Definition of Structure of English (SoE):

It refers to the structure or unit of language It focuses mainly on a variety of basic and
complex structures of English, (grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, spelling,
comprehension and writing) phonology, semantic, lexical, syntax and morphology
comparing them to structures of other languages. SoE requires us to gather and analyze
information and data on English usage in current authentic discourse.

How do we study SoE?

study classes of words (parts of speech) meanings of words, with or without considering
changes of meaning (semantics) how words are organized in relation to each other and in
larger constructions (syntax) how words are formed from smaller meaningful units
(morphology) the sounds of words (perception and pronunciation or articulation) how
they form patterns of knowledge in the speaker's mind (phonetics and phonology) how
standardized written forms represent words (orthography). and how written forms
represent these (lexicography).
The most basic units of meaning are simple words (e.g.: dog, yes and swim) or the
elements of complex words (e.g.: un- -happi- and -ness in unhappiness). These basic
elements are called morphemes, and the study of how they are combined in words is
morphology. • The study of how words are organized into phrases, clauses and sentences
is usually referred to as syntax. • A longer stretch of language is known as discourse, the
study of its structure as discourse analysis. • This hierarchy is partly explained by the
table, from David Crystal's the Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language. The right-hand
column should be read upwards, in the direction of the arrow.

Morphology Syntax Discourse

Morphemes phrases
↓ ↓
Words clauses
↓
sentences
relationships between sentences in
longer stretches of language

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 Table of Contents
WORDS Prefix, Suffix, Synonyms, Antonyms, Homonyms
PARTS OF SPEECH Nouns, Adjectives, Adverb, Verbs, Preposition, Conjunctions,
Interjection
PHRASES Adjectival Phrase, Adverbial Phrase, Participle, Participial
Phrase, Gerunds, Gerundial Phrase, Infinitive, Infinitive Phrase,
Appositive Phrase
CLAUSES Main Clause, Subordinate Clause, Kinds of Subordinate Clause,
Adjective Clause, Noun Clause, Adverb Clause

WORDS

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 Prefix
Suffix
Synonyms
Antonyms
Homonyms

Prefix is a word-part added at the beginning of a word. When a prefix is added

to a word, it changes the meaning of the word. It creates a new word.
Examples: il - legal = illegal / un - able = unable / pre - heat = preheat /
super - power = superpower / irreversible = irreversible /
auto - mobile = automobile

Suffix is a word added at the end of a word. Like a prefix, the suffix changes
the meaning of a word.
Examples: child - ish = childish / love - able = lovable /
religion - ious = religious / tardy - ness = tardiness /
beauty - ful = beautiful / care - less = careless /
hazard - ous = hazardous

Synonyms are words that are similar in meaning

Examples: smart = clever / proud = flamboyant / courage = valor /

mock = humiliate / null = void / afraid = scared / honest = truthful /
funny = hilarious

Antonyms are words that are opposite in meaning

Examples: smart = stupid / beautiful = ugly / victory = defeat / cheap = expensive /

thrifty = lavish / expedite = derail / conserve = pollute / hot = cold

Homonyms are words that sound alike but have different meanings and spellings

Examples: new = knew / mad = mud / love = lab / dye = die / bad = bud / god =
gad /
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 ode = odd / knot = not

PARTS OF SPEECH
Nouns, Adjectives, Adverb, Verbs, Preposition, Conjunctions, Interjection

Nouns
Nouns -is a subordinate clause which, like an adjective modifies a noun or a
pronoun.
 Classification of Nouns
Common Nouns
-is a noun in which does not name a particular person, place or thing.
Common nouns are not capitalized.
Examples: boy, planet, tree, university, shoes, bag

Proper Nouns -is the name of a particular person, place or thing.

Examples: Pedro, Jupiter, Narra, Maria

Collective Noun -is the name for a group of persons, animals or things.
Examples: Committee, flock, herd, team

Concrete Noun - names an object which can be perceived by the senses.

Examples: chair, umbrella, phone, book

Abstract Noun -names a quality, a characteristic or an idea.

Examples: beauty, love, kindness, justice

Count Noun -a noun that can be counted

Examples: persons, books, students, trees

Mass Noun -a noun that cannot be counted

Examples: stars, sand, sugar, hair
 ADJECTIVES

Adjectives - is a word used to modify or limit a noun or a pronoun.

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  Classification of Adjectives
Descriptive -adjectives that modify a noun or a pronoun in terms of size, shape,
color, texture, smell, age, and physical appearance.
Examples: round, beautiful, tall, old

Limiting -adjectives that refer to number or order cardinal

Examples:

Proper Adjectives -adjectives that are made from proper noun.

