1. Federal University of Acre
Campus Floresta - Cruzeiro do Sul
Center for Multidisciplinary Studies - English Course
Morphosyntax I
Prof. Msc. Mauro Uchôa
What is morphosyntax?
The science of Morphology and syntax which are combined into the name
Morphosyntax. It covers morphosyntactic aspects such as sentence pattern, affixes,
and inflection.
The system of the internal structure of words (morphology) and the way in which words
are put together to form phrases and sentences (syntax).
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, defines
morphosyntax as:
1. The study of grammatical categories or linguistic units that have both
morphological and syntactic properties.
2. The set of rules that govern linguistic units whose properties are definable by
both morphological and syntactic criteria.
How Words are Formed?
Words are a part of everyday language and contain a number of basic parts. Prefixes,
suffixes, and base words (root or core) are put together through the process of word
formation:
Affixation Ex: pleasant - unpleasant,
meaning - meaningful - meaningless.
Conversion Ex: drive (verb) - drive (noun)
It's a long drive from Glasgow to London.
I'm learning to drive.
Compound Ex: tea + pot = teapot, arm + chair = armchair
Words are structures that are used every day in speech, writing, and communication.
Individual words are made of specific parts, each with their specific function and
meaning.
What is a morpheme?
The smallest unit of meaning in language is called a morpheme. These morphemes,
which may or may not be a complete word in any given language, are the building
blocks for creating words by adding prefixes, suffixes, and other parts of words.

2. Free Morpheme Bound Morpheme
read-able leg-ible
hear-ing audi-ence
en-large magn-ify,
perfom-ance rend-ition
white-ness clar-ity
dark-en obfusc-ate
seek-er aplic-ant
A base word is a morpheme or group of morphemes that have one complete meaning.
Base words can be short, such as "but," or much longer. These are the parts of
language that are used to communicate, but are also used to build more complicated
words with more intricate meanings.
Affixes are indeed always bound, but it is not the case that roots are always free.
Morphemes and theirs allomorphs
How are the plural of most English nouns formed?
Is every morpheme pronounced the same in all context?
[s] = /s/, /z/ and /iz/
 when the preceding sound is a sibilant (the kind of 'hissing' or 'hushing' sound
heard at the end of horse, rose, bush, church and judge, the /iz/ allomorphy
occurs.
 otherwise, when the preceding sound is voiceless, i.e. produced with no vibration
of the vocal folds in the larynx (as in cat, rock, cup of cliff, the /s/ allomorph
occurs
 otherwise, (i.e. after a vowel or a voiced consonant, as in dog or day), the /z/
allomorph occurs.
How do we pronounce the -ed?
In 3 ways - / Id/ or / t/ or / d/
/ Id/ wanted, ended
/ t/ Hoped, laughed, faxed, washed, watched, liked
/ d/ Played, allowed, begged
Please visit this website to learn more: http://www.5minuteenglish.com/apr18.htm
Inflectional morphology
Inflectional morphemes: vary (or "inflect") the form of words in order to express grammatical
features, such as singular/plural or past/present tense. Thus Boy and boys, for example, are
two different forms of the "same" word; the choice between them, singular vs. plural, is a
matter of grammar and thus the business of inflectional morphology. (Crystal, p. 90.)
-s = plural form, possessive, verb third person -er - comparative
-ed = past form -est = superlative
-ing = progressive form

3. Federal University of Acre
Campus Floresta - Cruzeiro do Sul
Center for Multidisciplinary Studies - English Course
Morphosyntax I
Prof. Msc. Mauro Uchôa
Exercises 01 - Consider the following words:
a) tigers - speakers b) untimaly - uniquely c) decorating - decentralising
d) wholesome - gruesome e) consumed - consumption f) leucocyte - erythocyte
1) Divide them into morphemes, noting any instances where you are unsure. What differences are there
between the words in each pair?
2) Are there any morphemes here which have two or more allomorphs?
3) Which of these morphemes are free and which are bound? Are the bound morphemes all affixes, or
are some of them roots or combining forms?
Exercises 02 - Explain the function of the bold morpheme in the following sentences
1) This pianist performs in the local hall every week.
2) Mary told us that this pianist performed in the local hall every week.
3) The performance last week was particularly impressive.
Exercises 03 - In each of the following groups of word forms, identify those that are (or can cam be,
according to context) forms of the same lexeme:
a) woman, woman's, women, womanly, girl
b) greenish, greener, green, greens
c) written, wrote, writer, rewrites, writing
Bibliography:
CARSTAIRS-McCARTHY. Andrew. An Introduction to English Morphology.
Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2002.