What is Morphology?, 3rd Edition

1 Thinking about Morphology and Morphological Analysis

• 1.1 What is Morphology?
• 1.2 Morphemes
• 1.3 Morphology in Action
  • 1.3.1 Novel words and word play
  • 1.3.2 Abstract morphological facts
• 1.4 Background and Beliefs
• 1.5 Introduction to Morphological Analysis
  • 1.5.1 Two basic approaches: analysis and synthesis
  • 1.5.2 Analytic principles
  • 1.5.3 Sample problems with solutions
• 1.6 Summary
• Introduction to Kujamaat Jóola
• Further Reading

morphology: a study of the structure or form of something

Merriam-Webster Unabridged

1.1 What is Morphology?

The term morphology is generally attributed to the German poet, novelist, playwright, and philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832), who coined it early in the nineteenth century in a biological context. Its etymology is Greek. Morph- means ‘shape, form’, and morphology is the study of form or forms. In biology morphology refers to the study of the form and structure of organisms, and in geology it refers to the study of the configuration and evolution of land forms. In linguistics morphology refers to the mental system involved in word formation or to the branch of linguistics that deals with words, their internal structure, and how they are formed.

1.2 Morphemes

A major way in which morphologists investigate words, their internal structure, and how they are formed is through the identification and study of morphemes, often defined as the smallest linguistic pieces with a grammatical function. This definition is not meant to ...