Examples: round, beautiful, tall, old

Demonstrative -adjectives that are also used as a demonstrative pronoun.

Examples: that book, those chairs, this bag, these pencils

Articles -adjectives that precede a noun. a and an are indefinite articles and the
is a definite article.
Examples: the book, a book, an apple, a dog

Pronouns -can also be used as adjectives.

Examples: our teacher, my brother, his house, her family

 ADVERB
Adverb -is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb.
 Classification of Adverbs according to meaning:
Adverb of Manner -tells how the action was done and ends with suffix - ly.
Examples: immediately, melodiously, here
Adverb of Time -tells when the action indicated by the verb took place.
Examples: arrived late, came early

Adverb of Place -tells the location indicated by the verb.

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Examples: teaches here, walked out

Adverb of Degree -tells the amount of the adjective quality and the verb
action.
Examples: very tired, quite well

 VERBS
-is a word that expresses a state of action or a state of being. It is
connected as the framework of the sentence.
 Classification of Verbs according to meaning:
State of Action - these are action verbs which include physical and mental
actions.
Examples: run, read, talk, eat

State of Being -help describe the condition or state of some person or thing.
Examples: appear, feel, remain, sound, grow

 Kinds of Verbs according to Use:

Transitive Verbs -are verbs that need a direct object.
Examples: The students left the car at the park.
The guard picked the ball.

Intransitive Verbs -are verbs that do not need a direct object. They likewise
express state of action.
Examples: The dog run towards the man.
They went to the party.

Linking Verbs -verbs that link or copulate the subject to a word or words.

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Examples: The girl is dancing and singing.

 Preposition
-is a word used to show the relation of a noun or a pronoun
to some other word in the sentence.
Examples: about above across after against
along amid among around at
before below beneath beside between
beyond but by concerning
down during except for ,in inside
like of ,off on over, past since
through throughout toward under to
unto up upon with
within without
 Conjunctions
Conjunctions -is a word which joins words and group of words.
 Kinds of Conjunctions
Coordinating Conjunctions Examples: and, but, or, nor
Correlative Conjunctions Examples: either…or; neither…nor; both…and;
not…but also
Subordinating Conjunctions Examples: after, although, as, as much, as, because before,
how, in as much as, in order, that, provided than, though,
till, unless, when

 Interjection
-is a word which expresses emotion and has no
grammatical relation to other words in the sentence.
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Examples:
Oh! What! Hurrah! Alas! Ouch! Aha! Bravo! Ha! Gosh! Damn! Shocks! Gee!

PHRASES
Adjectival Phrase, Adverbial Phrase, Participle, Participial Phrase, Gerunds,
Gerundial Phrase, Infinitive, Infinitive Phrase, Appositive Phrase

 Adjectival Phrase -is a prepositional phrase that modifies noun or

pronoun.
Examples: The gift from my friend was an inspirational book.
The bottom of the jar was dirty.

 Adverbial Phrase -is a prepositional phrase that modifies verb or an

adjective or an adverb.
Examples: The dress was blue with a green lining.
My father arrives late in the evening.

 Participle -is word which acts as both a verb and an adjective.

Participial Phrase -is a group of related words containing a participle. It acts
as an adjective to modify a noun or a pronoun.
Examples: Frightened by the news, my brother turned off the tv,
Angered by his younger brother, Rudy turned off the light
in the room.

 Gerunds -are verbals that look like a verb because they end in -ing
but function as a noun.
Gerundial Phrase -is a phrase containing a gerund. It functions as a noun
inside the sentence.
Examples: Jolina enjoys singing sentimental songs.

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 Collecting stamps is her favourite past-time.

 Infinitive -is a verbal consisting of the preposition to followed by the verb. It is

primarily used as a noun. But may also be used as an adjective or an adverb.
Infinitive Phrase -is a phrase containing an infinitive. It functions as a noun
or a modifier inside the sentence.
Examples: I have an exciting news to tell to everybody. Her new
assignment is to watch the kids playing.

Appositive Phrase -is a phrase which follows a noun or a pronoun and means
the same thing.
Examples: Mr. Garcia, our English teacher, left the room.
I received information from Anne, my secretary

CLAUSES
Main Clause, Subordinate Clause, Kinds of Subordinate Clause,
Adjective Clause, Noun Clause, Adverb Clause

 Clause -is a group of words that contains a verb and its subject and is used as a
part of the sentence.

