QUESTION:
A student writes:
Hello Dr. Vicars,
I have a question about a question on a quiz I got wrong. I have re-read
the information again and I am sure it is a simple answer but for what ever
reason it is alluding me. The question is "Bound morphemes that are added to
free morpheme roots or stems form more complex multi-morphemic words are called
what?" I understand that this is the process of combining an already compound
sign with that of a free sign but I can't seem to figure out an example or what
it is called.
[Name removed to protect the student's privacy.]
RESPONSE:
Dear _______,
Compounds, multi-morphemic words, and free morphemes all have very specific
definitions and meanings. The trick to learning to understand these concepts is
to keep in mind that there is a lot of overlap and that some terms are
"umbrella" terms that include the other terms.
(For example "vehicle" is an umbrella term. All automobiles are vehicles but
not all vehicles are automobiles. We will learn the technical term for "umbrella
terms" later in this class.)
In that same way it could be argued that a all "compounds" are types of
multi-morphemic words. But not all multimorphemic words are compounds.
Let's look at the definition of a compound:
"In linguistics,
a compound is
a lexeme (less precisely, a word)
that consists of more than one stem. Compounding, composition or nominal
composition is the process of word formation
that creates compound lexemes.
That is, in familiar terms, compounding occurs
when two or more words are
joined to make one longer word."
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compound_(linguistics)
So, let me state that again this way: A compound is when you combine "whole"
words to create a new word.
Multi-morphemic words can be formed by adding "parts" of words to whole words.
Here's the math:
(word) + (word) = COMPOUND
Example from English: green + house = greenhouse
(morpheme)+(morpheme) = MULTI-MORPHEMIC WORD
Typical configuration: (part-of-a-word)+(whole word)
Typical configuration: (part-of-a-word)+(whole-word)
Example: RE+APPEAR = reappear
Multimorphemic words can have lots and lots of morphemes:
Example: antidisestablishmentarianism
That is: (part-of-a-word)+(part-of-a-word)+(whole-word) +(part-of-a-word)
+(part-of-a-word) +(part-of-a-word)
However consider this:
Words can be:
1. monomorphemic = Have only one morpheme
2. multimorphemic: = Have two or more morphemes
ASL example: monomorphemic = RED
ASL example: multimorphemic: = RED!!! (The exclamation points
indicate here that we are adding intensity to the way we do the sign.)
(RED) + (process morpheme)
RED!!! (inflected for intensity) = multimorphemic because we have added a morpheme via changing the way we
signed it. We "inflected" the sign to add meaning to it.
Let me say that again: We added meaning to the sign by doing the sign in a
more intense way.
That added meaning consisted of a "process morpheme."
That process morpheme consisted of the addition of a non-manual marker (facial
expression) plus the changes in speed, ending location, forcefulness, and length
of holds.
Those changes in the process of signing RED!!! created a "process morpheme."
So we have two morphemes happening:
1. The form morpheme:"RED"
2. The process morpheme: "!!!"
Or think of it like this:
1. The form morpheme: "RED"
2. The bound process morpheme: "very" created by inflecting the sign
RED.
Side note: Consider the sign "VERY" that uses "V"-hands. That usage would be
called a "form morpheme." The inflection of RED!!! instead creates the
meaning of "very" as a "process morpheme." One of the reasons the "VERY-[form_morpheme]
sign gets a bad rap and is looked down upon by (certain) teachers of ASL is
because signers often misuse or overuse the form morpheme when they
should instead save time and be more efficient by using the
PROCESS-MORPHEME-[very].
So, technically:
RED = morpheme = it has meaning and it is as small as it is going to get while
keeping that exact meaning.
RED = a word or sign = It is a stand alone concept that is not dependent on any
other word or morpheme to have meaning.
RED = a monomorphemic word or sign = it has only one morpheme.
RED!!! = multimorphemic sign = it has two morphemes = (color) + (very)
All words have one or more morphemes.
Some words have only one morpheme.
"CAT" has one morpheme.
"Antidisestablishmentarianism" has how many morphemes?
Anti-dis-establish-ment-arian-ism
"Elephant has how many morphemes?
Can you make "elephant" smaller and retain the same meaning in any of the parts?
No.
[Perhaps at one time it meant something like (ivory) + (creature) but in modern
usage it has lexicalized into one morpheme.] "Elephant" refers to the largest
land mammal. It has nothing to do with an "ant" (insect).
Don't let the number of "syllables" in a word fool you.
Syllables are not the same as morphemes.
Elephant is a single morpheme.
In other words: The word elephant is monomorphemic.
(I came up with that on my own but later I found a source to back me up. See:
Bauer, Laurie, 2012, "Beginning Linguistics," Palgrave Macmillan, Appendix A,
page 271).
How many morphemes does the word "elephantine" have?
[Elephantine means: Having the characteristics of an elephant.]
"Elephantine" has two morphemes.
Is Elephantine a compound word?
Compound = two WORDS.
"tine" is not a word.
So no, "elephantine" is not a compound word but it is a multimorphemic word.
Some morphemes can stand alone and thus are considered to be what?
Standalone morphemes are considered to be "words."
[Yah, yah -- linguists have more technical ways of describing standalone
morphemes but let's go with "words" for now.]
Give me an example of a "monomorphemic" word:
Elephant
Some morphemes cannot stand alone and must be affixed to a word and are
therefore not considered to be words. They are "parts" of words that have
meaning that have to occur with a word. [ing, -ness, -ment, dis-, un-, …]
They are "bound" morphemes. They are like a needy boyfriend or girlfriend. They
just can't be alone.
What do we (generally) call these "bound" morphemes?
Affixes.
Notes: