Page 291 - DENG504_LINGUISTICS

Unit 21: Morphology: Morph, Morpheme, Allomorph

other suffixes are called derivational suffixes. For example, -ment,-ble are derivatgional suffixes Notes
in agreement and agreeable, becuase both can be followed by other suffixes and can, for instance,
bsecome agreements and agreeableness after the addition of the suffix-s and-ness to agree+ment
and agree+able respectively.
Inflectional suffixes have a very wide distribution; that is, the words which they mark have a
great many members. Inflectional suffixes are always final in the morpheme groups to which
they belong. They are of wide occurrence; they make large words. Their distribution is regular.
Derivational suffixes, on the other hand, may be final in the group to which they belong, or
they may be followed by other derivational suffixes or by inflectional suffixes. They are of
relatively limited occurrence, and their distribution tends to be arbitrary. (Prefixes are always
derivationals).
Inflectional suffixes are ‘terminal’, and their termination never changes the class (part of speech)
of the root, for example, in sweeter and sweetest, the termination of -er -by -est does not change
the part of speech; both the forms remain adjectives; come in a verb in They come late, and if
we add an inflectional suffix -ing we get the form coming (as in They are coming) which is still
a verb. An inflected form can be replaced by another inflected form only, e.g.

 drink-s

He steal-s

  play-s
but not
He steal/drink/play, etc.
An inflectionl suffix occurs at the end position of a form; no further affixation in a from is
possible after an inflection. We can say
develop+s
root (-) inflectional suffix
develop+ment
root+derivational suffix + s Inflectional suffix
but not
develop s ment
root inflelctional derivational
suffix suffix
So an inflectional suffix is essentially terminal, whereas a derivational suffix is not essentially
terminal. Derivational suffixes can occur medially and/or finally, but inflectional suffixes occur
only finally.
(c) Class-maintaining and class changing derivational suffixes: Derivational suffixes can be sub-
classified into two types: (i) Class-maintaining derivational suffix and (ii) Class-changing
Derivational suffix. The class-maintaining derivational suffixes are those which produce a
derived form of the same class as the underlying form; they do not change the class of a part of
speech. In boyhood, childhood, kinship, principalship, hood and-ship are class-maintaining
derivational suffixes. In these examples they produce nouns out of nouns after suffixation. The
class-changing derivations are those that produce a derived form of another class. In teacher,
boyish, develop-ment, national, -er, -ish, -ment, -al are class-changing derivational suffixes.
In teacher, a verb teach has become a noun after suffixing the -er. In boyish, a noun boy has
become an adjective after suffixing the -ish.

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