This document presents information on derivation and inflection in linguistics. It defines derivational morphemes as affixes that change the meaning or function of a word to create a new lexeme. Inflectional morphemes are affixes that carry grammatical meaning without changing the part of speech or core meaning. Examples of common derivational and inflectional suffixes are provided along with their grammatical functions.

1. GENERAL LINGUUISTICS
DERIVATION AND INFLECTION
PRESENTED BY:
LUZ PIEDAD CARMONA GUEVARA
BA in Foreign Language: English
TO:
MARTHA ISABEL BONILLA MORA
SANTO TOMÁS UNIVERSITY
EDUCATION´S FACULTY
CAU MANIZALES
2013

2. DERIVATIONAL MORPHOLOGY
Derivational morphemes are affixes which are added to a lexeme to change its meaning or function. They are used
to make a new, different lexeme.
LEXEME
A meaningful linguistic unit that is an item in the vocabulary of a language.
AFFIX
A word element, a prefix, suffix, or infix--that can be attached to a base or root to form a new word.
PREFIX SUFFIX INFIX
A letter or group of letters
attached to the beginning of a
word that partly indicates its
meaning. Common prefixes
include anti-(against), co-
(with), mis- (wrong, bad),
and trans- (across).
A letter or group of letters
added to the end of a word
or root (i.e., a base form),
serving to form a new word
or functioning as an
inflectional ending
A word element (a type
of affix) that can be inserted
within the base form of a word
(rather than at its beginning or
end) to create a new word or
intensify meaning

4. SUFFIX MEANING EXAMPLE
-acy state or quality privacy
-al act or process of refusal
-ance, -ence state or quality of maintenance, eminence
-dom place or state of being freedom, kingdom
-er, -or one who trainer, protector
-ism doctrine, belief communism
-ist one who chemist
-ity, -ty quality of veracity
-ment condition of argument
-ness state of being heaviness
-ship position held fellowship
-sion, -tion state of being concession, transition
beyond, more than extracurricular
NOUN SUFFIXES

5. -ate become eradicate
-en become enlighten
-ify, -fy make or become terrify
-ize, -ise become civilize
VERB SUFFIXES
-able, -ible capable of being edible, presentable
-al pertaining to regional
-esque reminiscent of picturesque
-ful notable for fanciful
-ic, -ical pertaining to musical, mythic
-ious, -ous characterized by nutritious, portentous
-ish having the quality of fiendish
-ive having the nature of creative
-less without endless
-y characterized by sleazy
ADJECTIVE SUFFIXES

6. INFLECTIONAL MORPHOLOGY
Inflectional morphemes are affixes which carry grammatical meaning (for example, the plural (s) in cats or
progressive -(ng) in sailing). They do not change the part of speech or meaning of the word; they function to
ensure that the word is in the appropriate form so the sentence is grammatically correct.
SUFFIX GRAMMATICAL CHANGE EXAMPLE OF ORIGINAL WORD EXAMPLE OF SUFFIXED WORD
s Plural Dog Dogs
en Plural (Irregular) Ox Oxen
s Third person singular present Like He likes
ed Past tense / Past participle Work He worked / He has worked
en Past participle (irregular) Eat He has eaten
ing Continuous / progressive Sleep He is sleeping
er Comparative Big Bigger
est Superlative Big Biggest
INFLECTIONAL SUFFIXES