LING 20 Final: Study Guide
Document Summary
Morphology study of word formation, which involves building words from smaller pieces. Morpheme smallest meaningful unit of a language, consisting of a pairing of sound and meaning. Words can either be: monomorphemic: contains one morpheme (simple) Types of morphemes: root: core of word, affix: prefixes, suffixes, infixes, or circumfixes. Free morpheme: can constitute a word on its own (most roots in english are free ex: mild, build, large, top, etc. ) Bound morpheme: cannot constitute a word on its own. Ex: horr-ify / horr-ible / horr-or but no word horr" exists. In english, some words are built on bound roots. In some languages, a whole class of words might contain bound roots. Elsewhere" allomorph) and rules that govern when the other forms occur: choice of allomorph often depends on identity of morphemes, not just sound, ex: plural vs. possessive on sheet vs. cat. The cats are running vs. the cat"s fur. The sheep_ are running vs. the sheep"s wool.
