DERIVATIONAL MORPHEMES IN ENGLISH

DERIVATIONAL MORPHEMES IN ENGLISH

Abstract

            This paper describes morphemes which are the smallest units of language which have meaning, especially derivational morphemes. Derivation is one of the kinds of word formation. Derivational morphemes are bound morphemes or affixes  which derive or create new words by either changing the meaning or the part of speech or both. English derivational morphemes can be classified into two namely derivational prefixes and derivational suffixes. Most of the English prefixes do not change part of speech although they are derivational. The derived words  undergo the change of meaning. On the contrary, Most of derivational suffixes change part of speech.

1. Introduction

            Language consists of two aspects namely form and meaning. In relation to meaning, the smallest meaningful unit in language is morpheme. Morpheme is defined as the smallest meaningful unit of a language (Lim Kiat Boey, 1975 : 37). Words are made up of morphemes. The word teachers, for example, consists of three meaningful units or morphemes, teach, –er,  and –s. The morpheme teach forming the word teachers has the lexical meaning; the morpheme –er means the doer of teaching; the morpheme –s has plural meaning. We can identify the meaning of the morpheme teach although it stands alone but we cannot identify the meaning of morphemes –er and –s in isolation. We can identify the meaning of the morpheme –er and –s after they combine to the morpheme teach. The morphemes which can meaningfully stand alone are called free morphemes while the morphemes such as –er and –s, which cannot meaningfully stand alone are called bound morphemes. Bound morphemes must be attached to free morphemes. Bound morphemes are also called affixes which can be classified into prefix, infix, and suffix. English only has two kinds of bound morphemes namely prefixes and suffixes. There are not infixes in English. Bound morphemes are classified into two namely derivational and inflectional morphemes. This article tries to discuss derivational morphemes. These morphemes are complicated so that understanding what derivational morphemes are is important.

Speech Acts

1.     Definition

Speech  acts  theory  is  the  theory  in  the  field  of  pragmatics. In general, speech acts are acts of communication (Bach  1979). To communicate is to express a certain attitude, and the type of speech act being performed corresponds to the type of attitude being expressed. As an act of communication, a speech act succeeds if the audience identifies, in accordance with the speaker's intention, the attitude being expressed.

Code Mixing and Code Switching

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Wardhaugh (1986: 102) says that code is the particular dialect or language one chooses to use on any occasion, and a system for communication between two or more parties. Poedjosoedarmono (1978: 4) says that a code is a system of speech whose elements of language has special characteristic, and it is proper to the background of the speaker, the relation of the speaker to address and the situation.

Sociolinguistics

Socilolinguistics and the Sociology of Language

The term ‘Sociolinguistics’, a branch of linguistics was first used in about 1965. Sociolinguistics is the study of language in relation to society or the study of the interaction between language and society.

Language, Dialects, and Varieties