Understanding Language 3e - Chapter 8
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Chapter 8: Morphology: The Grammar of Words 


Consider the following questions 

1. For the following words, identify the number of morphemes in each, and if there is an affix or more than one, tell if it is derivational or inflectional and define what function that affix performs.

unhappily inevitable Susan’s governmental        news  

repeatedly         photography         remembers recommendations     phonological

2. Two words in the group have a different morphological structure than the others. One has a different type of bound morpheme, and one has no bound morpheme at all.

teacher     taller     sliver     actor

3. Derivational Prefix = NOT

There are many ways to add the idea of NOT at the beginning of adjectives in English:

unhappy disincentive illogical inoffensive

Some of these are pronounced in ways that reflect a phonological pattern. Figure out the pattern from the following words and write a rule/rules to explain the pattern.

impermeable     incorrect illogical     impossible             illegal

indivisible     immovable         incalculable     innumerable     incorrigible


Suggested Readings

Adams, M. (2001). Infixing and interposing in English: A new direction. American Speech, 76(3), 327–31.
Aronoff, M., & Fudeman, K. (2022). What is morphology?. John Wiley & Sons.
Harley, H. (2017). English Words: A Linguistic Introduction. John Wiley & Sons.
Lakoff, G. (2008). Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things: What Categories Reveal About the Mind. University of Chicago Press.

Resources for pre- and in-service teachers
Goodwin, A. P., & Ahn, S. (2010). A meta-analysis of morphological interventions: Effects on literacy achievement of children with literacy difficulties. Annals of Dyslexia, 60(2), 183-208. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11881-010-0041-x  
Hickey, P. J., & Lewis, T. (2013). The common core, English learners, and morphology 101: unpacking LS.4 for ELLs. The Language and Literacy Spectrum, 23, 69-84.  
Kieffer, M. J., & Lesaux, N. K. (2007). Breaking down words to build meaning: Morphology, vocabulary, and reading comprehension in the urban classroom. The Reading Teacher, 61(2), 134-144.
Levesque, K. C., Breadmore, H. L., & Deacon, S. H. (2021). How morphology impacts reading and spelling: Advancing the role of morphology in models of literacy development. Journal of Research in Reading, 44(1), 10-26.
Prince, R. E. C. (2009). Usable knowledge from Harvard Graduate School of Education - Morphological analysis: New light on the vital reading skill, HGSE Nonie Lesaux. http://www.uknow.gse.harvard.edu/teaching/TC102-407.html  
Zeh, N. (n.d.). Teaching morphology to improve literacy. A Guide for Teachers. Western Ontario University. https://www.uwo.ca/fhs/lwm/teaching/dld2_2017_18/Zeh_Morphological-Awareness.pdf 

Interesting Websites 

  1. Linguistic Morphology: How do we classify languages?
  2. American Dialect Society: Words of the Year
  3. Tom Scott: What counts as a word
  4. A Dictionary of English Slang & Colloquialisms
  5. McWhorter: Secret Lives of Words
  6. American Dialect Society 


Handouts

  1. Morphological affix practice
  2. Morphology sample assignment