Practice Exercises in Morphology
Linguistics 201
Free and Bound Morphemes
List the morphemes in each word below, and state whether each morpheme is free (F) or
bound (B).
1. creating
2. seaward
3. wastage
4. poetic
5. modernize
6. unhealthy
7. waiter
8. reconsider
9. keys
10. incompletion
Word Trees
For each word below, draw a word tree.
1. shipper
2. disobey
3. resettled
4. anticlimaxes
5. unemployment
6. simply
7. jumping
8. digitizes
9. activity
10. confrontational
Practice Exercises in Morphology
Linguistics 201
Free and Bound Morphemes
List the morphemes in each word below, and state whether each morpheme is free (F) or
bound (B).
1. creating
6. unhealthy
create (F)
ing (B)
2. seaward
un (B)
health (F)
y (B)
7. waiter
sea (F)
ward (B)
3. wastage
wait (F)
er (B)
8. reconsider
waste (F)
age (B)
4. poetic
poet (F)
ic (B)
5. modernize
modern (F)
ize (B)
re (B)
consider (F)
9. keys
key (F)
s (B)
10. incompletion
in (B)
complete (F)
ion (B)
Word Trees
For each word below, draw a word tree.
1. shipper
2. disobey
3. resettled
4. anticlimaxes
5. disengagement
1.
6. simply
7. jumping
8. digitizes
9. activity
10. confrontational
N
2.
V
V
DAff
DAff
V
ship
er
dis
obey
3.
V
V
DAff
V
IAff
re
settle
d
4.
N
N
DAff
N
IAff
anti
climax
es
5. 3.
N
V
DAff
V
DAff
dis
engage
ment
6.
Adv
7.
V
Adj
DAff
V
IAff
simple
y
jump
ing
For #7, “jumping” could also be either a noun (“Jumping over the water was dangerous”)
or an adjective (“The jumping bunnies looked ridiculous.”) In both of these cases, “ing”
is a derivational affix.
8.
V
V
N
DAff
IAff
digit
ize
s
9.
N
Adj
V
DAff
DAff
act
ive
ity
10.
Adj
N
V
DAff
DAff
confront
ation
al
Practice Exercises in Morphology II
Linguistics 201
Derivational and Inflectional Affixes
For each word below, indicate whether the word is morphologically simple (S), includes
an inflectional affix (I), or includes a derivational affix (D).
1. rider
2. colder
3. silver
4. lens
5. legs
6. reader
7. redder
8. radish
9. redness
10. rotation
Esperanto
Esperanto is an artificial language that was invented by Ludwig Zamenhof in 1887. It
was designed to be easy to learn and is based largely on the languages of western Europe.
It is now primarily spoken in France, although it may also be found in eastern Asia, South
America and eastern Europe. There are now between 200-2,000 native speakers and
about 2,000,000 people worldwide speak it as a second language.
Examine the following data from Esperanto and then answer the questions below:
1. bono
2. instrua
3. malfacila
4. patrino
5. instruisto
6. porti
7. facila
8. patro
9. portisto
10. instrui
‘goodness’
‘instructive’
‘difficult’
‘mother’
‘teacher’
‘to carry’
‘easy’
‘father’
‘porter’
‘to instruct’
11. portistino ‘female porter’
12. pura
‘pure’
13. malbone ‘badly’
14. facile
‘easily’
15. bona
‘good’
16. malgranda ‘small’
17. bone
‘well’
18. facilo
‘easiness’
19. granda
‘big’
20. instruo
‘instruction’
A. What are the morphemes that correspond to the following lexical categories and
concepts?
i.
Nouns
iv. Adverbs
ii.
Verbs
v. Feminine
iii.
Adjectives
vi. The opposite (not…)
B. Translate the following English words and phrases into Esperanto.
i.
“purity”
ii.
“bad”
iii.
“female teacher”
Practice Exercises in Morphology II
Linguistics 201
Derivational and Inflectional Affixes
For each word below, indicate whether the word is morphologically simple (S), includes
an inflectional affix (I), or includes a derivational affix (D).
