Bbi 3212 English Syntax and Morphology

cmy/June 2011

Assignment 1

BBI 3212 ENGLISH SYNTAX AND MORPHOLOGY

NAME: ______MATRIC NO: ______

CENTRE: ______

ASSIGNMENT 1 (10%)

1. State the number of morphemes in each of the following words. State whether each word is a simple or complex word.

Word No. of morphemes Simple/ complex (circle) iowlet Simple/ complex tallest Simple/ complex oxen Simple/ complex whitewater Simple/ complex does Simple/ complex betray Simple/ complex unfortunately Simple/ complex

2. Divide the following words into their component morphemes, and state whether each morpheme is free or bound.

Word Free / bound e.g. teacher teach/ er teach - free, er - bound demigod recycling ravenous reject clarify sensible ability

1 cmy/June 2011

3. Represent the structure of the following words using tree diagrams and labeled bracketing. Where an affix is used, state whether the affixation is derivational or inflectional.

i. E.g. burgled

V [[burgle]V Af]]V

V Af (inflectional affix)

burgle ed

ii. storage ______

iii. foldable ______

iv. runaway train ______

v. millions ______

vi. brotherly ______

2 cmy/June 2011

4. State the word-formation processes involved in the creation of the following words.

(from Parker & Riley 2005)

i. fanatic fan ______

ii. formula translation Fortran ______

iii. common business oriented language COBOL ______

iv. narcotics agent narc ______

v. tuberculosis TB ______

vi. nose + bleed nosebleed ______

vii. as soon as possible ASAP ______

viii. Earl of Sandwich sandwich ______

x. camera + video recorder camcorder ______

5. State whether the following words are compounds.

i. The tomatoes are planted in greenhouses. ______

ii. We could see some very big houses along the way. ______

iii. The All Blacks were a formidable team. ______

iv. Their faces were all black and dirty with mud. ______

v. Football is my favourite game. ______

vi. The main ingredient of the dish is sea weed. ______

vii. The girl caught a ladybird. ______

viii. The hockey sticks were kept in the school’s store. ______

ix. Honey roasted almonds are sold in the hypermarket. ______

x. I’ll see you right after noon. ______

xi. I’ll see you in the afternoon. ______

3 cmy/June 2011

6. For each of the following, state the morphological process that can account for the change in the form of the word given.

i. clean  cleans ______

ii. seek  sought ______

iii. beg  begged ______

iv. Mary  Mary’s (Mary is) ______

v. drive  drove ______

vi. they are  they’re ______

vii. enthusiasm  enthuse ______

viii. box  boxes ______

ix. front  upfront ______

x. reform  pro-reform ______

xi. reform  reformist ______

xii. reformist  reformists ______

xiii. market + place  marketplace ______

xiv. happy  unhappiest ______

xv. think  thinking ______

xvi. sheep [sing]  sheep [plu] ______

xvii. olive + branch = olive branch ______

xviii. go  went ______

xix. sing  sang ______

xx. drink (V)  drink (N) ______

xxi. read (pres)  read (past) ______

xxii. love (V)  loving (A) or (V) ______

xxiii. also known as  aka ______

xxiv. chuckle + snort = chortle ______

4 cmy/June 2011

7. Name the inflectional morphemes underscored.

E.g. The girl cried = past tense morpheme

i. The box es ______

ii. He grieved ______

iii. The prettier one ______