Main Clause (Independent Clause) -a clause that expresses a complete thought and
can stand by itself as a sentence.
Examples: He just invented the story.
She needs a glass of water.
Subordinate Clause (Dependent Clause) -a clause that expresses a complete thought and
can stand by itself as a sentence.
Examples: Since she did not attend her classes regularly,
The teacher almost caught Marlon.

 Kinds of Subordinate Clause

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Adjective Clause -is a subordinate clause which, like an adjective modifies a
noun or a pronoun.
Examples: Cecille is the kind of person who never gets upset so easily.
Mrs. Nicadao showed pictures which were taken in Vigan.

Noun Clause -is a subordinate clause used as a noun.

Examples: What the teacher said was not clear.
Your patience with me is what I need right now.

Adverb Clause -is a subordinate clause which, like an adverb, modifies a

verb or an adjective or an adverb.
Examples: The athletes run because they were told to.
Karenina is as pretty as a girl can be.

PHYSIOLOGY OF SPEECH

Phonetics- Language is a human system of communication through speech. Language is

primarily speech. Written language represents the spoken language through visual symbols. The
general study of speech sounds is called phonetics.
Every language has a set of sounds, with various combinations of which words of the language
are formed. Speech is transmitted through sound waves, which are received by the hearer. Then

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the message of those sound waves is sent through nerves to the hearer's brain. In order to
decode the message, it is necessary for the hearer to have learnt the linguistic code, i.e. the
language, in which the speaker has sent the message.
The three parts of this process are studied in the three branches of phonetics. In articulatory
phonetics, we study how speech sounds are made. Acoustic phonetics studies the physical
properties of speech as sound waves and Auditory phonetics studies the perception of speech
sounds via ears. We are going to study only articulatory phonetics.

The Organs of speech- Speech sounds are made with the help of air-stream coming out of the
lungs. The air that is inhaled goes to lungs. When one speaks, the air is released in a certain
way.
There are some organs of the human body that are used as organs of speech. At the top of the
trachea or the wind-pipe is the larynx. The larynx contains vocal cords. The vocal cords can be
brought together or held apart. If they are held close together, they vibrate when the air coming
from the lungs passes through them. This gives rise to a voiced sound. If they are spread apart,
the sound is voiceless.
Therefore, speech sounds can either be voiced or voiceless. The opening between the vocal
cords is called glottis. After passing through the larynx, the air comes further up and it comes
out through the mouth and/or the nose. The roof of the mouth is divided into three parts. The
alveolar ridge (also called the teeth ridge) is just behind the upper teeth. The other two parts are
the hard palate and the soft palate. The end of the soft palate is called the uvula.
When the soft palate is lowered, the air can be released through the nose and when it is raised,
the air cannot go into the nasal cavity. So, the air has to come out through the mouth. The lips
can be spread or be kept in neutral, open or rounded positions.
The tongue has the following sections – tip, blade, front and back. Various parts of the tongue
can either make a contact with the roof of the mouth somewhere or can be brought close to it
when a consonant is articulated. When a vowel is articulated, the front, the centre or the back
part of the tongue is raised towards the roof of the mouth.

Phoneme: A phoneme is a smallest, significant sound-unit of a language. It is smallest in the

sense that it cannot be divided further. A sentence can be divided into words and a word can be
divided into syllables. For instance, the word 'reader' has two syllables.
A syllable can be divided into phonemes. 'Reader' contains the phoneme /r/. But it cannot be
divided further. A phoneme is a significant sound-unit of a language in the sense that replacing

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one phoneme of a language by another one of the same language can change the meaning of the
word in which the phoneme appears.
For example, if we replace the phoneme /r/ by the phoneme /l/ in the word 'reader', the meaning
changes, as we get a different word ('leader'). The study of the phonemes of a language is called
phonology. The phonemes of a language can be found with the help of minimal pairs like
'reader' and 'leader'. A minimal pair is a pair of words that has all phonemes in common except
one, such as /r/ and /r/ in this pair.

Allophone: An allophone is a variant of a phoneme. For instance, the phoneme /l/ of standard
British English (generally referred to as British R.P. – i.e. Received Pronunciation) has two
variants, one as in the word 'light' and the other as in the word 'cattle'. They are just variations in
the articulation of the same phoneme. They are not significant as far as the meaning of a word is
concerned. For instance, Indian speakers of English generally pronounce the word 'cattle' with
the same allophone of /l/ as in 'light', but this does not change the meaning of the word.
Different allophones of the phoneme may be used when the phoneme occurs in different
positions or contexts.

