Question

Which of the following is NOT one of the 8 productive inflectional morphemes for verbs in English?

• A. A. -s (3rd person singular present)
• B. B. -ed (past tense)
• C. C. -en/-ed (past participle)
• D. D. -ly (adverbial suffix)

Answer 1

Answer:

D. D. -ly (adverbial suffix)

Understanding Inflectional Morphemes in English

• An inflectional morpheme is a suffix added to a word that changes its grammatical function but not its core meaning or word class. They signal grammatical relations like tense, number, aspect, and comparison.
• English has a total of 8 productive inflectional morphemes. These are always suffixes.
• It's crucial to distinguish between inflectional and derivational morphemes. Derivational morphemes can change the word's meaning and/or its word class (e.g., from noun to adjective, or verb to noun).

The 8 Productive Inflectional Morphemes in English

1. For Nouns:
   • -s (Plural): e.g., books, cats. Indicates more than one.
   • -'s (Possessive): e.g., student's, cat's. Indicates ownership or relation.
2. For Verbs:
   • -s (3rd Person Singular Present): e.g., walks, sings. Used with he/she/it in the simple present tense.
   • -ed (Past Tense): e.g., walked, played. Indicates an action completed in the past.
   • -ing (Present Participle): e.g., walking, singing. Used in continuous tenses or as an adjective/gerund.
   • -en/-ed (Past Participle): e.g., eaten, written (for irregular verbs); walked, played (for regular verbs). Used in perfect tenses or passive voice.
3. For Adjectives:
   • -er (Comparative): e.g., taller, faster. Compares two items.
   • -est (Superlative): e.g., tallest, fastest. Compares three or more items.

Why '-ly' is NOT a Verbal Inflectional Morpheme

• The suffix -ly is an adverbial suffix. Its primary function is to transform adjectives into adverbs (e.g., quick (adjective) → quickly (adverb)).
• It is a derivational morpheme, not an inflectional one. It creates a new word with a different grammatical category (adverb) from an existing word (adjective).
• Inflectional morphemes, especially for verbs, modify the verb's tense, aspect, or agreement without changing it into a different part of speech. The suffix '-ly' does not attach to verbs to modify their tense or aspect; it typically attaches to adjectives.

Key Points for Competitive Exams

• Remember the exact count: 8 inflectional morphemes in English.
• Be able to classify morphemes as either inflectional or derivational. Inflectional morphemes never change the word class.
• Focus on the specific functions of each morpheme (plural, possessive, tense, aspect, comparison).
• Questions often test the distinction between 'productive' morphemes (those still actively used to form new words or forms) and 'unproductive' ones. All 8 listed above are productive.