Chapter 6 – Words, vocabulary and morphology

Consider the following statements and click to reveal the answer.

1. Name five languages that have influenced English following invasion and settlement of the British Isles.

Answer:

Five languages that have influenced English following invasion and settlement of the British Isles are Anglo-Saxon, Old Norse (Viking), French, Latin and Greek.

2. What was the main reason for the standardisation of written English between 1400 and 1800?

Answer:

The main reason for the standardisation of written English between 1400 and 1800 was the invention of the printing press – the ability to print literature meant that printers had to make decisions about language, including spelling, word choice and expression.

3. What do the following prefixes mean? Give an example of their use.

  1. Ad-
  2. Ambi-
  3. Ante-
  4. Ant(i)-

Answer:

a. Ad-  towards, against, at – adhere, admire

b. Ambi-             both, around – ambidextrous, ambiguous

c. Ante-              before – antenatal, anteroom

d. Ant(i)-            against, opposite – antibiotic, antidote

4. What is etymology?

Answer:

Etymology is the study of the origins of words.

5. Name three of the six processes that have caused new words to enter English.

Answer:

Three of the six processes that have caused new words to enter English are (any three from) back formation, folk etymology, function-shift, acronyms, blending and clipping.

6. What is morphology and why is it important for children to study it?

Answer:

Morphology is the study of the structure of words and it is important for children to study it because they need to be able to break down and assemble words in order to be able to understand the grammar of sentences.

7. What is a morpheme?

Answer:

A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning in a word. Free morphemes can stand alone, e.g. ‘cat’. Bound morphemes cannot exist alone but are attached to other words, e.g. -s, -ed and -ing.

8. What are the two types of affix?

Answer:

The two types of affix are prefixes, which go before the root/stem of a word, and suffixes, which go after it.

9. Give an example of an inflexional suffix for each of the following:

  1. A noun
  2. An adjective
  3. The past participle of a regular verb
  4. The present participle of a regular verb

Answer:

a. A noun: -s (either to mark a plural or the possessive)

b. An adjective: -er or -est

c. The past participle of a regular verb: -d or -ed

d. The present participle of a regular verb: -ing