The structural types of English words

In Modern English there are 4 structural types of words depending on the difference of their morphemes.

I. The words consisting of only one root-morpheme are known as simple words (or root words), e.g. man, sky, gem, dean, aim, pear, swig, self, long, short, big, look, sit, stand, see, etc. Simple words predominate in speech communication, as anyone can see who will listen to an average talk or read a page in a book or newspaper. These words occur in any text with the greatest frequency. A great number of simple words belong to the original English stock or to earlier borrowings, e.g. house, room, work, port, street, table, etc.

II. The words consisting of a root and one or more affixes are known as derived words (or derivatives), e.g. development, journalist, quickly, friendship, personify, greenish, discover, imperfect, unable, undo, disagreement, indifference, reproductive, etc. Derived words are extremely numerous in the English vocabulary. They rate second in frequency after simple words and tower above all the other structural types if counted in a dictionary. The high percentage of derived words both in language and speech is explained by the activity of derivation or affixation as a word-building device. It has never slackened its productivity beginning with the earlier stages of the development of the English language.

III. The words consisting of two or more stems are known as compound words ( or compounds), e.g. hothead, pressman, chairperson, godson, fruitcake, ladybird, waterfall, washhouse, broomstick, bluebell, brownstone, salesgirl, herdsman, bridesmaid, lily-white, dark-grey, snow-white, forget-me-not, pick-me-up, lily-of-the-valley, good-for-nothing, dyed-in-the-wool, know-all, know-nothing, stay-at-home, mum-to-be, fly-by-night, lady-killer, pen-holder, etc.

Words of this structural type are produced by the way of word-building called compounding (or composition). Compound words do not amount to much in frequency. In the existing word-stock, compound nouns constitute 15 per cent. The number of compounds in the language is steadily growing.

IV. The words in which phrase components are joined together by means of compounding and affixation are known as derivational compounds, e.g. long-legged, broad-shouldered, oval-shaped, fair-haired, bald-headed, grey-eyed, hot-tempered, strong-willed, hot-blooded, open-minded, chicken-hearted, etc. Derivational compounds are the words combining the features of compounds and derivatives. They are formed when a suffix or a prefix is added to a compound word (or a compound stem), e.g. left-hand/ed, left-hand/er, sight-se/er, house-wif/ery, etc.

Дата добавления: 2014-01-11