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{{short description|In linguistics, the process of forming a new word on the basis of an existing one}}
'''Morphological derivation''', in [[linguistics]], is the process of forming a new word from an existing word, often by adding a [[prefix]] or [[suffix]], such as ''{{nowrap|''un-ness'' or ''un-ness''.}} For example, ''happinessunhappy'' and ''unhappyhappiness'' derive from the [[root word]] ''happy.''.
 
It is differentiated from [[inflection]], which is the modification of a word to form different [[grammatical category|grammatical categories]] without changing its core meaning: ''determines'', ''determining'', and ''determined'' are from the root ''determine''.<ref>Crystal, David (1999): The Penguin Dictionary of Language, Penguin Books, England.</ref>
 
==Derivational patterns==
Derivational [[morphology (linguistics)|morphology]] often involves the addition of a derivational suffix or other [[affix]]. Such an affix usually applies to [[word]]s of one [[lexical category]] (part of speech) and changes them into words of another such category. For example, one effect of the [[English language|English]] derivational suffix ''-ly'' is to change an [[adjective]] into an [[adverb]] (''slow'' → ''slowly'').
 
Here are examples of English derivational patterns and their suffixes:
 
* adjective-to-[[noun]]: ''-ness'' (''slow'' → ''slowness'')
* adjective-to-[[verb]]: ''-en'' (''weak'' → ''weaken'')
* adjective-to-adjective: ''-ish'' (''red'' → ''reddish'')
* adjective-to-[[adverb]]: ''-ly'' (''personal'' → ''personally'')
* noun-to-[[adjective]]: ''-al'' (''recreation'' → ''recreational'')
* noun-to-verb: ''-fy'' (''glory'' → ''glorify'')
* verb-to-adjective: ''-able'' (''drink'' → ''drinkable'')
* verb-to-noun ([[deverbal noun|abstract]]): ''-ance'' (''deliver'' → ''deliverance'')
* verb-to-noun ([[agent noun|agent]]): ''-er'' (''write'' → ''writer'')
 
However, derivational affixes do not necessarily alter the lexical category; they may change merely the meaning of the base and leave the category unchanged. A prefix (''write'' → '' re-write''; ''lord'' → ''over-lord'') rarely changes the lexical category in English. The prefix ''un-'' applies to adjectives (''healthy'' → ''unhealthy'') and some verbs (''do'' → ''undo'') but rarely to nouns. A few exceptions are the derivational prefixes ''en-'' and ''be-''. ''En-'' (replaced by ''em-'' before [[labial consonant|labials]]) is usually a transitive marker on verbs, but it can also be applied to adjectives and nouns to form transitive verbs: ''circle'' (verb) → ''encircle'' (verb) but ''rich'' (adj) → ''enrich'' (verb), ''large'' (adj) → ''enlarge'' (verb), ''rapture'' (noun) → ''enrapture'' (verb), ''slave'' (noun) → ''enslave'' (verb).
 
When derivation occurs without any change to the word, such as in the conversion of the noun ''breakfast'' into the verb ''to breakfast'', it's known as [[conversion (word formation)|conversion]], or zero derivation.
 
Derivation that results in a noun may be called [[nominalization]]. It may involve the use of an affix (such as with ''employ → employee''), or it may occur via conversion (such as with the derivation of the noun ''run'' from the verb ''to run''). In contrast, a derivation resulting in a verb may be called verbalization (such as from the noun ''butter'' to the verb ''to butter'').
 
Some words have specific exceptions to these patterns. For example, inflammable actually means flammable, and de-evolution is spelled with only one e, as devolution.
 
==Derivation and inflection==
Derivation can be contrasted with [[inflection]], in that derivation produces a new word (a distinct [[lexeme]]), whereas inflection produces grammatical variants (or forms) of the same word.
 
Generally speaking, inflection applies in more or less regular patterns to all members of a [[part of speech]] (for example, nearly every [[English verb]] adds ''-s'' for the third person singular present tense), while derivation follows less consistent patterns (for example, the [[Nominalization|nominalizing]] suffix ''-ity'' can be used with the adjectives ''modern'' and ''dense'', but not with ''open'' or ''strong''). However, it is important to note that derivations and inflections can share homonyms, that being, [[morphemes]] that have the same sound, but not the same meaning. For example, when the affix -er, is added to an adjective, as in ''small-er'', it acts as an inflection, but when added to a verb, as in ''cook-er'', it acts as a derivation.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sobin|first=Nicholas|title=Syntactic Analysis The Basics|year=2011|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|location=West Sussex|isbn=978-1-4443-3895-9|pages=17–18|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X0lSCdzzJOsC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=derivation&f=false}}</ref>
 
A derivation can produce a lexeme with a different part of speech but does not necessarily. For example, the derivation of the word "uncommon" from "common" + ''un-'' (a derivational morpheme) does not change its part of speech (both are adjectives).
 
An important distinction between derivational and inflectional morphology lies in the content/function of a listeme{{Clarify|reason=|date=May 2019}}. Derivational morphology changes both the meaning and the content of a listeme, while inflectional morphology doesn't change the meaning, but changes the function.
 
A non-exhaustive list of derivational morphemes in English: -ful, -able, im-, un-, -ing, -er
 
A non-exhaustive list of inflectional morphemes in English: -er, -est, -ing, -en, -ed, -s
 
==Derivation and other types of word formation==
Derivation can be contrasted with other types of [[word formation]] such as compounding. For full details see [[Word formation]].
 
Note that derivationalDerivational affixes are [[bound morpheme]]s – they are meaningful units, but can only normally occur when attached to another word. In that respect, derivation differs from [[Compound (linguistics)|compounding]] by which ''free'' morphemes are combined (''lawsuit'', ''Latin professor''). It also differs from [[inflection]] in that inflection does not create new [[lexeme]]s but new [[word form]]s (''table'' → ''tables''; ''open'' → ''opened'').
 
==Productivity==
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==References==
{{reflist}}
*Speech and Language Processing, Jufarsky[[Daniel Jurafsky|Jurafsky, D.]] & Martin J.,H.
 
==External links==
*<nowiki>http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsDerivation.htm</nowiki>
 
[[Category:Linguistic morphology]]
[[Category:Etymology]]