix “Re-”
The Prefix “Un-”

An affix that attaches to the beginning of a morpheme. Another Prefix “Un-”

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
Let’s take a look at some prefixation rules of English...
 The Basics of
The Prefix “Re-” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
do redo
Motivating
type retype Morphology

zip rezip Basic Concepts

and Notation
print reprint More Suffixation
Rules

Prefixes
The Prefix “Re-”
The Prefix “Un-”
Another Prefix “Un-”

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
The Prefix “Re-” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
do redo
Motivating
type retype Morphology

zip rezip Basic Concepts

and Notation
print reprint More Suffixation
Rules

Observations: Prefixes
The Prefix “Re-”

◮ The words on the left are verbs. The Prefix “Un-”

Another Prefix “Un-”

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
The Prefix “Re-” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
do redo
Motivating
type retype Morphology

zip rezip Basic Concepts

and Notation
print reprint More Suffixation
Rules

Observations: Prefixes
The Prefix “Re-”

◮ The words on the left are verbs. The Prefix “Un-”

Another Prefix “Un-”

◮ The words on the right are verbs. Morphological

Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
The Prefix “Re-” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
do redo
Motivating
type retype Morphology

zip rezip Basic Concepts

and Notation
print reprint More Suffixation
Rules

Observations: Prefixes
The Prefix “Re-”

◮ The words on the left are verbs. The Prefix “Un-”

Another Prefix “Un-”

◮ The words on the right are verbs. Morphological

Structure and
◮ The words on the right are just like the words on the left, except Ambiguity
that they begin with “re-”.
 The Basics of
The Prefix “Re-” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
do redo
Motivating
type retype Morphology

zip rezip Basic Concepts

and Notation
print reprint More Suffixation
Rules

Observations: Prefixes
The Prefix “Re-”

◮ The words on the left are verbs. The Prefix “Un-”

Another Prefix “Un-”

◮ The words on the right are verbs. Morphological

Structure and
◮ The words on the right are just like the words on the left, except Ambiguity
that they begin with “re-”.
◮ For each of these pairs, ‘re+V’ means “to V again”
 The Basics of
The Prefix “Re-” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
do redo
Motivating
type retype Morphology

zip rezip Basic Concepts

and Notation
print reprint More Suffixation
Rules

Observations: Prefixes
The Prefix “Re-”

◮ The words on the left are verbs. The Prefix “Un-”

Another Prefix “Un-”

◮ The words on the right are verbs. Morphological

Structure and
◮ The words on the right are just like the words on the left, except Ambiguity
that they begin with “re-”.
◮ For each of these pairs, ‘re+V’ means “to V again”

Hypothesis:
English morphology contains the following rule:
V → /ôi/ + V
(A verb can be formed from a verb, preceded by the prefix /ôi/)
 The Basics of
The Prefix “Re-” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
do redo
Motivating
type retype Morphology

zip rezip Basic Concepts

and Notation
print reprint More Suffixation
Rules

Hypothesized Rule: V → /ôi/ + V Prefixes

The Prefix “Re-”
The Prefix “Un-”
Another Prefix “Un-”

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
The Prefix “Re-” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
do redo
Motivating
type retype Morphology

zip rezip Basic Concepts

and Notation
print reprint More Suffixation
Rules

Hypothesized Rule: V → /ôi/ + V Prefixes

The Prefix “Re-”
The Prefix “Un-”
Another Prefix “Un-”

Confirmation, Part 1: Morphological

Structure and
Ambiguity
◮ Suppose I told you gamers have a verb “croob” that
means to destroy.
 The Basics of
The Prefix “Re-” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
do redo
Motivating
type retype Morphology

zip rezip Basic Concepts

and Notation
print reprint More Suffixation
Rules

Hypothesized Rule: V → /ôi/ + V Prefixes

The Prefix “Re-”
The Prefix “Un-”
Another Prefix “Un-”

Confirmation, Part 1: Morphological

Structure and
Ambiguity
◮ Suppose I told you gamers have a verb “croob” that
means to destroy.
◮ The following would probably make sense to you:
“We need to recroob that fortress.”
 The Basics of
The Prefix “Re-” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
do redo
Motivating
type retype Morphology

zip rezip Basic Concepts

and Notation
print reprint More Suffixation
Rules

Hypothesized Rule: V → /ôi/ + V Prefixes

The Prefix “Re-”
The Prefix “Un-”
Another Prefix “Un-”

