Download 12. LING 103 2016 Morphology 5

LING 103
Introduction to
English Linguistics
2016
Review
What are word classes?
Words in a language can be categorised according to the part they play in a
sentence. Words can be categorised in several ways;
Major (open) classes: Readily admit new items
Content words
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Minor (closed) classes: Do not normally add new members
Function words
Prepositions
Postpositions
Determiners
Conjunctions
Particles
Auxiliary verbs
Three criteria allow us to assign a word to a particular class:
Definition: A statement of the meaning of a word
Linguistics ‘An excellent subject studied by very clever people’
Distribution: A word’s position in a sentence, what modifies it and what it
modifies
The cat saw the mouse talk to the aardvark after the class
Shape:
What, if any, affixes will attach to it?
jump + ed?
She jumped
jump = verb, because only verbs show tense
John’s cat
John = noun, because only things can possess things
{tense}
John + ’s?
{possessive}
(note: cat must also be a noun because only
things can be possessed!)
THE MAJOR CLASSES
Nouns
Traditional Definition: the name of a person or thing
Distribution:
The pig is having a swell time.
*Pig the is having time a swell.
Same words in both sentences, so why is the second example ungrammatical?
Because pig and time are nouns, so in English they must
(i)
follow a or the if they are used
(ii)
be modified by a preceding adjective (swell)
Any word occupying the same position, with the same range of functions and
modified by the same classes of word is also a noun
John is having
The unicorn is eating
a
the
swell
tasty
time
ice-cream
A building is having some extensive renovations
Distribution frame
The distribution of nouns can be stated in a distribution frame:
the __
a __
These frames state that ‘English nouns typically follow either the or a’
the cat is good
*the happy is good
a cat is good
*a sadly is good
Shape
Nouns can undergo two changes in shape:
Singular:
pigø
Plural:
the pigs are having a swell time
Possessive: this is the pig’s pen
Remember: The English possessive marker actually attaches to a whole noun
phrase (NP) rather than just the noun
[The man’s] dog chased my aardvark
*[The man]’s down the road dog chased my aardvark
[The man in the red house down the road]’s dog chased my aardvark
[His]
The ‘possessed’ thing is also an NP
dog chased my aardvark
Noun types: Proper Nouns (‘Names’)
In English, proper nouns are capitalised and name a specific, usually unique, thing
Matthew
Imogen
Saturn
Wellington
The White House
Limited plural inflection
I have two Matthews in this class
c.f.
Matthew’s book
Have selective combination with some modifiers (the, a etc.)
*The Michael is not here
The Imogen I remember was kind
Can undergo conversion from proper to a general (common) noun
I have the Rembrandt hanging in my office
Some Picassos have just been delivered
Noun Types: ‘Common nouns’
(a) Count Nouns
have singular and plural forms:
can occur with all determiners:
can be modified by numbers:
(b) Non–Count (Mass) Nouns
do not have standard plural forms:
can occur with some determiners:
cannot be modified by numbers:
cat
cats
a cat
some cats every cat
one aardvark
300 aardvarks
sugar
water
the furniture
*a furniture
*one sugar *300 butter
Mass nouns can be made countable in specific contexts
“Glucose vs. Dextrose: Sugars are named depending on chemical structures . . .”
Note the idiomatic uses
‘I’ve already had a coffee’
‘two waters please’
= ‘I’ve already had a [cup of] coffee
= ‘two [glasses of] water please’
Noun Types
(a) Concrete noun
Concrete nouns are physical entities that can be perceived by at least one of your
senses (aided or unaided)
neutron
chair
unicorn
Harry Potter
(b) Abstract noun
Abstract nouns are intangible things such as ideas, qualities or concepts
love
time
bravery
thought
Note both types can be either count and non-count
war
Exercise
Categorise the following as count / mass
fear
box
chocolate
research
Count:
I have two fears, boxes, chocolates
I saw three hobbits, fishes
hobbit
fish
Mass:
I have some fish, chocolate,
I do research (*a research) (*researches)
Gollum thinks hobbit makes good eating
Categorise the following as concrete / abstract
man
bravery
Concrete:
man
Abstract:
bravery
childhood
cake
Rita
childhood
Rita
hospitality cake
unicorn
hospitality
unicorn
Adjectives
Traditional Definition: describe the properties of entities
Distribution:
Attributive
The happy aardvark
vs
Predicative
The aardvark is happy
Although most adjectives can apprear freely in both positions, a small number
of adjectives are restricted to one position only.
the main reason
*the reason is main
*the afraid cat
the cat is afraid
Attributive adjectives
In English, attributive adjectives are in the unmarked (expected) position
Predicative adjectives
In English, a predicative adjective follows the noun it modifies and has to be
‘linked’ to it with a copula (linking) verb
copula verb
The aardvark
is
happy
seems
appears
became
etc.
Postpositive adjectives
In certain fixed expressions, the adjective follows the noun without the copula
The Governor General
In times past . . .
Distribution frames for Adjectives:
the / a ____ N
attributive
the / a N is ____
predicative
Shape
Adjectives have three shapes:
positive
nice
comparative
nicer
superlative
nicest
Some adjectives are modified with degree adverb:
beautiful
more beautiful
most beautiful
Forming the comparative / superlative degrees
One syllable adjectives add –er / –est
Two syllable adjectives sometimes have a choice of –er / –est or are
preceded by more / most
sometimes not
busy
tangled
busier
*tangleder
Three or more syllables more / most
more busy
more tangled
Shape
A small number of adjectives do not strictly follow either pattern
good
better
best
bad
worse
worst
Note that these sets contain words that clearly have different origins. We can
test this by looking at related languages where the changes haven’t happened
Swedish:
bra
bättre
bäst
Norwegian:
bra
bedre
best
Morphemes like the English examples above whose components derive from
more than one original root morpheme are said to be ‘suppletive’
Suppletion elsewhere in English
go /went
go
(present tense)
OE
OE
ON
eode
wend
go
went (past tense)
yede
went
gaed
An extreme example: ‘to be’
I am he/she/it is
we/you/they are I/she/he/it was we/you/they were
I/we/you/they have been
The following stems all contributed
OE beon
be
been
OE wesan
was
were
OE eom
am
are
Germanic *es-
is
General adverbs
Traditional Definition: General adverbs describe the action of a verb.
Note however, they can also be a speaker’s observation on the entire sentence
Distribution
The cat ran suddenly.
modifies the verb
The cat suddenly ran.
modifies the verb
Suddenly, the cat ran.
modifies the sentence
Shape
many adverbs end in –ly
many don’t
quickly, suddenly, slowly etc.
now, there, well etc.
Identification often has to be made from context.
Like adjectives, adverbs have three shapes (positive, comparative, superlative)
using –er, –est, more and most
Adverb sub-categorization
Different types of general adverb typically answer the wh- questions
e.g.
when?
soon, now, tomorrow etc.
Adv. of time
where?
here, there, etc.
Adv. of place
how?
neatly, carefully, etc.
Adv. of manner
how often?
frequently, always, never
Adv. of frequency
Degree Adverbs
Intensify the meaning of an adjective or a general adverb
Distribution
The extremely happy cat ran so quickly
Adj.
Adv.
Shape
There is no consistent shape but degree adverbs cannot occur by themselves
*The cat ran so
*Aardvarks are very
NOTE: Although adverbs have a very wide distribution, neither general nor
degree adverbs can modify nouns
*The extremely cat
*The soon chocolate