Morphology

MORPHOLOGY

by Laura Kovak

​What is etymology?

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• To understand morphology, you have to have a basic understanding of etymology. 

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• Etymology is the study of word origins and how meaning is derived from the three layers of the English language:

  • Anglo-Saxon (Old English, Middle English, Modern English)

  • Latin

  • Greek

​Resources for etymology:

www.etymonline.com

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www.anglik.net/englishlanguagehistory.htm

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www.studyenglishtoday.net

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www.askoxford.com/worldofwords/history

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www.englishclub.com/english-language-history.htm

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www.wordorigins.org

​What is morphology?

• ​Morphology is the study of morphemes. Morphemes are the smallest unit of meaning within a word.

  • For example, the word "lady" has 1 morpheme and the word "unladylike" has 3 morphemes: un-, lady, like. 

• Morphemes can be free or bound. 

  • Free morphemes are single words that can stand alone. For example: graph, farm, zoo

  • Bound morphemes need another morpheme in order to make a word and cannot stand alone. For example: un-, poly, struct

Multiple Choice

How many morphemes are in the word "construction"?

• 1

• 2

• 3

• 4

Multiple Select

Etymology is the study of...

• word parts

• word origins

• the history of words

• word meaning

Multiple Choice

Morphology is the study of...

• the smallest units of meaning within a word

• word origins

• definitions

• metamorphosis

Multiple Choice

What is an example of a free morpheme?

• struct

• mal

• girl

• lex

Multiple Choice

What is an example of a bound morpheme?

• house

• rupt

• chance

• luck

Multiple Select

What are the three layers to the English language?

• Anglo-Saxon

• Greek

• Latin

• French