Blackwell Reference Online

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Morphology is about the structure of words. All languages have words and in all languages some words, at least, have an internal structure, and consist of one or more morphemes . Thus, the form cats comprises the root morpheme “cat” to which is added the suffix morpheme “s” indicating plural. Now, for this characterization to mean anything we have to know what a word is. How do we know, for instance, that a string such as the cat is two separate words, and that the is not a prefix- Conversely, how do we know that the “s” of cats isn't a word in its own right. Here we need the help of syntax: the cat is a phrase which can be extended by addition of other phrases: the very black cat . The form cats can never be split up this way, the reason being that the “s” component is an element which can only exist as part of a word, specifically at the end of a noun. In other words, “s” is a suffix and hence a bound morpheme . The property of indivisibility exhibited by cats is lexical integrity. A single word such as cats contrasts rather neatly with the fully fledged (but synonymous) phrase more than one cat , in which it is clear that more, than , and one are all independent words and can all be separated by other words or phrases. This chapter will examine the different structures words exhibit and the morphological relationships they bear to each other, and the ... log in or subscribe to read full text