Confirmation, Part 1: Morphological

Structure and
Ambiguity
◮ Suppose I told you gamers have a verb “croob” that
means to destroy.
◮ The following would probably make sense to you:
“We need to recroob that fortress.”
◮ You could only understand the verb “recroob” if you had a
rule like that above.
 The Basics of
The Prefix “Re-” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
do redo
Motivating
type retype Morphology

zip rezip Basic Concepts

and Notation
print reprint More Suffixation
Rules

Hypothesized Rule: V → /ôi/ + V Prefixes

The Prefix “Re-”
The Prefix “Un-”
Another Prefix “Un-”

Confirmation, Part 2: Morphological

Structure and
If we try to combine the prefix “re-” with something other than Ambiguity
an verb, the result is not well-formed or sensible.
Adjectives Nouns
*rehappy *rechair
*resad *retree
*reblue *rehat
 The Basics of
The Prefix “Un-” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
happy unhappy
Motivating
sound unsound Morphology

cool uncool Basic Concepts

and Notation

More Suffixation
Rules

Prefixes
The Prefix “Re-”
The Prefix “Un-”
Another Prefix “Un-”

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
The Prefix “Un-” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
happy unhappy
Motivating
sound unsound Morphology

cool uncool Basic Concepts

and Notation

More Suffixation
Observations: Rules

◮ The words on the left are adjectives. Prefixes

The Prefix “Re-”
The Prefix “Un-”
Another Prefix “Un-”

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
The Prefix “Un-” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
happy unhappy
Motivating
sound unsound Morphology

cool uncool Basic Concepts

and Notation

More Suffixation
Observations: Rules

◮ The words on the left are adjectives. Prefixes

The Prefix “Re-”
The Prefix “Un-”
◮ The words on the right are adjectives.
Another Prefix “Un-”

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
The Prefix “Un-” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
happy unhappy
Motivating
sound unsound Morphology

cool uncool Basic Concepts

and Notation

More Suffixation
Observations: Rules

◮ The words on the left are adjectives. Prefixes

The Prefix “Re-”
The Prefix “Un-”
◮ The words on the right are adjectives.
Another Prefix “Un-”

◮ The words on the right are just like the words on the left, except Morphological
that they begin with “un-”. Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
The Prefix “Un-” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
happy unhappy
Motivating
sound unsound Morphology

cool uncool Basic Concepts

and Notation

More Suffixation
Observations: Rules

◮ The words on the left are adjectives. Prefixes

The Prefix “Re-”
The Prefix “Un-”
◮ The words on the right are adjectives.
Another Prefix “Un-”

◮ The words on the right are just like the words on the left, except Morphological
that they begin with “un-”. Structure and
Ambiguity
◮ For each of these pairs, ‘un+Adj’ means “not Adj”
 The Basics of
The Prefix “Un-” Morphology

Consider the following pairs of words...

Supplementary
Readings
happy unhappy
Motivating
sound unsound Morphology

cool uncool Basic Concepts

and Notation

More Suffixation
Observations: Rules

◮ The words on the left are adjectives. Prefixes

The Prefix “Re-”
The Prefix “Un-”
◮ The words on the right are adjectives.
Another Prefix “Un-”

◮ The words on the right are just like the words on the left, except Morphological
that they begin with “un-”. Structure and
Ambiguity
◮ For each of these pairs, ‘un+Adj’ means “not Adj”

Hypothesis:
English morphology contains the following rule:
A → /2n/ + A
(An adjective can be formed from an adjective, preceded by /2n/)
 The Basics of
Another Prefix “Un-” Morphology

Interesting Fact:
Supplementary
As with “-er”, there is another, homophonous prefix “un-”: Readings

Motivating
do undo Morphology

zip unzip Basic Concepts

and Notation
dress undress More Suffixation
Rules

Prefixes
The Prefix “Re-”
The Prefix “Un-”
Another Prefix “Un-”

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
Another Prefix “Un-” Morphology

Interesting Fact:
Supplementary
As with “-er”, there is another, homophonous prefix “un-”: Readings

Motivating
do undo Morphology

zip unzip Basic Concepts

and Notation
dress undress More Suffixation
Rules

Observations: Prefixes
The Prefix “Re-”

◮ The words on the left are verbs. The Prefix “Un-”

Another Prefix “Un-”

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
Another Prefix “Un-” Morphology

Interesting Fact:
Supplementary
As with “-er”, there is another, homophonous prefix “un-”: Readings

Motivating
do undo Morphology

zip unzip Basic Concepts

and Notation
dress undress More Suffixation
Rules

Observations: Prefixes
The Prefix “Re-”

◮ The words on the left are verbs. The Prefix “Un-”

