Examen final primera vuelta

Morfologa (Orientacin)
LEI Lupita Lpez
Final test first round

Morphology, lexicology and word formation (English)

Answer the following questions. If you use any source of information, make
sure to mention it and include it in your test (following the APA
system) before uploading it. Read the questions carefully before
answering. Use your own words for all the answers, but should you use any
source of information, cite it correctly in your answers and include them at the
end of your test following the APA guidelines.

1. Identify and explain the prefixes and suffixes used in these words 1:

Misfortune. Mis-: In this case means bad; in other cases, such as

misunderstanding means wrong. This prefix does not change the
grammatical category of the word to which it attaches itself.

Terrorism. -ism means ideology or doctrine. The ideology of terror. It

turns a verb into an abstract noun.

Carelessness. -less means not. It also turns a verb into an adjective.

Whereas -ness turns an adjective into an abstract noun.

Disagreement. Dis- means not; -ment turns a verb into an abstract

noun.

Ineffective. -ive turns a noun into an adjective; in- means not.

Unfaithful. Un- means not; -ful turns a noun into an adjective: faithful
who has faith.

Prepackaged. Pre- means previously, beforehand; -ed turns a verb into

an adjective. It implies that the noun that is being modified by such
adjective has undergone the action that the root verb describes.

Biodegradable. Bio- is related to living entities; -able turns a verb into

an adjective: It means able to do something or to undergo some change,
as in this example.

Reincarnation. Re- means again; -tion turns a verb into an abstract

noun.

Decentralization. De- is used to indicate the reversal of a previously

performed action; -ize and -iz turn a verb adjective into a noun; -ation
turns a verb into an abstract noun.
(10 points)

1
Taken from The study of language, fourth edition.
 Examen final primera vuelta
Morfologa (Orientacin)
LEI Lupita Lpez

2. When we derive new words with a suffix such as able, there seems to
be some type of constraint on what is permitted. The words in the left
column below are acceptable (thats one!), but the forms in the other
two columns dont seem to be current English words. They are marked
with an asterisk * to show that we think they are unacceptable (theres
another one!). From these examples, and any others that you think
might be relevant, can you work out what the rule(s) might be for
making new adjectives with the suffix able?2

Breakable *carable *dieable

Doable *chairable *disappearable

Downloadable *diskable *downable

Inflatable *hairable *pinkable

Understandable *houseable *runable

Wearable *pencilable *sleepable

Movable *quickable *smilable

(10 points)

The suffix -able can be used to turn transitive verbs (verbs which can
take an object) into adjectives. We can break sth, do sth, download sth,
inflate sth, understand sth, wear sth, move sth; but we do not care sth,
we care about something or for someone; we do not disappear sth, we
make sth disappear. Intransitive verbs (which cannot take an object)
such as die, run, sleep, smile cannot be turned into adjectives with the
suffix -able. Nouns and other parts of speech (chair, house, down)
cannot, either, be turned into adjectives with such a suffix.

3. Explain the concept of linguistic taboo and include at least two

examples.

(6 points)
2
Taken from The study of language, fourth edition.
 Examen final primera vuelta
Morfologa (Orientacin)
LEI Lupita Lpez
Linguistic taboos are terms which are not deemed appropriate to use in
public conversation. They are often related to highly controversial topics,
such as sex, death, religion, discrimination, etc.

The word bitch is a taboo word because it has sexual connotations.

People in the United States avoid it when referring to an actual female
dog (original denotation of the word), preferring the latter term, because
the former one sounds too crude.

Niggardly is a rarely used English adjective which means stingy. It is

controversial because it sounds similar to the word nigger, despite
having a different etymology. Yahoo Answers even blocks out this term.

4. Whats morphology? Use your own words to provide a definition.

Should you use any source of information, cite it correctly, following the
APA guidelines, otherwise it will be taken as plagiarism.

(3 points)
Morphology is the branch of linguistics that studies languages at word
level. It deals with morphemes, which are the minimal units of meaning
(either lexical or grammatical). It analyzes the mechanisms used for
word formation.

5. Describe the following terms and give at least two examples of each:

a) Borrowing. It is the incorporation of words from other languages.

Piata and enchilada were borrowed into English from Spanish.

b) Coinage. It is the creation of entirely new words. Internet and

google had to be coined because the things that they name did not
exist before.

c) Blending. It is the combination of the beginning of one word and

the end of another to form a new one. Spanish + English
Spanglish; breakfast + lunch brunch.

d) Compounding. It is the union of two or more words to create a new

one. Examples: blackberry,

e) Conversion. It is the process of changing the grammatical function

of a word without adding any further morphemes. toy to toy (date
someone without having serious intentions with him/her), bed to
bed (sleep with someone).

(5 points)
 Examen final primera vuelta
Morfologa (Orientacin)
LEI Lupita Lpez

6. What are lexical morphemes? Give at least two examples.

(3 points)
Morphemes that have semantical meaning (dictionary meaning).
Examples: hepat- in hepatitis means liver, -itis means inflammation;
hydro- in hydrophobia means water, -phobia means fear.

7. What are functional morphemes? Give at least two examples.

(3 points)
Morphemes that have grammatical meaning. They can indicate tense,
number, degree, etc. Its meaning is not a thing. Examples: -s in likes
indicates 3rd person; -ing in doing indicates a continuous action; -est in
biggest indicates superlative grade.