3.2.4 Derivational and Functional Affixes

Functional affixes serve to convey grammatical meaning. They build different forms of one and the same word. Instead of creating a new word, functional affixes modify the form of the word in order to mark the grammatical subclass to which it belongs. A word form is defined as one of the different aspects a word may take as a result of inflection. Complete sets of all the various forms of a word when considered as inflectional patterns, such as plurality, declension and conjugation, are termed paradigms. A paradigm is defined as the system of grammatical forms characteristic of a word, e.g., work, work+s, work+ing, and work+ed.

Plurality inflection

SingularPlural

computer

judge

country

dress

fox

buzz

fly

computer+s

judge+s

countr+ies

dresses

foxes

buzzes

flies

Tense Inflection

PresentPast

play

rule

cry

fix

kiss

dress

played

ruled

cried

fixed

kissed

dressed

Inflection of Derived or Compound Words

Derived FormCompound Form

kingdom+s

professor+s

achievement+s

hospitalize+d

activate+d

clean+ed

baseball+s

blackboard+s

brother+s-in-law

passer+sby

babysit+s

manhandle+d

The difference between functional and derivational affixes is the following: derivational affixes serve to supply the stem with components of lexical and lexico-grammatical meaning, and thus form different words, whereas a functional affix does not change either the grammatical category or the type of meaning found in the word to which it belongs.

N

N Af

plate s V

V Af

play ed

The word to which the suffix –s is attached is still a noun and still has the same type of meaning. Similarly, the past tense suffix –ed, attached to the verb, does not change the grammatical category: played is still a verb, and it still retains its meaning; played still denotes an action, regardless of the tense of the verb.

In contrast, derivational affixes change the category and the meaning of the form. Derivational affixes serve to supply the stem with components of lexical and lexico-grammatical meaning, thus forming different words (derivational affixes will be discussed more in depth in the word-formation section). Consider the following examples:

V

Adj Af

straight en N

V Af

depress ion Adv

Adj Af

exact ly N

N Af

child hood

3.3 Cliticization

Some morphemes act like words in terms of their meaning or function; however, they are unable to stand alone by themselves. These morphemes are called “clitics” (O’Grady, Archibald, Aronoff, & Rees-Miller, 2001, p.139). These elements should be attached to another word, which is called a host word. A good example in English is the contracted forms, e.g., I’m, he’s, we’ve, they’re, and others. Clitics which attach to the end of the host are called enclitics, as the examples show. Clitics which attach to the beginning of the host are called proclitics; they are not observed in the English language but are characteristic of French: Suzanne les voit (Suzanne them- sees). Clitics act like affixes because they cannot stand alone; however, they are members of a lexical category such as verbs, pronouns, or nouns.