Syllable: As mentioned above, a word may consist of one or more syllables. A syllable can be
articulated separately, but a phoneme may not be. A syllable contains a sound that is more
prominent than the others. Usually, it is a vowel sound. The exceptions to this are the
consonants /l/ and /n/ in the words 'cattle' and 'button' respectively. Vowels generally hold the
central position in a syllable and consonants hold marginal positions.

Vowels and consonants: Phonemes of a language can be divided into two main types –
vowels and consonants. It is wrong to assume that 'a, e, i, o, u' are the only vowels in English.
They are vowel letters. But there are twenty vowel sounds in British R.P.
A vowel is a sound in the articulation of which the air coming from the lungs comes out freely,
without being obstructed anywhere in its way. But that is not the case with a consonant, in the
articulation of which the air-stream is obstructed somewhere or the other, making use of various
organs of speech in the obstruction.
A vowel sound can be pronounced independently, where as it may not be possible to articulate
a consonant sound independently. A consonant can be pronounced with the help of a vowel
accompanying it.

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Phonemic transcription: There is no perfect one-to-one correspondence between spelling and
pronunciation in English. One sound may be represented by more than one letter of alphabet.
For instance, the consonant /k/ is represented by the letter 'k' in 'kite', by the letters 'ch' in
'chemistry', by the letters 'ck' in 'back' and by the letters 'cc' in 'occasion'.
On the other hand, one letter of alphabet may represent more than one sound of the language.
For example, the letters 'ch' stand for /t∫/ in 'change', for /k/ in 'ache' and for /∫/ in 'chef'.
Therefore, the spelling of a word does not always help the speaker to find out what the
pronunciation of the word is. This is especially a problem for second language learners and
foreign language learners of English.
Therefore, the phonemic transcription of every word that is given in a dictionary is helpful for
the speakers and learners. The phonemic transcription of a word represents the exact phonemes
that are articulated in the word. A set of transcription symbols is used for this. One symbol
represents only one phoneme and one phoneme is represented by only one symbol. In the list of
vowels and consonants of British R.P. given below, such transcription symbols are used.
However, it should be noted that a transcription symbol used in the phonemic transcription of a
word represents the phoneme that occurs in the word, and not the allophone of the phoneme.
The phonemic transcriptions given below in order to illustrate the vowels and consonants of
British R.P. are examples of phonemic transcription.

Oral and nasal sounds: There are no nasalised sounds in English. All the twenty vowel
sounds in English are oral sounds, as the air is released through the mouth in their articulation.
Of the twenty-four consonants, twenty-one are oral sounds. There are only three nasal sounds in
English. They are the following consonants - /m/ as in 'must', /n/ as in 'nice' and /ŋ/ as in 'song'.
In these three sounds, the air comes out through the nose.

Voiceless and voiced sounds: All the vowels in English are voiced, as the vocal cords vibrate
in their articulation. Some of the consonants of English are voiceless and some are voiced. The
following consonants are voiceless - /p/, /t/, /k/, /t∫/, /f/, /θ/, /s/, /∫/, /h/. The following consonants
are voiced - /b/, /d/, /g/, /dƷ/, /v/, /ð/, /z/, /Ʒ/, /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /l/, /r/, /j/, /w/.

The vowels of British R.P.:

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The following are the vowels of British R.P. They are further classified as pure vowels and
diphthongs. If the quality of a vowel remains the same, it is a pure vowel. If there is a glide
from one quality to another, it is called a diphthong or a vowel glide.
Pure vowels
/i:/ as in tree /tri:/
week /wi:k/
heal /hi:l/

/I/ as in sit /sIt/

hill /hIl/
kick /kIk/

/e/ as in get /get/

tell /tel/
neck /nek/

/æ/ as in cap /kæp/

mad /mæd/
sack /sæk/

/Λ/ as in cup /kΛp/

dust /dΛst/
rush /rΛ∫/

/a:/ as in far /fa:/

pass /pa:s/
last /la:st/
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/ɒ/ as in hot /hɒt/
lock /lɒk/
box /bɒks/

/Ɔ:/ as in all /Ɔ:l/

horse /hƆ:s/
course /kƆ:s/

/U/ as in put /pUt/

look /lUk/
good /gUd/

/u:/ true /tru:/

smooth /smu:θ/
cool /ku:l/

/з:/ as in earth /з:θ/

learn /lз:n/
word /wз:d/

/ǝ/ as in about /ǝbaUt/

away /ǝ'weI/
attend /ǝ'tend/

Diphthongs /eI/ as in : late /leIt/ say /seI/ name /neIm/

/aI/ as in: right /raIt/ life /laIf/ high /haI/

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 /ƆI/ as in: oil /ƆIl/ noise /nƆIz/ moist /mƆIst/
/ǝU/ as in: go /gǝU/ rose /rǝUz/ hope /hǝUp/
/aU/ as in: now /naU/ crowd /kraUd/ loud /laUd/
/Iǝ/ as in: here /hIǝ/ appear /apIǝ/ ear /Iǝ/
/εǝ/ as in: care /kεǝ/ air /εǝ/ bear /bεǝ/
/Uǝ/ as in: poor /pUǝ/ tour /tUǝ/ sure /∫Uǝ/

