Morphological characteristics

According to their morphological composition nouns can be divided intosimple, derived, andcompound.

Morphological composition

Simple nouns consist of only one root-morpheme: dog, chair, room, roof, leaf.

Derived nouns (derivatives) are composed of one root-morpheme and one or more derivational morphemes (prefixes or suffixes).

The main noun-forming suffixes are those forming abstract nouns and those forming concrete, personal nouns.

Abstract nouns

Concrete nouns

-age: leakage, vicarage -al: betrayal, portrayal, refusal -ancy/-ency: vacancy, tendency -dom: freedom kingdom -hood: brotherhood, childhood -ing: meaning, cleaning -ion/~sion/-tion/-ation: operation, tension, examination -ism: darvinism, patriotism -ment: agreement, unemployment -ness: darkness, weakness -ship: friendship, membership -ty: cruelty, sanity, banality -th: growth, strength -y: difficulty, honesty

-(i)an: physician, Parisian, republican -ant/-ent: assistant, student, informant -arian: vegetarian -ее: refugee, employee, payee -er: teacher, worker, singer -ician: musician, politician -ist: socialist, artist -or: visitor, actor -let: booklet, leaflet -ess: actress, tigress, waitress -ine: heroine -ix: proprietrix -ette: usherette The four suffixes -ess, -ine, -ette are feminine.

Sometimes nouns formed by abstract noun suffixes may come to de­note concrete things or persons as in translation (a process and its result), beauty (may denote an abstract notion and a beautiful woman).

Compound nouns consist of at least two stems. The meaning of a compound is not a mere sum of its elements. The main types of compound nouns are:

noun stem + noun stem:	seaman (моряк), airmail (авиапочта)
adjective stem + noun stem:	bluebell (колокольчик), blackbird (черный дрозд)
verb stem + noun stem:	pickpocket (карманный вор)
gerund + noun stem:	looking-glass (зеркало), dancing-hall (танцевальный зал)
noun stem + prepositions + noun stem:	father-in-law (свекр, тесть) mother-in-law (свекровь, теща) man-of-war (военный корабль)
substantivised phrases:	forget-me-not (незабудка), pick-me-up (тонизирующий напиток)

§ 170. Morphologically nouns are characterized by the grammatical categories of number and case.

Gender does not find regular morphological expression. The distinction of male, female, and neuter may correspond to the lexical meaning of the noun:

masculine (names of male beings)	- boy, man, husband, bachelor, ox, cock;
feminine (names of female beings)	- girl, woman, wife, maid, cow, hen;
neuter (names of inanimate objects)	- table, house.

The distinction may be also expressed by word-formation of different types:

a) feminine suffixes

-ess (actress, hostess, poetess, tigress),

-ine (heroine),

-ette (usherette);

b) compounds of different patterns:

noun + noun stem	pronoun + noun stem
Tom-cat doctor dog-otter male-frog cock-pheasant	- Tabby-cat - woman-doctor - bitch-otter - female-frog - hen-pheasant	he-wolf he-cousin	- she-wolf - she-cousin

There are also some traditional associations of certain nouns with gender. These are apparent in the use of personal or possessive pronouns:

a) moon and earth are referred to as feminine, sun as masculine:

It is pleasant to watch the sun in his chariot of gold and the moon in her chariot of pearl.

At first the earth was large, but every moment she grew smaller.

b) the names of vessels (ship, boat, steamer, ice-breaker, cruiser, etc.) are referred to as feminine:

The new ice-breaker has started on her maiden voyage.

She is equipped with up-to-date machinery.

c) the names of vehicles (car, carriage, coach) may also be referred to as feminine, especially by their

owners, to express their affectionate attitude to these objects:

She is a fine car.

d) the names of countries, if the country is not considered as a mere geographical territory, are referred to as

feminine:

England is proud of her poets.

But: If the name of the country is meant as a geographical one the pronoun it is used. Iceland is an island, it is washed on three sides by the Atlantic Ocean.

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