English Morphology Week 11: What we have learned so far

Summary

This video explores the concepts of *English morphology*, focusing on *inflection* and *lexical formation*. Inflection involves changes to words that adjust their grammatical properties, such as tense or subject agreement, without altering their meaning. In contrast, lexical formation creates new words with different meanings through processes like *compounding* (e.g., 'dryclean') and *affixation* (e.g., 'cleaner'). The video provides examples to illustrate how words evolve within these categories, highlighting how morphology shapes language structure and meaning.

Takeaways

• 😀 Morphology in English is the study of word formation and grammatical changes in words.
• 😀 Inflection refers to grammatical changes in words, like changing tenses or subjects, without altering their core meaning.
• 😀 An example of inflection is the change from 'clean' to 'cleaned' (past tense) or 'cleaner' (person who cleans).
• 😀 Inflection does not create new meanings or entirely new words, it only modifies the word grammatically.
• 😀 Lexeme formation involves creating new words with different meanings or roles by combining words or adding affixes.
• 😀 Compounding is a morphological process where two base words are combined to form a new meaning (e.g., 'dry' + 'clean' = 'dryclean').
• 😀 Derivation is a morphological process where affixes (prefixes or suffixes) are added to a base word, resulting in a new lexeme (e.g., 'clean' + '-er' = 'cleaner').
• 😀 Inflection does not change the meaning of a word, but changes the grammatical function (e.g., 'clean' vs. 'cleaned').
• 😀 The process of compounding creates a new word by combining two separate words, resulting in a new meaning (e.g., 'dryclean').
• 😀 Derivation adds affixes to words to create new meanings or new grammatical roles, such as from 'clean' to 'cleaner' (agent of action).

Q & A

What is the main topic of the transcript?

The main topic of the transcript is English morphology, focusing on two processes: inflection and lexical formation (lexification).

What is inflection in English morphology?

Inflection refers to grammatical changes in words, such as changes in tense or number, that do not alter the core meaning of the word. For example, 'clean' changing to 'cleaned' is an inflection, as it only alters the tense without changing the meaning of the word.

Can you give an example of inflection from the transcript?

An example from the transcript is the change from 'clean' to 'cleaned,' where the core meaning of cleaning remains the same, but the word changes to reflect the past tense.

What is the difference between inflection and lexical formation?

Inflection involves grammatical changes to a word (like tense or number) without changing its core meaning, while lexical formation involves creating new words or meanings by combining bases or adding affixes.

What is an example of lexical formation mentioned in the transcript?

An example of lexical formation is the word 'dryclean,' which is formed by combining 'dry' and 'clean.' This creates a new meaning—cleaning without water—different from the original word 'clean.'

What is the process of compounding in lexical formation?

Compounding is the process of creating a new word by combining two base words, such as 'dry' and 'clean' to form 'dryclean.' This results in a word with a new meaning.

What is derivation in English morphology?

Derivation is a type of affixation where a new word is formed by adding affixes to a base word, resulting in a change in meaning. For example, 'clean' becoming 'cleaner' forms a new word, which refers to a person who cleans.

How does the word 'clean' change in the derivational process?

In the derivational process, 'clean' changes to 'cleaner' by adding the suffix '-er.' This not only changes the grammatical form but also alters the meaning, referring to a person who performs the action of cleaning.

What does the term 'lexical item' refer to in this context?

In this context, a 'lexical item' refers to a word or a unit of meaning that is formed through the processes of inflection or lexical formation, such as the creation of 'dryclean' from 'dry' and 'clean.'

What is the significance of 'clean' turning into 'cleaned' or 'cleaner'?

'Clean' turning into 'cleaned' or 'cleaner' shows how the word changes either grammatically (for tense or subject agreement) or derivationally (to create a new word with a different meaning), both of which are key concepts in morphology.