1. rider
2. colder
3. silver
4. lens
5. legs
D
I
S
S
I
6. reader
7. redder
8. radish
9. redness
10. rotation
D
I
S
D
D
Esperanto
Esperanto is an artificial language that was invented by Ludwig Zamenhof in 1887. It
was designed to be easy to learn and is based largely on the languages of western Europe.
It is now primarily spoken in France, although it may also be found in eastern Asia, South
America and eastern Europe. There are now between 200-2,000 native speakers and
about 2,000,000 people worldwide speak it as a second language.
Examine the following data from Esperanto and then answer the questions below:
1. bono
2. instrua
3. malfacila
4. patrino
5. instruisto
6. porti
7. facila
8. patro
9. portisto
10. instrui
‘goodness’
‘instructive’
‘difficult’
‘mother’
‘teacher’
‘to carry’
‘easy’
‘father’
‘porter’
‘to instruct’
11. portistino ‘female porter’
12. pura
‘pure’
13. malbone ‘badly’
14. facile
‘easily’
15. bona
‘good’
16. malgranda ‘small’
17. bone
‘well’
18. facilo
‘easiness’
19. granda
‘big’
20. instruo
‘instruction’
A. What are the morphemes that correspond to the following lexical categories and
concepts?
i.
Nouns
o
iv. Adverbs
e
ii.
Verbs
i
v. Feminine
in
iii.
Adjectives
a
vi. The opposite (not…)
mal
B. Translate the following English words and phrases into Esperanto.
i.
“purity”
puro
ii.
“bad”
malbona
iii.
“female teacher”
instruistino
Practice Exercises in Morphology III
Linguistics 201
I. Morphological Analysis
From the following data sets, identify the strings of sounds which correspond to the
morphemes in each language.
Swahili
Swahili is a Bantu language which is spoken primarily in East Africa. There are
approximately 800,000 native speakers of Swahili, and some 30,000,000 people (!)
worldwide speak Swahili as a second language.
anapenda
atapenda
alipenda
amependa
alinipenda
alikupenda
alimpenda
alitupenda
aliwapenda
nitampenda
Pronouns
he:
me:
you:
him:
us:
them:
I:
'he likes'
'he will like'
'he liked'
'he has liked'
'he liked me'
'he liked you'
'he liked him'
'he liked us'
'he liked them'
'I will like him'
alimona
alimsaidia
alimpiga
alimchukua
alimua
ananitazama
atakusikia
alitupanya
ninakupenda
nitawapenda
Tenses
[present]:
[future]:
[past]:
[past part.]:
Translate the following English sentences into Swahili:
i. He has hit me.
ii. He helps us.
iii. I will look at you.
'he saw him'
'he helped him'
'he hit him'
'he carried him'
'he killed him'
'he looks at me'
'he will hear you'
'he cured us'
'I like you'
'I will like them'
Verbs
see:
help:
hit:
carry:
kill:
look:
hear:
cure:
like:
Cree
Cree is an Algonquian language which is spoken primarily in Canada. There are
approximately 100,000 native speakers, who can be found from the Rocky Mountains in
Alberta all the way to James Bay in northern Quebec.
niwapahten
kimachishen
nitapinan
kiwapahten
nimachishenan
kitapinawaw
'I see'
'You cut'
'We sit'
'You see'
'We cut'
'You (pl.) sit'
Pronouns
I:
You:
We:
You (pl.):
niwapahtenan
kimachishenawaw
nitapin
kiwapahtenawaw
nimachishen
kitapin
'We see'
'You (pl.) cut'
'I sit'
'You (pl.) see'
'I cut'
'You sit'
Verbs
see:
cut:
sit:
II. Word-Formation Processes
Name the word-formation process exemplified by each of the following derivations.
1. Graphical User Interface → GUI
2. professor → prof
3. information + commercial → infomercial
4. drink → drank
5. sandwich (named after John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich!)
6. un- + rely + -able → unreliable
7. wind + shield → windshield
8. orientation → orientate
9. good → better
10. a process → to process
Practice Exercises in Morphology III
Linguistics 201
I. Morphological Analysis
From the following data sets, identify the strings of sounds which correspond to the
morphemes in each language.
