Morpheme
The smallest unit of meaning in a language (cats -> cat (lexical morpheme) + -s (plural morpheme)
Allomorph
Different phological forms of the same morpheme (Ex. -s change be pronounced as /s/ in cats but /z/ in dogs.)
Constituent
A group of words functioning as a unit in a hierachical structure. (Ex. the big dog is a DP constituent inside The big dog barked.)
Prepositional phrase (PP)
A phrase headed by a preposition and including its complement (Ex. in the house, for the scholarship)
Clause complex
Two or more clauses linked together (parataxis or hypotaxis) Ex. Sje left because she was tired
Complementizer (C)
A functional head introducing subordinate clauses (that, if, to)
Pre-fixation
Add to front ex. re + consider
Suffixation
Add to the back ex. culture + -al = cultural
Compounding
2 words combined ex. sugar-free
Acronym
Readable initials ex. UNICEF
Abbreviation
Unreadable initialism ex. BBC
Blending
Combining two words blended ex. Brunch = Breakfast + Lunch
Clipping
Cutting word ex. Burger (Front clipped from hamburger) Lab (Back clipped from laboratory)
Reduplication
Repeated words ex. flip-flop riffraff
Onomatopoeia
Imitating nature sounds ex. Clink (Metal falling)
Borrowing
Borrowed from other languages ex. Sushi
Conversion
Changing grammatical class without changing spelling or pronunciation ex. text (noun) as in “I read your text” to text (verb) “i will text you”
N”
Elaborated nouns ex. Det = The + N” = man who mary met yesterday
Inflectional
Change only forms not whole meaning ex. wicked, wickeder (superlative)
Derivational
Change part of speech ex. Speak (Verb) to Speaker (Noun)
Relative Clause
Clause that modifies noun (where, who) Ex. The man who…
Complementizer phrase
Introduce embedded subordinate clause (I believed that…)
Auxiliary
Is, Am, Are, Would, Will
Adv
Always come with Adverb Phrase
