Topic 2: Word Formation – English Form 5 Notes (New Syllabus)

TYPES OF MORPHEMES WITH EXAMPLES

1. Free Morphemes

These are morphemes that can stand alone as complete words.

Examples:

• book
• house
• walk
• teacher
• quickly

2. Bound Morphemes

These are morphemes that cannot stand alone and must be attached to another morpheme.

Examples:

• un-
• -ness
• -ed
• -ing
• dis-

Example:

• unhappy = un + happy
• walked = walk + ed

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DERIVATIONAL AND INFLECTIONAL MORPHEMES

Examples:

• teach → teacher
• kind → kindness
• play → playing
• tall → taller

CHARACTERISTICS OF MORPHEMES

Characteristics of Free Morphemes

1. Can stand independently.
2. Carry lexical or grammatical meaning.
3. Can form sentences alone in some situations.

Example:

• Come!
• Stop!

Characteristics of Bound Morphemes

1. Cannot stand alone.
2. Depend on free morphemes.
3. Usually indicate grammatical functions.

Example:

• re-write
• un-known
• play-ed

TYPES OF WORDS ACCORDING TO MORPHEMES

1. Simple Words

These consist of one morpheme only.

Examples:

• man
• book
• run
• tall

2. Complex Words

These contain one root plus one or more affixes.

Examples:

• kindness
• rewritten
• impossible

3. Compound Words

These are formed by joining two or more roots.

Examples:

• classroom
• football
• toothpaste

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ROOT, STEM, AND BASE

Example:

• unfriendly
  • Root = friend
  • Base = friendly
  • Stem = friendly

PRODUCTIVE AND NON-PRODUCTIVE AFFIXES

Productive Affixes

These are affixes still actively used to form new words.

Examples:

• un-
• re-
• -ness
• -er

Example:

• re-open
• kindness

Non-Productive Affixes

These are rarely used to create new words.

Examples:

• -th
• -en

Example:

• width
• strengthen

INFLECTIONAL CATEGORIES IN ENGLISH

1. Number

Shows singular or plural.

Examples:

• cat → cats
• child → children

2. Tense

Shows time of action.

Examples:

• walk → walked
• eat → ate

3. Aspect

Shows continuation or completion.

Examples:

• eating
• written

4. Comparison

Used with adjectives/adverbs.

Examples:

• tall → taller → tallest

WORD FORMATION RULES

1. Noun Formation

Verb + suffix → noun

Examples:

• govern + ment = government
• educate + ion = education

2. Adjective Formation

Noun/Verb + suffix → adjective

Examples:

• beauty + ful = beautiful
• care + less = careless

3. Verb Formation

Noun/Adjective + suffix → verb

Examples:

• modern + ize = modernize
• strength + en = strengthen

4. Adverb Formation

Adjective + suffix → adverb

Examples:

• quick + ly = quickly
• slow + ly = slowly

IMPORTANCE OF WORD FORMATION

1. Helps in vocabulary expansion.
2. Helps language growth and development.
3. Makes communication easier.
4. Helps learners understand meanings of words.
5. Helps in dictionary use.
6. Assists in language analysis.

COMMON EXAMINATION QUESTIONS

Question 1

Identify the morphemes in the following words:

(a) Unhappiness

• un- = derivational prefix
• happy = root
• -ness = derivational suffix

(b) Replayed

• re- = derivational prefix
• play = root
• -ed = inflectional suffix

(c) Teachers

• teach = root
• -er = derivational suffix
• -s = inflectional suffix

Question 2

State the word formation process involved in the following words:

Question 3

Form nouns from the following words:

Question 4

Form adjectives from the following words:

SUMMARY OF WORD FORMATION PROCESSES

EXERCISE

A. Identify the process used in forming the following words:

1. Blackboard
2. Exam
3. Smog
4. UNESCO
5. Babysit

B. Identify:

1. Root
2. Stem
3. Prefix
4. Suffix
5. Base

in the following words:

• disagreement
• modernization
• replayed
• impossible
• happiness

C. Form:

1. Nouns from verbs
2. Adjectives from nouns
3. Adverbs from adjectives
4. Verbs from adjectives

Examples:

• create
• beauty
• quick
• modern