Another Prefix “Un-”

◮ The words on the right are verbs. Morphological

Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
Another Prefix “Un-” Morphology

Interesting Fact:
Supplementary
As with “-er”, there is another, homophonous prefix “un-”: Readings

Motivating
do undo Morphology

zip unzip Basic Concepts

and Notation
dress undress More Suffixation
Rules

Observations: Prefixes
The Prefix “Re-”

◮ The words on the left are verbs. The Prefix “Un-”

Another Prefix “Un-”

◮ The words on the right are verbs. Morphological

Structure and
◮ The words on the right are just like the words on the left, except Ambiguity
that they begin with “un-”.
 The Basics of
Another Prefix “Un-” Morphology

Interesting Fact:
Supplementary
As with “-er”, there is another, homophonous prefix “un-”: Readings

Motivating
do undo Morphology

zip unzip Basic Concepts

and Notation
dress undress More Suffixation
Rules

Observations: Prefixes
The Prefix “Re-”

◮ The words on the left are verbs. The Prefix “Un-”

Another Prefix “Un-”

◮ The words on the right are verbs. Morphological

Structure and
◮ The words on the right are just like the words on the left, except Ambiguity
that they begin with “un-”.
◮ For each of these pairs, ‘un+V’ means “to reverse V-ing”
 The Basics of
Another Prefix “Un-” Morphology

Interesting Fact:
Supplementary
As with “-er”, there is another, homophonous prefix “un-”: Readings

Motivating
do undo Morphology

zip unzip Basic Concepts

and Notation
dress undress More Suffixation
Rules

Observations: Prefixes
The Prefix “Re-”

◮ The words on the left are verbs. The Prefix “Un-”

Another Prefix “Un-”

◮ The words on the right are verbs. Morphological

Structure and
◮ The words on the right are just like the words on the left, except Ambiguity
that they begin with “un-”.
◮ For each of these pairs, ‘un+V’ means “to reverse V-ing”

Hypothesis:
English morphology contains the following rule:
V → /2n/ + V
(A verb can be formed from a verb, preceded by the prefix /2n/)
 The Basics of
Summary of Our Morphological Rules Morphology

So far, we’ve seen that the following rules serve to create

Supplementary
words in English. Readings

Motivating
Morphology

Morphological Rule Illustrative Word: Basic Concepts

and Notation

More Suffixation
Rules
N → V + /1ô/ player
Prefixes
N → A + /nEs/ happiness
Morphological
A → V + /@bl/ doable Structure and

A → V + /iN/"
Ambiguity
sickening
A → A + /1ô/ taller
V → /ôi/ + V reinvest
A → /2n/ + A uninteresting
V → /2n/ + V unlock
 The Basics of
Complex Morphological Structures Morphology

Key Fact: These morphological rules can iterate! Supplementary

Readings

◮ One rule can output a word, which then can serve as Motivating
Morphology
input to another rule. Basic Concepts
and Notation

More Suffixation
Rules

Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
Complex Morphological Structures Morphology

Key Fact: These morphological rules can iterate! Supplementary

Readings

◮ One rule can output a word, which then can serve as Motivating
Morphology
input to another rule. Basic Concepts
and Notation

More Suffixation
Input Rule Output Rules

do A → V + /@bl/ doable (able to be done) Prefixes

doable "
A → /2n/ + A undoable (not doable) Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity

dress V → /2n/ + V undress (to reverse dressing)

undress V → /ôi/ + V reundress (to undress again)
 The Basics of
Complex Morphological Structures Morphology

Key Fact: These morphological rules can iterate! Supplementary

Readings

◮ One rule can output a word, which then can serve as Motivating
Morphology
input to another rule. Basic Concepts
and Notation

More Suffixation
Input Rule Output Rules

do A → V + /@bl/ doable (able to be done) Prefixes

doable "
A → /2n/ + A undoable (not doable) Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity

dress V → /2n/ + V undress (to reverse dressing)

undress V → /ôi/ + V reundress (to undress again)

◮ Through the iteration of these rules, we are able to

create incredibly complex words of English.
◮ Antidisestablishmentarianism
(anti-dis-establish-ment-arian-ism)
 The Basics of
Morphological Ambiguity Morphology

Another Key Fact: Supplementary

Readings
Some words can created in multiple ways, which has an
Motivating
effect upon their meaning. Morphology

Basic Concepts
and Notation

More Suffixation
Rules

Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
Morphological Ambiguity Morphology

Another Key Fact: Supplementary

Readings
Some words can created in multiple ways, which has an
Motivating
effect upon their meaning. Morphology

