Structural Types of English Words

Structural Types of English Words

According to the nature and number of morphemes there are 4 structural types of words in English:

1.Simple (root) words consist of one root morpheme and an inflection. In many cases it’s zero: Seldom, chairs, longer, asked, to do, desk, lamp, to try.

We should draw attention to the fact that the difference between the root and the stem is not just structural. The root is understood as a stable part of the word, the stem is understood as the part of the word to which word-building elements are added to build this or that word. i.e. it is understood as the working mechanism of production of new words. There can he formal, structural coincidence of the root and the stem, but mostly they do not coincide.

2.Derived words consist of 1 root morpheme and 1 or several affixes: unemployed, derestricted, active, activity, uncomfortable, unbelievable, represented

3.Compound words consist of 2 or more root morphemes and an inflection in their structure: blackboard = black (stem) + board (stem),

penny-in-the-slot = penny (stem) + in (stem) + the (stem) + slot (stem), baby-moons

wait-and-see

4.Compound-derived words consists 2 or more root morphemes, 1 affix and an inflection in their structure:

light-minded = light (stem) + mind (stem) + ed (suffix)

job-hoper

The stem is the part of the word which remains unchanged. E.g. the stem “hop” can be found in the words: hop, hops, hopped, hopping