Morphology 6
Trương Văn Ánh
Trường Đại học Sài Gòn
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WORD CLASSES
FORM CLASSES (LEXICAL WORDS)
1. Nouns
As for meaning, nouns are traditionally known to be names of persons, places, things, and ideas. Among their formal characteristics, English nouns may typically be made:
 definite in meaning by the, as in the book, the guy, the answer;
 possessive by suffixing –’s, as in boy’s, man’s;
 negative by prefixing non-: non-believer, nonsense.
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2. Verbs
Verbs are traditionally said to express action, being, and states of being. Among their formal characteristics, English verbs may typically be made:
 past in meaning by suffixing –(e)d, as in work  worked
 into agents by suffixing –er, as in do  doer, walk  walker
 negative by prefixing dis-, as in agree  disagree, appear  disappear
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3. Adjectives
In terms of meaning, adjectives are said to modify nouns. Among the formal characteristics, English adjectives may typically be:
 in comparisons by –er or more: tall  taller, beautiful  more beautiful
 modified by intensifiers very, too: very tall, too tall
 made negative by un-: unhappy
4. Adverbs
The adverbs have four suffixes: the derivational suffixes –ly, -wise, -ward, and –s- and one free form like.
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1. Source adjective Derived adverb
fortunate fortunately
2. Source noun Derived adverb
student studentwise
3. Source noun Derived adverb
north northward
4. Source noun Derived adverb
night nights
5. Source noun Derived adverb
student studentlike
6. Source adjective Derived adverb
casual casual-like
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5. Uninflected words (Functional words)
Words that do not belong to one of the four form-classes – noun, verb, adjective, or adverb are known as uninflected words, UW’s. Uninflected words take no inflectional endings as listed below.
1. Words that are traditionally called nouns:
pathos, advice, tennis, evidence, botany
2. Words that are traditionally called adverbs:
often, seldom, also, never, perhaps
3. Words that are traditionally called adjectives:
antic, menial, only, tired
4. Verbs: can, will, shall, etc.
5. Most of the words in the structure-classes: (Preposition, conjunction, pronoun, interjection)
the, must, quite, from, and, since, which, all





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