Word stress (accent):

English is a stress-timed language. As mentioned above, a word consists of one or more
syllables. In English, not all the syllables are equally prominent. In a word containing more than
one syllable, there is a particular syllable that is made more prominent than others. The
prominence is given to a syllable by employing greater breath force in its articulation as
compared to the other syllables.
The syllable that is thus made more prominent than others can be said to receive stress or
accent, and it can be called a stressed syllable. For example, in the word 'English', there are two
syllables. But they are not equally prominent. The first is made more prominent than the second
by putting stress on it – /'IŋlI∫/.
The primary stress or accent is shown in the phonemic transcription by putting a small vertical
bar on top of the stressed syllable at the beginning. A peculiar feature of word stress in English
is that the position of word stress is not fixed in the sense that one cannot be sure that the first
syllable in every word is stressed or the second one in every word is stressed etc.

In some words, such as 'actor' ( / 'æktǝ/ ), 'simple' ( / 'sImpl/ ), 'matter' ( / 'mætǝ/ ), 'building' ( /
'bIldIŋ/ ) and 'drama' ( /'dra:mǝ/ ), the stress is on the first syllable. In some words, such as
'appear' ( /ǝ'pIǝ/ ), 'revenge' ( /rI'vendƷ/, 'about' ( /ǝ'baUt/ ), 'away' ( /ǝ'weI/ ) and 'receive' (
/rI'si:v/ ), the stress is on the second syllable.

There are a few words in which the stress is on the third syllable. Examples of this are
'understand' (/Λndǝ'stænd/ ), 'intermission' ( /Intǝ'mI∫n/ ), and 'disappoint' ( / dIsǝ'pƆInt/ ).
However, in another sense, word accent or stress is fixed, too. If any particular English word is
taken up, the position of stress in it is fixed. It is not for a speaker to decide whether the first
syllable in the word 'appear' is to be stressed or the second one.

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 A speaker has just to follow the rule about the position of stress in that particular word. There
are certain suffixes, after the addition of which the position of stress in the word is shifted to
another syllable. For instance, in the word 'economy' ( /I'kɒnǝmI/ ), the stress is on the second
syllable. After the addition of the suffix '-ic', the position of stress is shifted to the following
syllable in the word 'economic' ( /Ikǝ'nɒmIk/ ).

Sentence stress: Just as not all syllables in a word are equally prominent and only one of them
gets the primary stress, not all the words in a sentence are equally prominent. Some of them are
made more prominent than the others by putting stress on the appropriate syllable in each of
them.
Generally, the words that are made prominent in a sentence are nouns, main verbs, adjectives,
adverbs and demonstrative and interrogative pronouns, as demonstrated in the following
sentence. (The prominent words are also underlined for convenience.) "The 'books you 'gave me
were 'found on the `table." However, if the context requires, any other word can also be made
prominent.
The notion of sentence stress has some implications, as far as speaking in English is concerned.
One of them is the rhythm of an English sentence and another is the use of weak forms.

Rhythm: The main principle of rhythm in an English sentence is that the gap of time between
every two consecutive stressed syllables is approximately the same. Stressed syllables occur
after regular intervals of time in a sentence. This is what is called the stress-timed rhythm of the
English language.
For instance, in the following sentence, the gap of time between every two consecutive stresses
should be roughly the same. "A 'book is a 'student's 'friend." There are three syllables between
the first stressed syllable ('book') and the second stressed syllable (which is the first syllable in
the word 'student's), there are two syllables between the second stressed syllable and the third
('friend').
But, the gap of time between them has to be approximately the same. As a result, that part in
which there are more syllables between two stresses is spoken faster and that part in which there
are less syllables between two stresses is spoken more slowly. This is the reason why weak
forms of unstressed words are used in that part which is spoken faster.

