Dr. Johanna Rubba
English Department
Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo
Last updated 11/4/10

Practice: Morphological Analysis   KEY

Analyze each of the items below morphologically. Determine

  1. how many morphemes each item contains (1 or more than 1);
  2. if there is more than one morpheme, which are free and which bound;
  3. if there is more than one morpheme, which one is the root; and what are the remaining morphemes: prefixes or suffixes;
  4. if there are prefixes and/or suffixes, which are derivational and which inflectional (use elimination: if there is an affix and it is not in the list of inflectional morphemes, then it's derivational);
  5. whether the word(s) is(are) simple, compound, or complex
    and finally,
  6. if a word is inflected, is the inflection regular or irregular?

Remember: One or both of the words that make up a compound word may be complex. Such items count as both compound and complex words.

Warning: Don't let variations in spelling disturb you too much. Sometimes adding suffixes changes the way the base word or suffix is spelled.

1 reestablished

  1. morphemes: 3
  2. free: establish   bound: re-, -ed
  3. root: establish
  4. derivational:  re-    inflectional: -ed
  5. word: complex
  6. inflectional suffix: regular

2 spaghetti

  1. morphemes: 1
  2. free: spaghetti
  3. root: spaghetti
  4. derivational: none  inflectional: none
  5. word: simple
  6. inflectional suffix: none

3 apologize

  1. morphemes: 2
  2. free: none  bound: apolog-, -ize
  3. root: apolog-
  4. derivational: -ize inflectional: none
  5. word: complex
  6. inflectional suffix: none

4 statements

  1. morphemes: 3
  2. free: state  bound: -ment, -s
  3. root: state
  4. derivational: -ment   inflectional: -s
  5. word: complex
  6. inflectional suffix: -s, regular  

5 snowboarding

  1. morphemes:  3
  2. free: snow, board   bound: -ing
  3. roots: snow, board
  4. derivational: none  inflectional: -ing
  5. word: compound and complex
  6. inflectional suffix: -ing, regular  

6 nationality

  1. morphemes: 3
  2. free: nation bound: -al, -ity
  3. root: nation
  4. derivational: -al, -ity inflectional: none
  5. word: complex
  6. inflectional suffix: none

7 security blanket

  1. morphemes: 3
  2. free: secure, blanket  bound:  -ity
  3. roots: secure, blanket
  4. derivational: -ity    inflectional: none
  5. word: compound and complex
  6. inflectional suffix: none

8 preregistration

  1. morphemes: 3
  2. free: register bound: pre-, -ation
  3. root: register
  4. derivational:  pre-, -ation   inflectional: none
  5. word: complex
  6. inflectional suffix:  none

9 relationship

  1. morphemes: 3
  2. free:  relate  bound:  -ion, -ship
  3. root: relate
  4. derivational: -ion, -ship   inflectional: none
  5. word: complex
  6. inflectional suffix: none

10 burnt (as in burnt toast)

  1. morphemes: 2
  2. free: burn  bound: -t
  3. root: burn
  4. derivational: none inflectional: -t
  5. word: complex
  6. inflectional suffix:  -t, irregular

11 apology

  1. morphemes: 2
  2. free: bound: apolog-, -y
  3. root: apolog-
  4. derivational:  -y  inflectional: none
  5. word:  complex
  6. inflectional suffix: none

12 American

  1. morphemes: 2
  2. free:   America  bound: -an   (the 'a' is dropped when the suffix is added)
  3. root: America
  4. derivational:  -an  inflectional: none
  5. word: complex
  6. inflectional suffix: none

13 antennae

  1. morphemes: 2
  2. free:  antenna  bound: -ae (the 'a' is dropped when the suffix is added)
  3. root: antenna
  4. derivational: inflectional: -ae
  5. word: complex
  6. inflectional suffix: -ae, irregular

14 bolder

  1. morphemes: 2
  2. free: bold   bound: -er
  3. root: bold
  4. derivational:   inflectional:  -er
  5. word: complex
  6. inflectional suffix:  -er, regular

15 uneaten

  1. morphemes: 3
  2. free:  eat   bound:  un-, -en
  3. root: eat
  4. derivational:  un-  inflectional:  -en
  5. word: complex
  6. inflectional suffix: -en, irregular

16 apologetic

  1. morphemes: 2
  2. free: bound: apolog-, -etic
  3. root: apolog-
  4. derivational:  -etic  inflectional: none
  5. word: complex
  6. inflectional suffix:  none

17 gradually

  1. morphemes: 2
  2. free: gradual  bound:  -ly
  3. root: gradual
  4. derivational: -ly inflectional: none
  5. word: complex
  6. inflectional suffix: none

18 kindnesses

  1. morphemes: 3
  2. free: kind  bound: -ness, -es
  3. root: kind
  4. derivational:  -ness     inflectional: -es
  5. word: complex
  6. inflectional suffix: -es, regular

19 microwave

  1. morphemes: 2
  2. free:   wave   bound: micro-
  3. root: wave
  4. derivational:  micro- inflectional: none
  5. word: complex
  6. inflectional suffix:  none

20 wavelength

  1. morphemes: 2
  2. free: wave, length    bound:
  3. roots: wave, length
  4. derivational:  none  inflectional: none
  5. word: compound
  6. inflectional suffix:  none