Swahili
Swahili is a Bantu language which is spoken primarily in East Africa. There are
approximately 800,000 native speakers of Swahili, and some 30,000,000 people (!)
worldwide speak Swahili as a second language.
anapenda
atapenda
alipenda
amependa
alinipenda
alikupenda
alimpenda
alitupenda
aliwapenda
nitampenda
Pronouns
he: a
me: ni
you: ku
him: m
us: tu
them: wa
I: ni
'he likes'
'he will like'
'he liked'
'he has liked'
'he liked me'
'he liked you'
'he liked him'
'he liked us'
'he liked them'
'I will like him'
alimona
alimsaidia
alimpiga
alimchukua
alimua
ananitazama
atakusikia
alitupanya
ninakupenda
nitawapenda
Tenses
[present]: na
[future]: ta
[past]: li
[past part.]: me
Translate the following English sentences into Swahili:
i. He has hit me.
amenipiga
ii. He helps us.
anatusaidia
iii. I will look at you.
nitakutazama
'he saw him'
'he helped him'
'he hit him'
'he carried him'
'he killed him'
'he looks at me'
'he will hear you'
'he cured us'
'I like you'
'I will like them'
Verbs
see: ona
help: saidia
hit: piga
carry: chukua
kill: ua
look: tazama
hear: sikia
cure: panya
like: penda
Cree
Cree is an Algonquian language which is spoken primarily in Canada. There are
approximately 100,000 native speakers, who can be found from the Rocky Mountains in
Alberta all the way to James Bay in northern Quebec.
niwapahten
kimachishen
nitapinan
kiwapahten
nimachishenan
kitapinawaw
'I see'
'You cut'
'We sit'
'You see'
'We cut'
'You (pl.) sit'
Pronouns
I: ni
You: ki
We: ni- -an
You (pl.): ki -awaw
niwapahtenan
kimachishenawaw
nitapin
kiwapahtenawaw
nimachishen
kitapin
'We see'
'You (pl.) cut'
'I sit'
'You (pl.) see'
'I cut'
'You sit'
Verbs
see: wapahten
cut: machishen
sit: tapin
II. Word-Formation Processes
Name the word-formation process exemplified by each of the following derivations.
1. Graphical User Interface → GUI
Acronym
2. professor → prof
Clipping
3. information + commercial → infomercial
Blend
4. drink → drank
Internal Change
5. sandwich (named after John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich!)
Eponym
6. un- + rely + -able → unreliable
Affixation
7. wind + shield → windshield
Compound
8. orientation → orientate
Back formation
9. good → better
Suppletion
10. a process → to process
Conversion
More Morphology Practice Exercises
Linguistics 201
Turkish
Turkish is an Altaic language. It is the official language of Turkey and is spoken
by about 50 million people worldwide.
1. deniz
2. denize
3. denizin
4. eve
5. evden
6. evjikden
7. denizjikde
8. elde
'an ocean'
'to an ocean'
'of an ocean'
'to a house'
'from a house'
'from a little house'
'in a little ocean'
'in a hand'
9. elim
10. eller
11. dishler
12. dishiminiz
13. dishleriminiz
14. eljike
15. denizlerimizde
16. evjiklerimizde
'my hand'
'hands'
'teeth'
'of our tooth'
'of our teeth'
'to a little hand'
'in our oceans'
'in our little houses'
A. Give the Turkish morpheme which corresponds to each of the following
English translations.
ocean:
in:
my:
house:
to:
of:
hand:
from:
our:
tooth:
[plural]:
little:
B. What is the order of morphemes in a Turkish word (in terms of noun, plural
marker, etc.)?
C .How would you say "of our little hands" in Turkish?