Intonation: A sentence is not spoken in the same level of pitch. There are some variations in
the level of pitch in every person's speech. The patterns in the change in the level of pitch in a

17
sentence are called intonation patterns. If the level of pitch does not change on a stressed
(accented) syllable, it is called static tone.
When the level of pitch changes on a stressed syllable, it has kinetic tone. The kinetic tone is
of various types. The two most prominent and important types of kinetic tone are the falling
tone and the rising tone. The choice of tone or intonation pattern that a speaker uses depends
partly on the type of sentence.

THE MORPHOLOGY OF ENGLISH

Morphology studies the patterns of formation of words by the combination of sounds into
minimal distinctive units of meaning called morphemes. Just as the phoneme is the smallest unit
in the sound system of language, a morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit in the
grammatical system of a language.
By calling it the smallest meaningful unit in the language we indicate that the morpheme cannot
be broken up into smaller parts without injuring or destroying its meaning. Thus, ‘house’
contains one morpheme, ‘unhappy’ contains two morphemes (un + happy), while
‘unacceptable’ contains three morphemes (un + accept + able).
Morphemes cannot be divided into smaller morphemes though they can be phonologically split
into syllables and phonemes.
Different variants of the same morpheme are known as allomorphs. In phonology, ‘allophones’
are ‘phones’, i.e., sounds present in speech which belong to a single phoneme, an abstract
entity.
Similarly, in morphology, ‘allomorphs’ are ‘morphs’, i.e., minimal sequences present in speech
which belong to a single morpheme, an abstract entity. Allomorphs are to morphemes what
allophones are to phonemes.
Christophersen and Sandved conclude that an alternate definition of the term ‘morpheme’
would be “a group of allomorphs that are semantically similar and in complementary
distribution.”

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They give the example of /d/, /t/ and /id/ as expressions of ‘past tense’, and of /s/, /z/, and /iz/ as
expressions of ‘more than one’.
These are examples of allomorphs of one and the same morpheme. Greenbaum claims that the
choice of allomorphs depends on three types of conditioning, viz., phonological, morphological
and grammatical.
Phonological conditioning may involve either progressive assimilation (determined by the
following sound), or regressive assimilation (determined by the preceding sound). The
allomorphs of the negative prefix ‘in-’ are conditioned by the sound that follows the prefix: ‘il’
before /l/, ‘im-’ before /m/ or /p/, ‘ir-’ before /r/, and ‘in-’ before any other sound. For

When a morpheme can be both a morpheme and a word, it is called a free morpheme. But
morphemes which occur only as a proper sub-part of a word (and not as a word) are called
bound morphemes (e.g. ‘-ment’ and ‘dis-’). Hence ‘-ly’ is a bound morpheme in words like
‘properly’, ‘suddenly’, and ‘correctly’. It cannot exist alone as it is not a proper word of
English.
Therefore, we cannot say ‘It was done –ly’, although we can say ‘It was done correctly.’ In a
morphologically complex word, or a polymorphic word (a word with a number of morphemes),
there is always a free morpheme (like ‘agree’ in ‘disagreement’, ‘pure’ in ‘impure’) which
contributes to the basic meaning of the entire word.
This morpheme is known as the root. The other morphemes (like ‘dis-’ and ‘-ment’ in
‘disagreement’, ‘im-’ in ‘impure’) which modify the basic meaning are known as affixes.
Those affixes which occur to the left of the root are called prefixes while those which occur to
the right of the root are called suffixes.
Affixes - both prefix and suffix – are bound morphemes because they occur only as the proper
sub-part of a word.

Processes of Word Formation

Many of the words frequently used in our language are simple. This means that they cannot be
divided into smaller meaningful segments.
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For example, ‘and’, ‘if’, ‘the’, ‘on’, etc. But there are myriad ways in which words are formed.
For example., the word ‘happiness’ is formed by adding the suffix ‘-ness’ to the base word
‘happy’, or the word ‘unhappy’ is formed by adding the prefix ‘un-’ to the base word ‘happy’.

There are four main processes that result in the formation of new words :
1. Prefixation: the addition of a prefix in front of a base, eg. ‘impossible’. 2. Suffixation: the
addition of a suffix at the end of a base, eg. ‘friendship’.
3. Compounding: the combination of two or more bases, e.g. ‘homesick’.
4. Conversion: the change of a base from one word class to another without any change in
form, e.g. ‘light’ is used both as a noun and as a verb.