Basic Concepts
and Notation
Illustration: ‘Unlockable’ More Suffixation
‘Unlockable’ is ambiguous; it can have one of two meanings: Rules

Prefixes
◮ able to be unlocked
Morphological
(the door is unlockable; I can open it with my keys) Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
Morphological Ambiguity Morphology

Another Key Fact: Supplementary

Readings
Some words can created in multiple ways, which has an
Motivating
effect upon their meaning. Morphology

Basic Concepts
and Notation
Illustration: ‘Unlockable’ More Suffixation
‘Unlockable’ is ambiguous; it can have one of two meanings: Rules

Prefixes
◮ able to be unlocked
Morphological
(the door is unlockable; I can open it with my keys) Structure and
Ambiguity
◮ not able to be locked
(the door is unlockable; the lock is broken)
 The Basics of
Morphological Ambiguity Morphology

Another Key Fact: Supplementary

Readings
Some words can created in multiple ways, which has an
Motivating
effect upon their meaning. Morphology

Basic Concepts
and Notation
Illustration: ‘Unlockable’ More Suffixation
‘Unlockable’ is ambiguous; it can have one of two meanings: Rules

Prefixes
◮ able to be unlocked
Morphological
(the door is unlockable; I can open it with my keys) Structure and
Ambiguity
◮ not able to be locked
(the door is unlockable; the lock is broken)

Observation:
◮ This is not just simple, arbitrary homophony (like ‘red’/‘read’)
 The Basics of
Morphological Ambiguity Morphology

Another Key Fact: Supplementary

Readings
Some words can created in multiple ways, which has an
Motivating
effect upon their meaning. Morphology

Basic Concepts
and Notation
Illustration: ‘Unlockable’ More Suffixation
‘Unlockable’ is ambiguous; it can have one of two meanings: Rules

Prefixes
◮ able to be unlocked
Morphological
(the door is unlockable; I can open it with my keys) Structure and
Ambiguity
◮ not able to be locked
(the door is unlockable; the lock is broken)

Observation:
◮ This is not just simple, arbitrary homophony (like ‘red’/‘read’)
◮ Instead, our rules give us two ways of creating ‘unlockable’
 The Basics of
Morphological Ambiguity Morphology

Another Key Fact: Supplementary

Readings
Some words can created in multiple ways, which has an
Motivating
effect upon their meaning. Morphology

Basic Concepts
and Notation
Illustration: ‘Unlockable’ More Suffixation
‘Unlockable’ is ambiguous; it can have one of two meanings: Rules

Prefixes
◮ able to be unlocked
Morphological
(the door is unlockable; I can open it with my keys) Structure and
Ambiguity
◮ not able to be locked
(the door is unlockable; the lock is broken)

Observation:
◮ This is not just simple, arbitrary homophony (like ‘red’/‘read’)
◮ Instead, our rules give us two ways of creating ‘unlockable’
◮ Each way of creating the word will give a different meaning.
 The Basics of
Two Ways of Creating ‘Unlockable’ Morphology

Supplementary
Readings
Derivation One:
Motivating
Morphology
Input Rule Output
Basic Concepts
lock V → /2n/ + V unlock (to reverse locking) and Notation

unlock A → V + /@bl/ unlockable (able to be unlocked) More Suffixation

" Rules

Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
Two Ways of Creating ‘Unlockable’ Morphology

Supplementary
Readings
Derivation One:
Motivating
Morphology
Input Rule Output
Basic Concepts
lock V → /2n/ + V unlock (to reverse locking) and Notation

unlock A → V + /@bl/ unlockable (able to be unlocked) More Suffixation

" Rules

Prefixes

Derivation Two: Morphological

Structure and
Ambiguity
Input Rule Output
lock A → V + /@bl/ lockable (able to locked)
lockable "
A → /2n/ + A unlockable (not lockable)
 The Basics of
Two Ways of Creating ‘Unlockable’ Morphology

Supplementary
Readings
Derivation One:
Motivating
Morphology
Input Rule Output
Basic Concepts
lock V → /2n/ + V unlock (to reverse locking) and Notation

unlock A → V + /@bl/ unlockable (able to be unlocked) More Suffixation

" Rules

Prefixes

Derivation Two: Morphological

Structure and
Ambiguity
Input Rule Output
lock A → V + /@bl/ lockable (able to locked)
lockable "
A → /2n/ + A unlockable (not lockable)

We can represent these two different methods for making

‘unlockable’ by using two different ‘tree structures’.
 The Basics of
Two Different Structures for ‘Unlockable’ Morphology

