Derivational morphology
Encyclopedia
Derivational morphology
changes the meaning of words by applying derivations. Derivation
is the combination of a word stem with a morpheme
, which forms a new word, which is often of a different class. For example, develop becomes development, developmental or redevelop.
The suffix -ation converts the verb
nationalize, into the derived noun
nationalization.
The suffix -ize converts the noun plural, into the verb pluralize.
Nominalization
is a common kind of derivation in English, and it involves forming new nouns from verbs or adjectives, by adding suffixes to them, for example:
The study of derivational morphology can be quite complicated, as the classes of words that an affix apply to are not always clearcut. For example, the suffix -ee cannot be added to all verbs, i.e. to add it to run (V) gives runee, which is clearly not an English word.
Morphology (linguistics)
In linguistics, morphology is the identification, analysis and description, in a language, of the structure of morphemes and other linguistic units, such as words, affixes, parts of speech, intonation/stress, or implied context...
changes the meaning of words by applying derivations. Derivation
Derivation (linguistics)
In linguistics, derivation is the process of forming a new word on the basis of an existing word, e.g. happi-ness and un-happy from happy, or determination from determine...
is the combination of a word stem with a morpheme
Morpheme
In linguistics, a morpheme is the smallest semantically meaningful unit in a language. The field of study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology. A morpheme is not identical to a word, and the principal difference between the two is that a morpheme may or may not stand alone, whereas a word,...
, which forms a new word, which is often of a different class. For example, develop becomes development, developmental or redevelop.
The suffix -ation converts the verb
Verb
A verb, from the Latin verbum meaning word, is a word that in syntax conveys an action , or a state of being . In the usual description of English, the basic form, with or without the particle to, is the infinitive...
nationalize, into the derived noun
Noun
In linguistics, a noun is a member of a large, open lexical category whose members can occur as the main word in the subject of a clause, the object of a verb, or the object of a preposition .Lexical categories are defined in terms of how their members combine with other kinds of...
nationalization.
The suffix -ize converts the noun plural, into the verb pluralize.
Nominalization
Nominalization
In linguistics, nominalization or nominalisation is the use of a verb, an adjective, or an adverb as the head of a noun phrase, with or without morphological transformation...
is a common kind of derivation in English, and it involves forming new nouns from verbs or adjectives, by adding suffixes to them, for example:
| Suffix | Verb/adjective | Derived noun |
|---|---|---|
| -ness | happy (A) | happiness |
| -ee | employ (V) | employee |
The study of derivational morphology can be quite complicated, as the classes of words that an affix apply to are not always clearcut. For example, the suffix -ee cannot be added to all verbs, i.e. to add it to run (V) gives runee, which is clearly not an English word.