Answer the following questions

1. What is morphology? What do you understand by the term morpheme? How does it differ
from the word phoneme?
2. Give some examples of words which are (a) determinate and (b) indeterminate with respect
to segmentation.
3. Define the terms ‘morph’, ‘morpheme’ and ‘allomorph’. Give examples.
4. What are free and bound morphemes? Give examples.
5. What are inflectional and derivational affixes? Explain with examples.
6. What are the different ways of word formation? Explain with examples.
7. What do you understand by affixation? Illustrate with examples.
8. Write a detailed note on the use of prefixes in the formation of words in English.
9. Write short notes on the following:-
a. Acronyms b. Difference between phoneme and morpheme c. Suffixes d. Free and bound
morphemes

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 Language and Style
Part I Varieties of English according to user, use and social relations
As language varies from one individual to another, it also varies from one social group (family,
village, town) to another.
We can find language variation in social as well as geographical space. People of different age,
gender, social class, occupations, or cultural groups in the same speech community show
variations in their use of language.
These variations are known as varieties of a language.
Let’s see such variations in the English language.
The varieties of English can be classified as-
i) Varieties according to user – dialects and accents
ii) ii) Varieties according to use – registers and
iii) iii)Varieties according to social relations - styles
Accent refers to differences in pronunciation.
All accents of English have /r/ sound in words such as ‘rat’ and ‘rich’ and most carry /r/ in
sorry. On the other hand some accents have no /r/ in accent in England in words like ‘car’ and
‘cart’.

Dialects – Dialect has been defined in the following ways. i) Dialect is a regionally or socially
distinctive variety of language, identified by a particular set of words and grammatical
structures. (Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics – David Crystal) ii)
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Dialect is a specific form of a given language, spoken in a certain locality or geographic area,
showing sufficient differences form the standard of literary form of that language, as to
pronunciation, grammatical construction and idiomatic use of words, to be considered a distinct
entity, (A Dictionary of Linguistics (1959) – A. Pie and Frank).
Thus a dialect is a variety of language distinguished according to region and social class.
Dialects are mainly divided into two types - regional dialects and social dialects.
Regional dialects
The dialects which are spoken by the people of a particular geographical area are known as
regional dialects, for example, Cockney in London.
Social dialects
Dialects which are spoken by the members of a particular social group or stratum of a speech
community are called social dialects. These are also known as sociolects.

Class dialects
There is a very close relationship between language and society. The variation in a language can
also be the result of the existence of varieties of language called social-class dialects. What a
speaker says on any occasion is in part a reflection of his social identity.

Caste dialects
According to some linguists the study of caste dialects is easier because castes are stable,
clearly named groups, rigidly separated from each other, with hereditary membership and with
little possibility of movement from one caste to another.

Semantics
Semantics is the study of meaning in language. It is the level at which one attempts to analyse
how meanings are expressed and understood. Just like a 'phoneme' is the smallest distinctive
unit of a sound, a minimal unit of meaning is a 'sememe'.
Types of meaning – The term 'meaning' is understood in many different ways.
Therefore there are many definitions explaining the word 'meaning'. The meaning of a word lies
in the relationship between words and the concepts for which these words stand. These
relationships can be of various types. Some of these types of meaning are as follows.

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(1) The denotative (or conceptual) meaning - It is the literal meaning of a word which
indicates the concept or idea it refers to. This meaning does not change as it is directly related to
the concept it defines. For instance, the word 'dog' is used for a pet animal which guards our
home.
(2) The connotative meaning – It is the additional meaning of a word. This meaning of the
word comes from its reference to other things in the world. This meaning may change in the
course of time as it is based on associations made to the concept. For example, a cow is a sacred
animal.
(3) The social meaning – The meaning which conveys about the circumstances of the use of a
word is called its social meaning. This meaning is related to the situation and the relationship
between the participants in a conversation. For example, though apparently similar, the
meanings of these words- house, home and residence are not exactly one and the same but
differ from one context to another.
(4) The thematic meaning – This type of meaning is related to the way in which the message is
organized in a written or spoken matter. Though two sentences apparently appear alike, their
meanings may differ.
The active and passive constructions differ in their thematic meanings. In active sentence the
emphasis is on the subject (doer of the action) while in the passive it is on the object (the
action).
Consider the following pair of sentences as an example.
The cat killed the rat. (Active) The rat was killed by the cat. (Passive)

Lexical relations
The meaning of a word can be known with the help of its relationship to other words. The
lexical relationship between the words can be known by the similarity between words,
opposition, and inclusion.
These lexical relations which are considered to know the ‘sense’ relationship between the words
include synonyms, antonyms, hyponyms, homonyms, polysemy, etc.

The following types of lexical relations are usually studied in semantics.

