Morphology
December 11, 2025•470 words
Morphology: Form and Structure
Tags: #linguistics #language #words #generallinguistics #lexicology
Author: Prasanth Karuppasamy
Mail: prasanthkaruppasamy@gmail.com
Content Index
CHAPTER 1: Introduction to Morphology
CHAPTER 2: Morphemes: Meaning Units
CHAPTER 3: Morpheme vs Syllable vs Lexeme
CHAPTER 4: Classification of Morphemes
CHAPTER 5: Morphological Typology (Across Languages)
CHAPTER 6: Word Formation Processes
CHAPTER 7: Morphophonemics (Sound + Morphology Interaction)
CHAPTER 8: Morphosyntax (Morphology + Sentence Structure)
CHAPTER 9: Computational Morphology and NLP Applications
What is Morphology
Definition: Form and Structure. How structure interacts with sound and with meaning.
Etymology:
- Morph - μορφή (morphé) - form, shape, structure
- -logy - λογία (logía) - the study of, the field of
- Morphology = Form + Study.
Unit: Morpheme.
What is a Morpheme
Smallest meaningful expression.
It may be a letter, a syllable, or otherwise.
Etymology:
- -eme: ῆμα (-ēma) – a thing resulting from an action or "a minimal unit".
Definition: Distinctive Meaningful logical Patterned segments of Format.
Example:
- Format(Word): Uniform
- Morphemes: uni, form
- Meaning: Uni = One; form = Shape
Difference From: Syllable, Lexeme
Syllable: Sound / Pronunciation.
Lexeme: Word Identity (abstract dictionary form), Base Form + Inflectional Forms
Morpheme: Meaning Construction.
Example: "faster"
Word: faster
Syllables: 2 → fas-ter
Lexeme: FAST = fast, faster, fastest
Morphemes: 2 → fast + -er
Comparison: Morphemes, Syllables, Lexeme
| Word | Morphemes | Syllables | Lexeme |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cats | 2 → cat (animal) + -s (plural meaning) | cats | CAT (includes: cat, cats) |
| Replaying | 3 → re (again) + play (root) + -ing (continuous) | 3 → re-play-ing | PLAY (covers: play, plays, played, playing) |
| unbelievable | 3 → un (not) + believe (root) + -able (capable of being) | 5 → un-be-lie-va-ble | UNBELIEVABLE (separate from BELIEVE because derivation changed meaning + word class) |
Classification of Morphemes
| Basis | Types | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Independence | Free, Bound | Free: book, run, happyBound: Un-, re-, -s, -ing, -ness |
| Meaning | Lexical, Grammatical | Lexical: cat, go, big, waterGrammatical: In, on, the, and, -s, -ed |
| Function in Word Formation | Inflectional, Derivational | Inflectional: plays, played, playingDerivational: Player, replay, playful |
| Expression | Segmental, Supra-segmental | Segmental: cat, go, -s, -ed, un-, re-Supra-segmental: Record (N) vs record (V) stress shift |
| Historical change | Suppletive | Man → men, go → went, good → better |
Morphological Typology
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