Word structure
The study of word structure is called morphology. Understanding word structure helps us:
- improve spelling
- expand vocabulary
In studying word structure, we start by looking at a few key concepts first:
- root words
- prefixes
- suffixes
Root words are words, or parts of words, that can usually stand alone. The following are all root words:
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Word structure: Derivation
Derivation is the process of creating new words. The technical term derivational morphology is the study of the formation of new words. Here are some examples of words which are built up from smaller parts:
Word structure: Inflection
Inflection is the process by which a single word takes different forms. For example, if we have the noun cat, we can add a plural ending to it to create cats. This is known as inflecting a noun and the ending we add is called a suffix.
What are the plural forms of the following nouns?
Word structure: Compounds
Compounds are combinations of root words, i.e. words that can occur on their own, to form a new established combination. They are sometimes spelt as one word, but also with a hyphen or as two words.
In English compound nouns, e.g. bookcase, laptop, smartphone, and compound adjectives, e.g. dripping wet, tax-free, are very common.