Synonymy - Two or more lexical items can be called synonyms if they have similar meanings
and they can be replaced in sentences.
Examples of synonyms are – answer-reply, freedom-liberty, toilet-lavatory.
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Synonyms are near-equivalent lexical items and they don't have exactly same meanings. A word
may appear appropriate in a context whereas its synonym is unsuitable.
For example, the sentence My answer to the first question in the second unit test was correct
would appear odd if it is written as My reply to the first question in the second unit test was
correct.

Antonymy - The words with opposite meanings are called as antonyms. Antonyms are
different both in form as well as meaning.
Examples of antonyms are – long-short, big-small, boy-girl, good-bad, true-false.
The opposite meaning doesn't always mean negative meaning.
For example, pack -unpack, here unpack doesn't mean 'not to pack'. The same is applicable to
'uncover' in the pair cover-uncover.
Some antonyms like big- small have comparative forms - bigger than - smaller than while some
antonyms like 'dead' cannot be used in comparative sentences.
For example, 'dead' can't be used as 'deader' or 'more dead'.

Hyponymy – In this lexical relationship a word with specific meaning includes a word with
more general meaning.
For example, the word 'dog' includes the meaning of 'animal' in its meaning.
In hyponymy the more specific item is considered a hyponym of the more general item. Thus
apple is a hyponym of fruit.
The other examples are –chair-furniture, snake-reptile, rose -flower. Homophony – If two or
more words have the same pronunciation but their spellings and meanings are different then
they are known as homophones. E.g. some/sum, sun/son, meat-meet, sweet/suite, etc.

Homonymy- Homonyms are the words with same spelling and pronunciation but having
different meanings.
E.g. lead /led/r= metal; lead/ li:d/ = verb. Another example of this kind could be the word 'bank'.

Polysemy – It is the phenomenon of a word having same form having more than one meaning.
The meanings here are based on similarity.
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For example, the word 'head' has multiple meanings like – important part of body, main person
of a department, top part of a nail, part of a cassette player, etc.
Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish the terms 'homonymy' and 'polysemy'. A dictionary has
only one entry for a polysemic word, but for each homonym there is a separate entry in the
dictionary.

Metonymy – In metonymy the relationship between words is based on the close connection in
everyday life. For example, if you come across a courier service named 'Spokes', you may
easily understand (via metonymy), that the parcels are delivered by bicycle. I have at least a
roof over my head. (Here roof refers to house).
Other examples - The white house today announced a package to the companies badly affected
by recession. (Here the white house means the President of USA)

Collocations – Collocations are the words which frequently occur together. There are certain
words that always occur in the company of certain other words.
E.g. hard work, strong coffee, beautiful flower, husband and wife, bread and butter, etc.

Syntax
We have just seen one of the major levels of linguistic analysis called semantics. Now we will
go briefly through another system of language called ‘syntax.
Syntax means word order. Syntax is one of the major levels of linguistic analysis. It plays an
important role in the study of a language. It is the study of the order in which words are
arranged in a sentence.
Syntax is the important part in the study of grammar of a language. Sentence is the important
part grammatical analysis. The study of sentence structure is called syntax.
Word order is at the heart of syntax, and most of English grammar is taken up with the rules
governing the order in which words, and clusters of words, can appear. Crystal (1995: 214).
Sentences in English are constructed according to a system of rules. They are the largest
constructions to which the rules of grammar apply. The meaning of sentence alters
fundamentally once the order varies. There are also rules forbidding us to put words in a certain
order.

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Hierarchy in the sentence structure:
Sentence= A group of words making complete sense
Clause = a group of words which can be divided into subject and predicate
Phrase = a meaningful group of words
Word = a meaningful group of letter

PRAGMATICS

Introduction- Linguistics can be defined as the scientific study of language. As discussed in

the section ‘Language and Style’, the various levels of linguistic organisation are phonology,
morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics. Whether pragmatics should be considered as a
level of linguistic analysis is a debatable issue today.
The Distinction between Semantics and Pragmatics-
Semantics as a level of linguistic organisation deals with all those aspects of meaning that are
linguistic.
Semantics deals with
i) Lexical Meaning- Meaning conveyed by individual words.
For example, the meaning of the word ‘beautiful’ is different from the meaning of the word
‘gorgeous’.
ii) Grammatical Meaning- Meaning conveyed by the grammatical form and structure. For
example, the grammatical meanings of ‘Mohan is a manager’( a statement) and ‘Is Mohan a
manager?’ (a question) are different.
iii) Intonational Meaning- Meaning conveyed by the choice of the intonation pattern. For
example, ‘thank you’ said with a falling tone indicates sincere thanks, where as ‘thank you’ said
with a rising tone indicates that one has said it as a matter of formality.

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