D. Give the English translation for the Turkish form "dishjiklerden".
Czech (this one's tricky!):
Czech is a Slavic language which is spoken by about 10 million people, primarily
in the Czech Republic.
nesu
ponese
povedete
poplavu
priplavesh
priyedou
odvedeme
odyede
poyede
nesou
plavou
vedeme
‘I carry’
‘He will carry’
‘You (pl) will lead’
‘I will swim’
‘You will swim here’
‘They will drive here’
‘We will lead away’
‘He will drive away’
‘He will drive’
‘They carry’
‘They swim’
‘We lead’
yedu
ponesu
yede
nese
odnesou
odplavete
poplaveme
prineseme
prinese
odvedu
odnesesh
‘I drive’
‘I will carry’
‘He drives’
‘He carries’
‘They will carry away’
‘You (pl.) will swim away’
‘We will swim’
‘We will bring here’
‘He will bring here’
‘I will lead away’
‘You carry away’
A. Identify the Czech morphemes which correspond to the following English
translations:
Verbs
carry:
bring:
lead:
drive:
swim:
Pronouns
I:
he:
we:
you:
you (pl.):
they:
Tense, Location
here:
away:
will:
B. What is the order of these morphemes in Czech (in terms of verbs, pronouns,
tense, location)?
C. Provide Czech translations for the following English sentences:
1. He will swim.
2. They drive away.
3. You lead away.
4. I will bring here.
More Morphology Practice Exercises
Linguistics 201
Turkish
Turkish is an Altaic language. It is the official language of Turkey and is spoken
by about 50 million people worldwide.
1. deniz
2. denize
3. denizin
4. eve
5. evden
6. evjikden
7. denizjikde
8. elde
'an ocean'
'to an ocean'
'of an ocean'
'to a house'
'from a house'
'from a little house'
'in a little ocean'
'in a hand'
9. elim
10. eller
11. dishler
12. dishiminiz
13. dishleriminiz
14. eljike
15. denizlerimizde
16. evjiklerimizde
'my hand'
'hands'
'teeth'
'of our tooth'
'of our teeth'
'to a little hand'
'in our oceans'
'in our little houses'
A. Give the Turkish morpheme which corresponds to each of the following
English translations.
ocean: deniz
in: de
my: im
house: ev
to: e
of: in
hand: el
from: den
our: imiz
tooth: dish
[plural]: ler
little: jik
B. What is the order of morphemes in a Turkish word (in terms of noun, plural
marker, etc.)?
noun - adjective - plural - possessive pronoun - preposition
Exception: when "imiz" (our) is combined with "in" (of), the "in" appears
inside of the "imiz". For example, #12: dishiminiz "of our tooth"
C .How would you say "of our little hands" in Turkish?
eljikleriminiz
D. Give the English translation for the Turkish form "dishjiklerden".
from little teeth
Czech (this one's tricky!):
Czech is a Slavic language which is spoken by about 10 million people, primarily
in the Czech Republic.
nesu
ponese
povedete
poplavu
priplavesh
priyedou
odvedeme
odyede
poyede
nesou
plavou
vedeme
‘I carry’
‘He will carry’
‘You (pl) will lead’
‘I will swim’
‘You will swim here’
‘They will drive here’
‘We will lead away’
‘He will drive away’
‘He will drive’
‘They carry’
‘They swim’
‘We lead’
yedu
ponesu
yede
nese
odnesou
odplavete
poplaveme
prineseme
prinese
odvedu
odnesesh
‘I drive’
‘I will carry’
‘He drives’
‘He carries’
‘They will carry away’
‘You (pl.) will swim away’
‘We will swim’
‘We will bring here’
‘He will bring here’
‘I will lead away’
‘You carry away’
A. Identify the Czech morphemes which correspond to the following English
translations:
Verbs
carry: nes
bring: nes
lead: ved
drive: yed
swim: plav
Pronouns
I: u
he: e
we: eme
you: esh
you (pl.): ete
they: ou
Tense, Location
here: pri
away: od
will: po
B. What is the order of these morphemes in Czech (in terms of verbs, pronouns,
tense, location)?
tense/location - verb - pronoun
Note: when a location (here/away) is specified, then the future morpheme
("po") does not appear on the surface.
C. Provide Czech translations for the following English sentences:
1. He will swim.
poplave
2. They drive away.
odyedou
3. You lead away.
odvedesh
4. I will bring here.
prinesu