Essays

Question 1

Compounding (6)

Answer 1

1. Part of the word-formation process where two roots combine.
2. Different combinations:
   Bittersweet (adj-adj)
   Ice cream (n-n)
   Sleepwalk (v-v)
   High rise (adj-v)
   Slowdown (adj-prep)
   Sundown (noun-prep)
3. Verbalisation
   • hasten
   • vaccinate
   • solidify
   • realise
4. Categorising them
   Attributive: non-head modified head (hairnet)
   Coordinative: roots have equal weight
   Subordinate:
5. Optional spelling
   May be written with no space (bittersweet) in between, with space (road rage) or with a hyphen (user-friendly).
6. Compound vs. Phrase (greenhouse or green house).
   • Phrases have end-stress (green ‘house), whereas the corresponding compounds have fore-stress (‘greenhouse).

Question 2

Morpheme vs. Word (4)

Answer 2

1. The difference
   Morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit of a language; whereas a word is the smallest element of a language that can stand alone (form and meaning).
2. Free or bound
   Morphemes can be free (stand alone, so a word) or bound (cannot).
3. Simple or complex word
   Simple word contains one morpheme (cat, game), and a complex word contains more than one. It may then consist of a root and an affix (unhappy, games).
4. Compound word
   A compound word is created when a complex word consists of more than one root (bittersweet).

Question 3

Inflection (3)

Answer 3

1. Inflectional forms
   
   1. Possessive/genitive: John’s shoe
   2. 3rd person singular: John walks
   3. Plural: they are both Johns
   4. Verb -ing: John is walking
   5. Verb past tense: John walked
   6. Comparative adjective: smaller
2. Irregular inflection: eat, catch, buy
3. Plural formation (regular, voicing)

Question 4

Derivation (7) vs. Inflections (5)

Answer 4

Derivation
1. Lexeme formation, affixation.
2. Trisyllabic shortening
3. Velar softening
4. Not always productive (both)
5. Formation of agentive nouns (teacher, doctor)
6. Change of definition
7. Not grammatically conditioned.

Inflection
1. Grammatically conditioned.
2. Productive
3. Plural formation (regular, voicing)
4. Irregular inflection (eat, buy, come)
5. No change in definition.

Question 5

Affixation (3)

Answer 5

1. Affixes (suffix, infix, prefix) attached to a base: dislike, reuse.
2. What restricts affixation? Meaning, category, phonology, syntax.
3. Zero affixation (conversion)

Question 6

Derivation (7)

Answer 6

1. Lexeme formation process that either changes syntactic category or add substantial meaning (or both); creates new lexemes.
2. Right-hand-rule of word formation
3. Properties of derivation;
   • usually involves affixation
   • may involve change of class
   • can effect both simple and complex bases.
4. Change or no change in word class (piglet-piglet, like-dislike)
5. Suffixes and stress shift (-ness and -ity)
6. Velar softening
7. RHR + exception

Question 7

Morpheme vs. Lexeme

Answer 7

Lexeme
Have their own dictionary entry. A lexeme exists of morphemes.