Question

Which of the following deals with that formation of words?

• A. Syntax
• B. Semantics
• C. Morphology
• D. Lexicon

Answer 1

Answer:

C. Morphology

Morphology: The Study of Word Formation

• Definition: Morphology is the branch of linguistics that studies the structure of words and how they are formed. It examines the smallest meaningful units of language, called morphemes.
• Morphemes: These are the building blocks of words. They can be free (like 'cat', 'run', 'happy') or bound (like prefixes 'un-', 're-', or suffixes '-ed', '-ing', '-ly').
• Word Formation Processes: Morphology explains various ways new words are created, including:
  • Affixation: Adding prefixes or suffixes to a base word (e.g., un-happy, kind-ness, walk-ing).
  • Compounding: Joining two or more words to form a new one (e.g., sunflower, blackboard, toothpaste).
  • Inflection: Modifying words to express grammatical categories like tense, number, or case (e.g., walks, walked, cats, cat's).
  • Derivation: Creating new words with different meanings or word classes, often through affixation (e.g., happy (adj) -> happiness (noun)).
• Significance in Language Study: Understanding morphology is crucial for deciphering word meanings, analyzing grammatical structures, and recognizing patterns in language evolution.
• Competitive Exam Relevance: Questions related to morphology often appear in English language and literature exams, testing your ability to identify word parts, understand word formation, and analyze word relationships. For instance, you might be asked to identify the root word, prefixes, suffixes, or the type of word formation process used.