Supplementary
Readings
Derivation One:
Motivating
Morphology
A
Basic Concepts
and Notation

V /@bl/ More Suffixation

" Rules

Prefixes
/2n/ V
Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
/lAk/

◮ The V /lAk/ combines with the prefix /2n/, making the V /2nlAk/
(to reverse locking)
 The Basics of
Two Different Structures for ‘Unlockable’ Morphology

Supplementary
Readings
Derivation One:
Motivating
Morphology
A
Basic Concepts
and Notation

V /@bl/ More Suffixation

" Rules

Prefixes
/2n/ V
Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
/lAk/

◮ The V /lAk/ combines with the prefix /2n/, making the V /2nlAk/
(to reverse locking)
◮ The V /2nlAk/ combines with the suffix /@bl/, making the A
/2nlAk@bl/ (able to be unlocked) "
"
 The Basics of
Two Different Structures for ‘Unlockable’ Morphology

Supplementary
Readings
Derivation Two:
Motivating
Morphology
A
Basic Concepts
and Notation

/2n/ A More Suffixation

Rules

Prefixes
V /@bl/
" Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
/lAk/

◮ The V /lAk/ combines with the suffix /@bl/, making the A

/lAk@bl/ (able to be locked) "
"
 The Basics of
Two Different Structures for ‘Unlockable’ Morphology

Supplementary
Readings
Derivation Two:
Motivating
Morphology
A
Basic Concepts
and Notation

/2n/ A More Suffixation

Rules

Prefixes
V /@bl/
" Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
/lAk/

◮ The V /lAk/ combines with the suffix /@bl/, making the A

/lAk@bl/ (able to be locked) "
"
◮ The A /lAk@bl/ combines with the prefix /2n/, making the A
" able to be locked)
/2nlAk@bl/ (not
"
 The Basics of
Rules Determine Structure Morphology

One Last Point:

Sometimes, our morphological rules only allow a complex word Supplementary
Readings
to have one structure.
Motivating
Morphology

Basic Concepts
and Notation

More Suffixation
Rules

Prefixes

Morphological
Structure and
Ambiguity
 The Basics of
Rules Determine Structure Morphology

One Last Point:

Sometimes, our morphological rules only allow a complex word Supplementary
Readings
to have one structure.
Motivating
Morphology
Example: The word ‘redoable’. Basic Concepts
and Notation
Possible Structure Not a Possible Structure More Suffixation
A A Rules

Prefixes

Morphological
V /@bl/ /ôi/ A Structure and
" Ambiguity

/ôi/ V V /@bl/
"
/du/ /du/
 The Basics of
Rules Determine Structure Morphology

One Last Point:

Sometimes, our morphological rules only allow a complex word Supplementary
Readings
to have one structure.
Motivating
Morphology
Example: The word ‘redoable’. Basic Concepts
and Notation
Possible Structure Not a Possible Structure More Suffixation
A A Rules

Prefixes

Morphological
V /@bl/ /ôi/ A Structure and
" Ambiguity

/ôi/ V V /@bl/
"
/du/ /du/

◮ Our rules only allow /ôi/ to combine with Vs (not As)

 The Basics of
Rules Determine Structure Morphology

One Last Point:

Sometimes, our morphological rules only allow a complex word Supplementary
Readings
to have one structure.
Motivating
Morphology
Example: The word ‘redoable’. Basic Concepts
and Notation
Possible Structure Not a Possible Structure More Suffixation
A A Rules

Prefixes

Morphological
V /@bl/ /ôi/ A Structure and
" Ambiguity

/ôi/ V V /@bl/
"
/du/ /du/

◮ Our rules only allow /ôi/ to combine with Vs (not As)

◮ Therefore, in ‘redoable’, it can’t be combining with the A ‘doable’

 The Basics of
Rules Determine Structure Morphology

One Last Point:

Sometimes, our morphological rules only allow a complex word Supplementary
Readings
to have one structure.
Motivating
Morphology
Example: The word ‘redoable’. Basic Concepts
and Notation
Possible Structure Not a Possible Structure More Suffixation
A A Rules

Prefixes

Morphological
V /@bl/ /ôi/ A Structure and
" Ambiguity

/ôi/ V V /@bl/
"
/du/ /du/

◮ Our rules only allow /ôi/ to combine with Vs (not As)

◮ Therefore, in ‘redoable’, it can’t be combining with the A ‘doable’

◮ Rather, it must be combining with the V ‘do’, which then

combines with ‘able’.